A Holiday Recipe Corner Extravaganza!

Normally this space is reserved for a singular member of our Met family with a favorite recipe to share. But we can all agree that this year, we’re going to need a lot more than one batch of cookies to get through the pandemic holidays. So strap in, because you’re about to experience an avalanche of recipes from a few members of the Met Artists Newsletter team, plus one very special guest. Whether you’re in the mood for cookies, cupcakes, or even a spiced chutney, we have the sweets that can satisfy the most savage holiday appetite. Enjoy!

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Meet Abby Mitchell

Soprano Abigail Mitchell has been a member of the full-time chorus for three years, and was only roped into joining the newsletter team in the past year or two. When she’s not baking cookies, Abby is hiking with her husband Oliver and her 2-year old son Arthur, and spending the lion’s share of her pandemic quality time making serious headway writing her first novel.

Abby has this to say about her holiday offering:

“My philosophy when it comes to cookies, and dessert in general, is ‘Go Chocolate or Go Home’. Also, I am in love with peanut butter. Therefore, my favorite Christmas cookie recipe is peanut butter kisses! What makes these “Christmas cookies” and not “any time of year cookies”? Unclear! But in my family we always make these at Christmas and never make them at any other time, so I’ve always associated them with Christmas.”

 Peanut Butter Kisses 

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup packed brown sugar

½ cup creamy peanut butter

½ cup butter, softened

1 egg 

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 bag Hershey’s kisses

Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, beat granulated sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, butter and egg until well blended. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until dough forms. If you have time, or covet a chewier cookie, chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 min-1 hour. Probably you could chill it overnight if you’re one of those “plan ahead” types.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. A lot of recipes say to roll the balls in granulated sugar, but we never do that. If you want to, though, I’m not going to stop you. On ungreased cookie sheets, place cookies about 2 inches apart. While baking, unwrap your kisses. Eat half of them.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Immediately press 1 kiss in center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack.

Variation for Non-Chocolate Lovers: First, question your life choices that brought you into close contact with someone who doesn’t like chocolate. Next, rejoice that this means more chocolate for you! Last, press each cookie with a fork to get a pleasant crisscross design. You can do this before or after baking.

Variation for Hershey’s Hugs, caramel kisses, or other kiss variety: NO. This recipe is for the classic milk chocolate kisses only! Tradition! (Though dark chocolate kisses would probably be ok.)

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Meet Sara Heaton

Newsletter team member and Met Chorus soprano Sara Heaton went all out and shared not one, but two beloved traditional Heaton family recipes, which is fairly impressive since she just recently gave birth to her precious daughter Penelope. Since the pandemic began and the Met closed, Sara and her husband Justin have decamped to her parents’ farm in New Hampshire, so the silver lining of this horrible year is that she’ll certainly have many opportunities to make these delectable treats with her family.

“My dad’s mother’s name was Dora, but her nickname was Dodie. She also went by Justine, but that’s another story. Anyway, she made these almond crescents every Christmas. No matter where we gathered as a family, she would bring at least two of those old fashioned round metal tins full of these buttery, sugary treats.”

Dodie's Almond Crescent Cookies

1 cup soft shortening (Editor’s note: some family members replace half the shortening with butter, while others eschew the shortening altogether and use all butter. Dealer’s choice.)

1/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup ground blanched almonds

1-2/3 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

Mix together thoroughly the shortening, sugar, and almonds. 

Sift together the flour and salt and combine with other ingredients to make dough.

Chill dough. Roll with hands pencil thick. Cut in 2 1/2" lengths. Form into crescents on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until set - not brown. Cool on pan. While slightly warm, carefully dip in 1 cup confectioner's sugar.
 
Bake at 325º for 14 to 16 minutes.
Makes 5 dozen cookies.

Pro Tip: Do not grind the almonds too finely. You should be able to detect small chunks.

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Image: Shutterstock.com

“The lace cookies are a beloved thanksgiving tradition for us. Growing up our thanksgiving was a huge gathering of family friends. Usually about 25 of us would get together at our house, always a nice mixture of adults, kids of different ages, people from all over the world. We often adopted people from out of town or out of country and introduced them to our version of thanksgiving. The toasts would take about 30 minutes because we required there to be a toast in every language represented. I digress. The meal was a combined effort, and much of the cooking started the day before with the lace cookies. The kids would come to our house on Wednesday afternoon and help my dad make mountains of these cookies. Over the years we perfected the technique of which spatula to use, and exactly how much time to let them cool before attempting to take them off the pan. This part can be tricky and end in either a mushed up cookie, or a pan that requires some serious elbow grease to clean. Worth it.”

Lace Cookies

1 cup finely chopped walnuts (about 4 ounces shelled nuts)

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup butter (1/4 pound)

2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

Preheat oven to 375º. Thoroughly grease two cookie sheets. The easiest way to chop the nuts is to put them in a blender (or food processor), an ounce or so at a time. Blended for a few moments at high speed (with metal blade), the nuts will be the right consistency. Combine the nuts with the flour and set aside. Put the corn syrup, butter and brown sugar in the top of a double boiler and bring the mixture to a boil over direct heat, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and beat in flour and nuts. Put pan over hot water to keep the batter from cooling and getting too stiff. The batter will be too hot to push off a spoon with your finger, so use two teaspoons – one for measuring and one for pushing – and drop batter by rounded teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheets. Space cookies at least three inches apart – they will spread out quite a bit.  Bake for 6 or 7 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for about 3 minutes* on the baking sheets. Remove the now-crisp cookies from the sheets carefully with a wide metal spatula and put them on wire racks to cool. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Tips

Do not overcook – remove when just browning at the edges.

Remove the cookies from the cookie sheet as soon as they hold shape (1 to 2 minutes).  Do not try to remove cookies before they set, otherwise they may break and go limp.

Have at least 3 cookie sheets going at once, staggered.

Keep the cookie sheets well greased.

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Meet Ray Menard

You’ve all met our union president and Met Opera Production Stage Manager in a prior recipe corner, where he shared his deliciously comforting oatmeal pancakes. Honestly, though, we were all hoping he was going to share this gem, his famous cranberry chutney. Ray makes this every year for the Bake Sale the chorus hosts that benefits the AGMA Relief Fund. These little jars of goodness sell out in a flash, leaving Met employees despondently begging for the recipe so they can recreate it at home. Since there was no Bake Sale this year (and no Met season), Ray wanted to make sure you could still enjoy this holiday-spiced condiment in your quarantined homes. My freezer is stocked with cranberries and I’m certainly ready to give this a try, so you should, too!

Ray Menard’s Famous Cranberry Chutney

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 (12-ounce) package fresh or frozen cranberries

½ cup apple cider vinegar (or to taste)

½ cup golden raisins

½ cup peeled, diced apple (I use Granny Smith)

¼ teaspoon allspice

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Combine water and sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat.

Add remaining ingredients and return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until apples are tender. (If you like thicker chutney, simmer the mixture for an addition 15 minutes or more.)

Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the sauce. Cool to room temperature and refrigerate overnight to allow flavors to meld. Serve at room temperature.

May be made a few days in advance and kept refrigerated. Yields about 2 ½ cups.

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Meet Brandon Mayberry

Alright, loyal readers. Are you ready to pop on an apron and flex your “Great British Bake Off” muscles? If so, this recipe is for you, because it is not a simple cake-from-a-box endeavor. But we’re not surprised that Brandon, along with his former business partner and recipe mastermind Pam Rose, came up with this incredible creation, as the two of them once co-owned Chicago’s Swirls Cupcakes, a mecca for all things delicious and cupcake-y.

If you think that this recipe is full of tricky twists and turns, then you’ll be amused to hear Pam’s notes on its current incarnation. Like Paul Hollywood, she is honest about this recipe being a baking challenge: “Believe it or not, this is the scaled-down, slightly-abridged recipe/instructions for the lovely Gingerbread cupcakes. I did however, still have to be very specific or the recipe could easily fail. And I know how upset I get when recipes do not work----especially around the holidays when there's no time for failure!”

If you take a crack at this, please tag us on Facebook or Instagram! We’d love to see how these beauties turn out, because they can’t be anything other than divine, winter-spiced holiday masterpieces!

Holiday Gingerbread Cupcakes from Swirlz Cupcakes ®

Yield: 12 – 16 cupcakes (depending on size of your muffin tins)

Swirlz “success notes”: 

Please practice Mise en Place (everything in it’s place). Measure out your ingredients ahead of time and have them ready before you start mixing to reduce the chances of accidentally leaving something out.

All ingredients should be at room temperature. Use a kitchen scale and/or measure carefully, as random substitutions may cause the recipe to fail.

For the Gingerbread Cupcakes:

Ingredients

1 1/3 cup (160g) all-purpose flour

½ cup (96g) white granulated sugar

¾ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon allspice

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ cup (½ stick/57g) unsalted European style butter, softened

¼ cup canola oil

½ cup unsulfured molasses

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

½ cup (120g) sour cream, room temperature

Cupcake Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a cupcake pan with baking cups.

With an electric mixer, beat together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt on low speed for about 20 seconds. Add softened butter and oil and mix for about 1-2 minutes to coat the flour, until mixture resembles wet sand.

In a small bowl, whisk together molasses, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream until smooth. Slowly add the wet mixture on low speed. Scrape down bottom and sides of bowl. Increase to medium speed and beat for about 1 minute until the batter is smooth. (note: batter is slightly watery)

Distribute the batter between the baking cups, filling about 2/3 full. Bake for 16-22 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Bake time will depend n the size of your muffin tin so check for doneness. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Italian Meringue Buttercream

Yield: 8 cups   

Equipment: Stand Mixer with whisk attachment and candy thermometer

Ingredients

16 ounces granulated sugar

8 ounces water

¼ teaspoon salt

8 large egg whites

24 ounces unsalted European style butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

(optional: 4 ounces of softened cream cheese)

Meringue Buttercream Directions:

On a stovetop, mix together the water and sugar, cover with a lid and bring to a boil on medium-high heat.

Keep the lid on the pot for 3-4 minutes and be sure that all the sugar granules are dissolved, otherwise your sugar can get gritty and crystalize.

Remove the lid, insert the candy thermometer carefully and continue cooking on medium-high heat until the syrup reaches 240°F.

When the sugar solution is at about 235°F, begin whipping the egg whites in the stand mixer on high speed. Add the salt to the egg whites.

When the egg whites reach soft peaks, begin pouring the sugar solution in a steady stream on to the whipping egg whites while mixing on low speed.

Continue whipping the egg/sugar mixture until it reaches stiff peaks. The meringue will now need to be cooled. You may scoop it out of the bowl and place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes or wrap a linen towel around the bowl with an ice pack to cool the meringue down without moving it to a different bowl.

Once the meringue is cooled, whip in soft butter (butter must be soft, not melted!) and vanilla until the buttercream is light and fluffy and no longer tastes like butter. 

Optional Cream Cheese: Once your butter has been incorporated and is light and fluffy, you may add the cream cheese, whip until fluffy again. (Do not over-mix.)

Pipe or spread on top of cooled cupcakes. See note below with regard to an additional/optional “layer.” 

Cake “schmear” / Optional

At Swirlz, prior to piping the Italian buttercream frosting on to the cupcakes (which is sometimes made with the cream cheese addition) we would melt a small amount of Cacao BARRY Chocolat Blanc (white chocolate) in a glass measuring cup in the microwave, until soft. Using the back of a teaspoon, we would “schmear” the tops of the cooled cupcakes with the white chocolate, let it cool completely and then continue to pipe or spread the Italian buttercream onto the cupcakes. Top with holiday sprinkles or tiny gingerbread men.

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Recipe Corner: Rachele Schmiege’s Gluten-Free Peach Cobbler

We’re now four months into the pandemic, and while #pandemicbaking is no longer trending as heavily as it used to be, hundreds of thousands of Americans are either still out of work or working from home, and have an abundance of time to bake. If you’re starting to feel overwhelmed by The Great Typhoon of Gluten (editor’s note: this is not a thing. I just made it up), I highly recommend you give this gluten-free delight a go, made refreshingly summery by fresh peaches! I guarantee it’ll be worth turning on your oven during a heat wave.

Rachele and her husband Stefan, at a Met Opera opening night party.

Name: Rachele Schmiege

Hometown: Originally Vicksburg, MI, but I spent 15 years in Boston, MA, and that feels like home as well.

Years at the Met: 1 year full-time, 2 years in the extra chorus.

What is your favorite opera? La Traviata, but I love most Verdi Operas.

What is your most memorable experience at the Met so far? My most memorable experience would be when I got the full-time job at the Met. I was in a production of The Handmaids Tale in Boston at the time and Maestro Palumbo and his team were so accommodating with my very busy tech week schedule. I was the last to audition and was offered the job on the spot. I will remember that moment for the rest of my life: Maestro accompanied me on the piano, the audition team was wonderful, and my dream was achieved!

Rachele (far right) with members of the Met Chorus and Maestro Edward Gardner.

What do you miss the most about the Met? I miss so much, but most of all I miss making music and being onstage with my beautiful, kind, and talented colleagues.

Rachele (left) and extra chorister Claire Kuttler (right) sporting their fancy Queen of Spades gowns.

What music are you listening to these days? Sirius XM Broadway and Metropolitan Opera Radio.

What is most outrageous thing you’ve ever cooked (or eaten)? When I was in Romania, I ate a plate of mystery meat at an outdoor animal park/amphitheater/restaurant. I'm not sure what I ate. I just hope it was not a sibling of one of the animals watching me.

What are the three things in your kitchen you can’t live without: My husband worked at a high-end kitchen store for a number of years, and I can't live without my knives. We have a pretty nice collection of culinary steel. I have brought knives on every traveling gig (wrapped up in my checked bag, of course!) because cooking with a subpar knife is frustrating. So I would say: my Miyabi Birchwood knife, coffee pot, and dutch oven.

What are your three go-to ingredients right now? Since quarantine, I have been gardening up a storm. So far there has been a harvest of eggplant, squash, green beans, basil, and cucumbers. They are my go-to because nothing is better than fresh, still-warm-from-the-sun veggies and herbs.

If you had to choose, what would your “last meal” be? Sushi. Lots and lots of sushi.

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Rachele has this to say about her new favorite dessert:

Here’s a recipe I have made twice this week, and it's insanely good, using ripe peaches. Best of all, it's gluten free, but does not taste like it!  This was inspired by a socially-distanced gathering I attended. There was a delicious-looking cobbler that I could not eat. (And I love seasonal fruit in dessert form, so this was hard to pass up.)  I decided to look into this for the future, and low and behold, I found this recipe. It is a King Arthur recipe, but I modified it based on my preferences.  

Gluten-Free Peach Cobbler, inspired by King Arthur Flour (The original recipe can be found here.)

(Photo: Shutterstock.)

Ingredients: 

4 tbsp. cold butter

1 cup Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Mix from King Arthur (make sure you are using the mix, not the flour)

3/4 cup milk, at room temperature

1 large egg at room temperature

2 1/2 cups of fresh peaches (peeled, pitted, and sliced)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and/or 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (optional) [Rachele’s Note: I prefer King Arthur cinnamon because it is life-changing.]

Instructions: 

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2) Place butter in an 8" square or 9" round pan, then put in the oven to melt butter. 

3) To make the batter, mix the baking mix and sugar in a separate bowl.

4) Blend in milk and egg.

5) Once the butter is melted, remove the pan from oven and pour batter over the melted butter.

6) Mix prepared peaches, sugar, cinnamon and/or nutmeg in the same bowl you used for the batter (why do extra dishes, am I right?!)

7) Spoon the peach mixture over the top of the batter. 

8) Bake until the top is lightly browned and the fruit is bubbling, about 40-45 minutes.

9) Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Rachele's notes: You can serve this cobbler on its own, or with fresh whipped cream or vanilla bean ice cream.  Additionally, if you prefer other fruit or if another fruit is in season, you can swap out the 2 1/2 cups of fruit for something else.  I'm thinking apricots with nutmeg and cinnamon, strawberries with lemon or orange zest, plums with star anise, blueberries with cinnamon... the world is your oyster.  

(Rachele is not a spokesperson for King Arthur products, but if they want to give her free things, she will not complain.)  

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BONUS Recipe Corner: Hermit Cookies for Pandemic Hermits

Sure, you’ve seen Dan Smith in this space before. He taught you how to make delectable blueberry scones. But desperate times call for a double dose of recipe corner goodness. Because when the going gets tough, the tough fill the void with baking. Dan, as we all know, is an excellent baker, but one of his greatest creations (other than his Millionaire Shortbread, which I might force him to share in a future recipe corner) are his Hermit Cookies. Tender, chewy, and practically overflowing with gingerbread spices, they may strike you as more appropriate for the colder months. But considering we’re all playing the role of the hermit, quarantining and social distancing during the pandemic, I figured these cookies are more appropriate than ever.

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Dan and his husband Michael on a recent pandemic hike.

Name: Daniel Clark Smith

Where do you live? I live in what could be described as “Met Opera West” -- Teaneck, NJ. We have a fair number of choristers and at least one fabulous principal artist — Christine Goerke!

Where did you go to school? I have a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Fredonia State University of New York, and a Master’s degree in Choral Conducting from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. In other words, "all in" with choral music!

What's the funniest thing to happen to you on the Met stage? In Act II of the Nathaniel Merrill production of Der Rosenkavalier, I played a Lackey in the grand Faninal household. I entered with a tray of sweet wine (Tokaji) and cookies to serve to Faninal and Ochs. Throughout the scene, the Ochs' grungy, slovenly men (played by chorus basses and baritones) descended upon me. As performances went on, and the cookies were devoured, I was tortured in increasingly funny ways. I could not fight them off, since, wearing slippery gloves, I held a tray full of glasses and needed both hands for a good grip. The final performance featured a cookie balanced on my head and a deft catch of carrot greens thrown onto the tray as I exited. There may have been one person in the audience with binoculars who actually saw this buffoonery, but I couldn’t stop laughing on my exit!

Dan and Belinda Oswald taking a jog (or rather, running for their lives) in a production of Guilliaume Tell. (Photo: Beth Bergman)

If you hadn’t become a musician, what do you think you would be? I think I would have pursued a career as a graphic designer. I have an artistic eye, and a talent for calligraphy and drawing. If only I had more training, I could have a second career!

What's an average pandemic day look like for you? The first hour of my day includes some sort of exercise: biking, walking, or hiking. Then I usually settle in to help manage the social media presence for the Chorus, "Marie Kondo" a room of the house, plan meals to cook for me and my husband. We usually end the day by watching a favorite TV show or movie.

What music are you listening to these days?
My husband, a pianist, chooses lots of piano music to listen to while I cook (classical and jazz). Or, while I’m cooking, he plays for me on our beautiful Charles R. Walter baby grand (nicknamed “Walter”).

Have you tried any new recipes during the pandemic? Our new favorite meal is Salsa Verde Enchiladas, and I have enjoyed making a Balsamic Vinaigrette.

What are your comfort foods? After visiting my Aunt in mid-state Illinois, I’m craving the local potato chips from Farmington: “Kitchen Cooked.” They remind me of my youth, and how my Mother could make a meal out of half a bag!

What are your favorite summer foods? Burgers on the grill with all the stuff: sometimes avocado, sometimes bacon and a fried egg, sometimes just cheese, ketchup and spicy brown mustard!

What do you miss most about the Met? Sharing that stage with great artists in every field (from costumers to scenic artists and of course my chorus colleagues), and singing my heart out.

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Dan says, “I tried making these Hermit Cookies as one of my first baking projects when sheltering at home began. I had never heard of them, but they sounded delicious. My husband and I love ginger, and we were being literal hermits — it seemed like a perfect fit. It takes some time, but they are one of our favorites now: rich, chewy, with a little kick of ginger. Perfect the technique now, because you will want these in the dead of winter with a cup of tea.

Hermit Cookies

(from ‘The Perfect Cookie,’ from America’s Test Kitchen)
Makes about 20 cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup raisins (I used golden raisins; that’s what I had)
2 tablespoons crystallized ginger, finely chopped (see note)
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup (5¼ ounces) packed dark brown sugar
½ cup molasses (see note)
2 large eggs

Glaze:
¾ cup (3 ounces) confectioners' sugar
1 ½ tablespoons orange juice

Directions:
Process raisins and ginger in food processor until mixture sticks together and only small pieces remain, about 10 seconds. Transfer mixture to large bowl.

Melt butter in small saucepan over medium-low heat, swirling saucepan occasionally, until nutty brown in color, about 10 minutes. (This takes longer than you think; but make sure it doesn’t burn!) Stir in cinnamon and allspice and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Stir butter mixture into raisin mixture until well combined. Let cool completely. (Note: I can never get the butter and raisin mixture to combine completely; it doesn’t matter. They still turn out well!)

Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together in bowl. Stir brown sugar, molasses, and eggs into cooled butter-raisin mixture until incorporated. Using rubber spatula, fold in flour mixture (dough will be very sticky). Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until dough is firm, at least 1½ hours or up to 24 hours.

Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Divide your dough into quarters.

Roll each quarter into a 10-inch log.

Orange juice and confectioner’s sugar for the glaze.

Here is what the glazed, baked cookie logs look like. (Editor’s note: I’d eat one of these myself.)

Cut the finished logs into cookie bars.

The delectable finished product.

Transfer the dough to the counter and divide into quarters. Roll 1 piece of dough into a 10-inch log on a lightly floured counter. Transfer the log to a prepared sheet and use a ruler to neatly square off sides (each sheet will contain 2 logs). Repeat with the remaining dough so that each quarter is ruled into a 10-inch log. (I make sure there are about 4 inches between logs, otherwise they will run together into a big pancake.) Bake until only slight indentation remains on edges when touched (center will appear slightly soft), 15 to 20 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Let cookies cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then slide cookies, still on parchment, onto wire rack. Let cookies cool completely.

Whisk confectioners' sugar and orange juice in small bowl until smooth. (I would start with a tablespoon of orange juice; the glaze is a little too thin using these measurements.) Drizzle glaze onto cooled cookies and let sit until glaze dries, about 15 minutes. Cut cookies into 2-inch bars before serving. Hermits can be stored at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Notes (from America’s Test Kitchen):
A New England specialty, hermits are a chewy raisin-molasses-spice cookie with a sweet glaze. We had fond memories of these cookies, but most recipes we tried baked up more hard and dry than soft, were peppered with tough raisins, and tasted overly spiced. Hermits typically involve creaming softened butter, but we knew that melted butter generally makes cookies moister and chewier. Taking this a step further, we browned the butter to add nutty flavor. Pureeing the raisins and ginger into a rough paste and steeping them in the browned butter softened them, distributed their flavor in every bite, and provided the cookies with more chew. Opinions are divided as to how hermits should be shaped. One camp calls for dropping balls of dough to form round cookies; the other calls for the dough to be shaped into logs, baked, and then cut into individual cookies. A side-by-side test revealed that the hermits baked in logs and then cut were much chewier and moister, as the larger mass of dough better held its moisture during baking.

Crystallized (or candied) ginger is available in the spice aisle of most supermarkets. For this recipe, we prefer using mild (or light) molasses instead of the robust or blackstrap varieties.

Nutrition:
Calories 216
Fat 6 g
Saturated 3 g
Trans 0 g
Monounsaturated 2 g
Polyunsaturated 0 g
Cholesterol 34 mg
Sodium 117 mg
Carbs 40 g
Fiber 1 g
Sugars 27 g
Protein 2 g

The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation.

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Recipe Corner: Mary Hughes Brings Us Some Much-Needed Levity

Gentle Readers, we can all agree that the past month or so has been stressful. Between the fear of contracting the Coronavirus and the possibly greater fear of the inconvenience of a large-scale quarantine, New Yorkers (and the rest of the country, of course) have been doomsday-prepping like champs and stockpiling plenty of non-perishable food staples.

Thankfully, Met chorus mezzo-soprano Mary Hughes has an irreverent antidote for the Coronavirus doldrums that fits neatly into your shelf-stable apocalypse meal-planning.

Have you ever heard of a Kitty Litter Cake?

No? Well…now you have, and as disgusting as it sounds (and, honestly, looks), the end result is delicious, and the ingredients are all things you can stock away in your bomb shelter with the 75 containers of Clorox Wipes you bought at Duane Reade.

Mary says this of her delicious scatological creation: “I made this with my 9-year-old and it was fun and we laughed, even though it is gross. I've made it for bake sales (people actually buy it), and it’s perfect if you need a quick dessert option.” 

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Name: Mary Kristine Hughes.

Hometown: Longmont, Colorado.

Years at the Met: I’m about to finish up my 14th season!

My favorite opera is: Falstaff or Madama Butterfly.

One of my most memorable experiences at the Met so far is: ONSTAGE: Being on stage with Ewa Podles when she sang Voce di donna in La Gioconda; OFFSTAGE: flying alone with my 5-month old to Japan for our last tour.

Other than opera, my favorite type of music is: Nueva Cancion from South America.

When I’m not at the Met, you can find me: Taking meeting minutes for the PTA.

The most outrageous thing I've ever cooked (or eaten) was: I’m not much of a cook, but I’m married to one, and he makes incredible chicken mole out of the pulverized, smoked skins of more than a dozen different types of chilis from the mountainous region of Puebla, Mexico.

The three things in my kitchen I can’t live without are: My Vita Mix, wooden spoons, and my favorite coffee cup.

Currently, my three go-to ingredients are: frozen mangos, fresh limes, and Alacran tequila.

If I had to choose, my “last meal” would be: Tacos al carbon with fresh salsa, and an ice-cold Coke out of bottle.

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Kitty Litter Cake

Yes, we know what you’re thinking: ‘Wow. This looks like the cat box in a cat-horder’s basement.” And this would be an accurate observation. But just look at the ingredient list. All of that stuff is delicious!

Ingredients:

1 boxed yellow cake mix (any kind)

1 boxed spiced cake mix (something in-between white and chocolate)

1 box of instant vanilla pudding

1 package of golden oreos

Blue and green food coloring

1 small bag of Tootsie Rolls

Approximately 10 fun-size chocolate bars

Various chocolate-covered candies (I used dark chocolate caramels for variation.)

Plastic cat box and scooper for serving (NB: Obviously, use a NEW one, and wash well with soap and water.)

Instructions

Mary’s 9-year-old son Javier getting to work on the cakes!

1. Prepare the cakes per the instructions on the box.

2. While the cakes are baking, prepare the instant pudding and refrigerate.

Javier and Mary putting together their disconcertingly delicious tray of horrors.

3. After the cakes are finished and cooling, prepare the 'clumping' litter by putting the oreos through the food processor with several drops of green and blue food coloring and set aside. It should be a powdery, sandy consistency.

4. When the cakes are cooled, crumble up into a large mixing bowl and add the chilled vanilla pudding to form a pasty dough.

5. Spread the cake mixture along the bottom of the CLEAN litter pan, then sprinkle the clumping mixture over the top. Layer between the cake and clumping mixture as you would a lasagna. Toward the top layers, start adding molded chocolate that looks like, well, cat poop. It helps if the chocolate is slightly warm so that it can be shaped into little turds. (Yes, you read that right. Mary said “little turds”. See the picture for inspiration.)

(Editor’s Note: If you can not stomach the idea of serving a dessert in an actual kitty litter box, I think Mary would agree that a large casserole dish would work just as well. Bon appetit, friends!)

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Ned Hanlon vs. The Great Met Opera Bake-Off

A chicken pesto pie in the shape of a viking helmet?!?! Sure… Why not?

by Ned Hanlon

To start with, I think I should be completely honest: this recipe was a failure. Its purpose was to fulfill a simple and laughable goal I set for myself: winning a baking competition. But not just any competition… the renowned Metropolitan Opera Bake-Off!

But why was that goal laughable? Well mainly because I’m not a terribly good baker! Sure, over the past year or two I’ve developed a strong quiche game and have mustered solid meringue efforts but, largely I remain very mistake-prone. I have still never succeeded in caramelizing sugar and only recently confused baking soda and baking powder in a chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Despite this handicap, I decided to win. I knew I had to go with my strength: savory baking. If you squint just the right way at a quiche, it’s basically a pie, and I was determined to make that a reality. So I did! The recipe below, my chicken, pesto, sun-dried tomato and feta pie, tasted pretty good. I’ll leave you to judge on appearance!

But despite everything, I didn’t actually win. My pie was beaten by some truly remarkable blue cheese walnut scones. And you know what… that’s fine! I had a wonderful time making it, people were so nice in their feedback and compliments, and I had the legit honor of baking for the great New York Times reporter Melissa Clark (one of the judges), whose recipes are my go-to when it comes time to making dinner!

With that all said, let’s get on to the recipe! One note: A LOT of this was free-handed, and I’m trying to reconstruct amounts in hindsight. Basically, I could have written “to your taste” for every amount, so please, if you want more garlic, add more garlic! The pastry is an amalgam of a recipe from the Great British Bake-Off, and the more standard one below.

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Ingredients:

For the Rice:

• 3/4 cup Italian Rice

• 1 1/2 cup stock

• Salt

For the Pastry:

• 450 grams all purpose flour

• 100 grams bread flour

• 1 tsp salt

• 150 grams lard (I was unable to find lard on short notice, so I went with shortening, which worked fine)

• 25 grams unsalted butter

• 1 egg, beaten, to glaze

• 30cm circular template (I did mine with a compass and parchment paper).

For the Filling:

• 2 onions, diced

• 1 1/2 lbs chicken, cubed about 3/4 inch

• 1 zucchini, diced

• 2 tomatoes, seeds removed and diced

• 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, diced

• 4 cloves garlic, minced (bet you thought I was going to say diced again!)

• 6 oz pesto

• 10 oz crumbled feta cheese

• 1 tbs dried basil

• 1 tbs dried oregano

• Extra virgin olive oil

• Salt

• Pepper

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Directions:

First make the filling:

1. Add 1 tbs of extra virgin olive oil (henceforth known as “EVOO”) to a large skillet on medium low heat. When hot, add onions, 1/2 tbs basil, 1/2 tbs oregano, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook 15 minutes, or until slightly golden and delicious smelling.

2. While cooking the onion add 1 tbs EVOO to another large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add diced zucchini and a pinch of salt. Cook until soft (10 minutes maybe?) then remove to a large bowl.

3. Once onions are golden, add garlic and sun-dried tomatoes and cook for one minute, until fragrant. Remove onions, garlic and sun-dried tomatoes to bowl with zucchini.

4. In the skillet used for onions add 1 tbs EVOO over medium-high heat and, once hot, add chicken, as well as salt and pepper to taste. Cook 6-ish minutes, until just cooked through, then remove to bowl.

5. While chicken is cooking, add 1 1/2 cup stock to a medium pot. Bring to boil then add rice. Bring back to boil then turn the heat down to low and let cook, covered, for 15 minutes. Leave in covered pot for another 15 minutes then remove to bowl and set aside to cool completely.

6. Stir to combine chicken, onions, zucchini etc. Add pesto and tomato. Stir again, then gently fold in feta. Spoon into colander and set aside to drain and cool.

Now we do pastry! (Note on pastry: hot water crust pastry can only be worked on when it’s hot, so don’t start this process until your fillings are cool and ready to go. In fact, you can totally make the rice and filling a day before and store it in the fridge if you’d like!).

So are we ready? All right, let’s do it!

Photo: Jenny Gorman / Met Opera

These were only some of the amazing baked creations made by artists, artisans, and staff at the Met Opera!

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. (I legitimately have no idea what that would equal in Celsius… probably somewhere between 0 and 100 degrees I think.)

   [Editor’s Note: It’s around 200 C.]

2. Combine both flours and salt in a large bowl. Stir to combine.

3. Place 200ml of water in a pan over high heat. Add lard and butter until they have melted (around 2ish minutes). Pour wet mixture into flour mixture and mix. Use a wooden spoon while it is hot but as soon as your hands can take it, combine with your hands. Tip onto floured baking surface and knead until smooth. Roll into a ball and then cut off 1/3. Put the other 2/3’s in a covered bowl to keep it warm.

4. Roll out the dough pretty thin (sorry I can’t be more exact about that!) use the template to cut dough in a circle. Return trimmings to warm bowl.

5. Move circle of dough to a lined baking sheet. Pile somewhere between a half and a full inch of rice on dough circle, leaving an inch around the edges. Brush the edge of the pastry not covered by rice with water

6. Pile chicken filling in a dome filling on top of rice. Make it approximately like half of a globe. Smooth out dome as best you can.

7. Cut off 3/4 of remains pastry. Roll out dough. Drape over chicken. Smooth over filling and trim so that the edges line up with the edges of the base pastry. Press edge with the tines of a fork to seal.

8. Use the remaining dough to decorate in any way you see fit! You can see what I did but the world is your oyster!

9. Mold two cones (horns!). Place them on the baking sheet next to the pie.

10. Brush pie and horns with egg wash and cut two slits in the top of the pie for steam to escape

11. Cook for 50 minutes or until golden brown. Keep an eye out for some of the decorations which are more likely to burn. If anything darkens too much, cover in tin foil.

Enjoy!

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Edward Hanlon, graduate of McGill University and University of Michigan, is a Long Island boy making good with the Metropolitan Opera. He serves in dual roles as chorister and chair of the chorus and Met AGMA committee at the Met. Favorite roles include Figaro, Sparafucile, Dick Deadeye, Sarastro, and Nick Bottom with companies such as the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Lincoln Center Theatre, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Des Moines Metro Opera and the Glimmerglass Festival. He dreams of singing another Figaro with his beautiful wife, soprano Tanya Roberts. His first novel is is due to be released this summer ... at the end of the 2017-18 season ... umm... someday?

Check out his website and follow him on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Cocktail Corner: Opera + Booze = Happy Hour!

by Lianne Coble-Dispensa

Whether you’re a gift-giving, carol-singing ball of joy or a dismal combination of Ebenezer Scrooge and The Grinch, everyone can agree that when the holidays arrive, there’s often a good reason to celebrate with (or drown one’s sorrows in) a fancy cocktail.

We like to err on the celebratory side of things, and what better way to enjoy a frosty evening than at the warm, cozy Metropolitan Opera, seeing one of the many amazing shows on the boards during the holiday season. To add to your evening, we shall offer you some appropriate cocktails to pair with your festive theater outing. Cheers, and enjoy!

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• The Queen of Spades (Runs Nov. 29th-Dec. 21st):

Photo: Shutterstock

Tchaikovsky’s sumptuous, melancholy work deserves the majority of your attention, so I won’t get too complicated here. The costumes gravitate towards an elegant black-and-white theme, and a classic White Russian cocktail will warm the cockles of your heart before (or after) your operatic trip to St. Petersburg. Simply combine one part Kahlua, one part vodka (we recommend Russian Standard here, but drinker’s choice, as always), and one part heavy cream. You can either pop everything in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake vigorously, or, as the Kahlua website recommends, you can fill a rocks glass with ice, pour in the Kahlua, the vodka, and then finish up with the cream, poured slowly over the back of a spoon to create a pleasing ombre effect. За здоровье!

• Der Rosenkavalier (Runs Dec. 13th-Jan. 4th):

Robert Carsen’s updated staging places the action of Der Rosenkavalier around the time it was composed, that is, in 1911, in pre-war Vienna. It’s classy, it’s chic, and it deserves a hint of the rose that is featured so prominently in the first act duet between Octavian and Sophie. So fashion yourself one of these beauties:

Photo: Susannah Brinkley Henry

Elderflower Rose Gimlet

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces gin

• 1 1/2 ounce St. Germain

• 1 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice

• 1/2 ounce simple syrup

• 1/2 teaspoon rose water

• rose petals for garnish

Instructions: In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine gin, St. Germain, lime juice, simple syrup and rose water. Shake vigorously and pour contents, ice and all into a rocks glass filled with ice or a cocktail glass, neat. Garnish with a rose petal.

(Thank you to the blog Feast and West for this delicious recipe!)

• The Magic Flute (Runs Dec. 15th-Jan. 4th)

This family-friendly Met favorite deserves a celebratory cocktail for the adults, and a delicious non-alcoholic beverage for the kids (and the abstaining adults). The delightful yellowish-green hue to the Beetlejuice cocktail (created by bartender Brian Gall of Portland’s Bacchus Bar) will match nicely with the brilliant color palate of Juile Taymor’s visually-pleasing production.

Beetlejuice Cocktail

Photo credit: Allison Ferre

• 1.5 oz. calvados apple brandy

• 1 oz. apple cider

• .5 oz. rosemary simple syrup

• lemon juice

• 5-7 basil leaves

Combine first five ingredients and shake with ice; strain into martini glass and garnish with fresh basil.

For a non-alcoholic treat, may we suggest the Slow Cooker Wassail Punch, which can be easily whipped up in your crock pot. With delicious notes of ginger, apple, orange, lemon, and cinnamon (to name a few), you’ll want to keep this one in the holiday rotation! Check out the recipe here, with thanks to The Kitchn blog.

• Wozzeck (runs Dec. 27th-Jan. 22nd):

William Kentridge’s appropriately eerie production of Berg’s psychologically probing masterpiece is not for the faint of heart. Death & despair are some of the predominant themes in the life of the troubled Wozzeck, so I thought the classic Blood & Sand cocktail would pair nicely. To fashion this boozy and surprisingly-quaffable cocktail, shake the following ingredients over ice: 1 oz. scotch, a 0.5 oz. each of cherry liqueur and sweet vermouth, 0.75 oz. of orange juice and a 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice. Strain into a coupe, and garnish with a cherry. Wozzeck probably wished he had something this delicious to distract him from the trials of life. Alas, we’ll just have to drink it for him. (Thanks to this blog for Death & Company’s modern take on the ol’ Savoy Cocktail Book’s classic recipe.)

• New Year’s Eve Gala Featuring Anna Netrebko (1 night only: Dec. 31st!)

Credit: shutterstock.com

This pairing was both the easiest and the most difficult: easy because ANYTHING with champagne would work perfectly, and difficult because there are a glut of options to consider! Nevertheless, I’ve narrowed it down to what I think is the easiest of the champagne-y cocktail options: the Kir Royale. There are ‘recipes’ online, but the thing itself is elegant in its simplicity: pour yourself a glass of champagne (or any sparkling wine, really. Who am I to judge?) and top it with a splash (or two) of crème de cassis. Garnish with a lemon twist. If blackcurrant liquor isn’t your thing, you can also make a Royale with Chambord (or another raspberry liqueur), and if you’re looking for a drink that packs more of a punch, try a white velvet (which is a glass of champagne spiked with a bit of Fino sherry). So many reasons to celebrate!

• La Traviata (Runs Jan. 10th-Mar. 19th):

Please forgive me, as I’ve taken a slightly irreverent approach to Michael Mayer’s effervescently colorful production of La Traviata. Still, hear me out on this: at the risk of ruining the surprise, during the overture, we find Violetta on her deathbed surrounded by her loved ones. She dies just as Act I explodes onto the stage, thereby interpreting the entirety of the opera as a deathbed hallucination of various memories. So, I thought the most appropriate choice for this cocktail pairing was the perennially-delicious craft cocktail favorite: the Corpse Reviver (well, technically it’s known as the Corpse Reviver No. 2. I’m not sure where the first one went…).

Corpse Reviver No. 2 (Courtesy of Saveur.com)

Photo: Shutterstock

• 1 oz Gin

• 1 oz. Lillet Blanc

• 1 oz. Cointreau

• 1 oz. fresh lemon juice

• 1 dash absinthe

• Orange peel, for garnish

Shake all ingredients together in an ice-filled cocktail shaker and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with orange peel. (Editor’s note: I also enjoy a chilled coupe glass or a Nick & Nora for this cocktail.)

Do let us know if you end up trying these pairings, or if you have any other creative ideas for operatic cocktails! And don’t forget, you have to buy the ticket to take the ride, so head on over to the Metropolitan Opera website and consider gifting a night at the opera (and a tasty adult beverage) to the party people in your lives!

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Photo: Joshua South Photography

Lianne Coble-Dispensa joined the Metropolitan Opera as a member of the extra chorus in 2010, and went full time in 2015. She is the Editor-in-Chief for the Met Artists Newsletter, and is a member of the Met Chorus Artists executive board. When she's not singing opera or furiously copy editing this month's newsletter, she enjoys spending the lion's share of her free time cooking various delights in the kitchen, reading non-fiction, Crossfitting, and running moderately impressive distances. She is married to fellow chorister (and ultramarathoner/Crossfitter) Scott Dispensa, and they live in Teaneck, NJ with their cat, Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, and one derpy puppy named Finnegan McCloud.

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Recipe Corner: AGMA's President, Master Of Pancakes

Ray Menard has not had a boring professional life. Prior to his work at the Met, he was a Staff Stage Director and Artistic Administrator for the late (and once-beloved) New York City Opera. Now he is our extremely knowledgeable and experienced Production Stage Manager, a title he has held since the late 80s. As if the daunting task of stage-managing the behemoth productions put up at the Met weren’t enough, he recently was elected as the president of the American Guild of Musical Artists (commonly known as AGMA), the union that represents the Met’s soloists, choristers, dancers, staff performers, directors, and stage managers. And, as if THAT weren’t enough, Ray is known for being an excellent chef. The Man of Many Talents will now share with us a delicious comfort food recipe that may become part of your regular brunch rotation.

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Name: Raymond M. Menard

Hometown: Mountain Lakes, NJ

Years at the Met: 32

My favorite opera is:  Hard to choose: Elektra, Fidelio, Lohengrin, Falstaff and Norma. 

Ray has titled this photograph “Explaining the intricacies of chicken pot pie to our dachshund, Daisy.”

One of my most memorable experiences at the Met so far was: sitting in the auditorium for a performance of I Puritani with Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes and James Morris.  I couldn’t believe how they could sing like that and they seemed to just egg each other on to sing better and better.

Other than opera, my favorite type of music is: I love the music of Bach.  If I had to live on just that, I’d be fine.

When I am not at the Met, you can find me: At home in New Jersey.  Really boring, I know, but Dorothy had me in mind when she said there is no place like home.

The most outrageous thing I've ever cooked at home (or eaten) was:  My family marvels at the fact that I turned the entire crop from my plum tree into preserves on my outdoor gas grill during a power failure. 

The three things in my kitchen I can’t live without are:   My gas range and electric double ovens, but what really keeps me going is my coffee grinder.

Currently, my three go-to ingredients are:  It is a good thing that I don’t have blood pressure problems because I love salt. I can’t do without lemons.  I agree with Julia Child that any recipe that starts with one cup of heavy cream can’t be bad.

If I had to choose, my “last meal” would be:  Thanksgiving dinner.  It is by far my favorite holiday, surrounded by family and friends I love, all of whom collaborate to bring something special to the table.  As we are talking about my LAST meal, I would substitute an English Trifle for the pie as I am a sucker for a gooey dessert.

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(Editor’s Note: I highly recommend that everyone watch this video. It is delightful.)

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OATMEAL PANCAKES WITH WALNUTS

(“Recipe credit: I wish I knew.  I have been making them for a long time and have no recollection of the original source.”) 

1 ¼ cups quick-cooking oatmeal  (the 5-minute kind)

1 cup of plain low-fat yogurt

1 cup of low-fat milk

¼ cup all-purpose white flour

¼ cup whole-wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon honey

¼ cup chopped walnuts

In a large bowl, combine eggs, yogurt, milk and honey.  Stir in flours and oats, baking soda and salt. Mix well.  Add chopped walnuts. Mix again. (Add additional milk if batter becomes too thick.)

Heat a large non-stick griddle over medium heat.  Lightly oil the griddle. Spoon about ¼ cup batter onto hot griddle for each pancake.  Cook until the bottoms are browned and the bubbles on top start to pop, about three minutes. Flip and cook until the pancakes are browned on the other side.  Repeat with remaining batter.

Serving suggestion: top with warm maple syrup and fresh fruit.

Notes:  I make the batter the night before if I have enough foresight, and recommend leaving the baking soda out and adding it in just before cooking.

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Dan Smith Will Teach You To Bake Scones

No, this is not a Recipe Corner from Dan Smith, the ubiquitous guitar teacher whose visage graces the community bulletin boards of countless Manhattan establishments. We're talking about one of our own, chorister Daniel Clark Smith, who will walk you through mastering his favorite blueberry scone recipe! But first, a bit about Dan…

Name: Daniel Clark Smith.

Hometown: Wheaton, IL.

Years at the Met: Almost 18, full-time.

My favorite opera is: Lohengrin.

One of my most memorable experiences at the Met so far is: Early on as an extra chorister, I was cast in the new production of La Forza del Destino. I will never forget the feeling of wearing a costume that was made especially for me. It fit me like a glove.

Other than opera, my favorite type of music is:

I have eclectic tastes: Sara Bareilles, Stephen Sondheim, Steve Reich, Oscar Peterson

When I’m not at the Met, you can find me:

One of three places: at home in Teaneck, NJ with my husband & cat Cookie; in Kauai, snorkeling at Tunnels Beach; or dreaming of being in Kauai!

The most outrageous thing I've ever cooked (or eaten) was: The tasting menu with wine pairings at Charlie Trotter’s in Lincoln Park, IL was outrageous. Sadly, it’s closed.

The three things in my kitchen I can’t live without are: Green & Black’s Organic Maya Gold dark chocolate; a good chardonnay or sauvignon blanc; An app called Paprika, which I use to find, input and organize all my recipes.

Currently, my three go-to ingredients are: Bitterman’s Fleur de Sel Sea Salt; almond milk; basil pesto.

If I had to choose, my “last meal” would be: Del Frisco’s 8 oz Filet Mignon, medium rare; Caesar salad; charred broccoli or Brussels sprouts; vodka martini with olives

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by Daniel Clark Smith

I finally gave in and binge-watched "The Great British Baking Show" on Netflix last summer. Completely hooked, I watched every episode I could. After "The Great British Baking Show: Masterclass" [S1:E4], I scoured the internet looking for Paul Hollywood's Chocolate Cherry Loaf recipe. I thought, "this doesn't look too difficult", and when Mary Berry, with her mouth full, exclaimed "I could just sit here in the sun with a glass of wine...I don't need anything else. It's delicious!" I was inspired, and took up the challenge.

Of course the white-haired master had made it look so easy. I've tried it about 5 times now (after watching the techniques ad nauseam from the episode), and although each one has tasted delicious, the texture and rise on the loaf has been inconsistent. I've learned that baking seems to be all about trial and error — thankfully, I'm happy to experiment whenever I have free time.

Since then, I have searched for recipes that are more of a "sure thing". There's only so much free time a chorister has! The recipe I'll share with you today has been so consistently great, I can recommend it highly. If you follow the directions, these scones will be flaky, buttery and packed with blueberry flavor; perfect with a cup of coffee. There are a hit at a brunch, or you can even bring them to work and give them to your hungry colleagues.

I found it on the Food52 blog, but it's a "Cook's Illustrated" recipe, which you can check out here.

One thing I've learned in my internet travels is a cooking technique called "mise en place", which directly translates as "setting in position". You'll feel like a TV chef if you do it correctly. It means gathering all your utensils and ingredients in the correct measurements, and setting them up for easy access. It's not just for the OCD folks in the world. It actually serves a purpose with this recipe: you won't be covering your kitchen in flour looking for that plate or measuring cup. It also allows you to complete each step quickly so that the butter doesn't get too warm. This is key: you want the butter in the dough to be cold when it hits the oven. When cold butter heats up, it creates steam and expands, creating the flaky texture you want in a scone.

So, follow the directions below, enjoy the process and realize that you'll likely only have seven scones to give away -- the eighth one will be your reward when you're done! The chef has to test the product, after all...

Cook's Illustrated Blueberry Scones

Preparation: 30 minutes—Cooking time: 25 minutes—Servings: 8 hefty scones

Mise en place

Gathering all the ingredients and utensils is a bit like OCD.

Using A Scale

Using a scale to weigh the ingredients makes for more accurate measurements (At least that’s what the TV chefs say!).

Grating butter

I score each butter stick with a knife so I know when to stop grating.

Adding frozen butter.

Texture.

Here’s the texture of flour & butter combined.

Kneading 6 to 8 times to make a rough ball.

Measurements

My rolling pin is 12 inches long, so there’s no need to measure the dough!

All business.

The “business letter” dough should chill some more.

Rolling the blueberries into a tight log.

Getting close...

A 12 X 4 rectangle, ready for the final steps.

Triangles.

Cutting the dough into 8 triangles reminds me of algebra.

A sprinkle of sugar...

After brushing with butter, sprinkle these babies with sugar.

Blueberry Scones!

The beautiful, aromatic finished product.

Ingredients:

16 tablespoons unsalted butter, each stick frozen (you'll be using 10 tablespoons total)
7 1/2 ounces blueberries (1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sour cream
10 ounces unbleached, all-purpose flour (2 cups; plus more for work surface)
3 1/2 ounces granulated sugar (1/2 cup) + 1 T. for finishing
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Tools (for "mise en place"):
Baking scale
Rolling pin
Citrus zester
Grater
Spoon
Rubber spatula
Bench scraper
Baking sheet (lined with parchment paper)
Small microwaveable dish (for butter)
Whisk
Small bowl for milk & sour cream
Medium bowl for butter
Large bowl for flour mixture
Small plate (floured)
Measuring cups & spoons
Sharp knife
Pastry brush

Directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425°. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove half of wrapper from each stick of frozen butter. Grate unwrapped ends (half of each stick) on large holes of box grater (you should great total of 8 tablespoons) or with a handheld grater and a medium bowl. [ed: I score each stick butter with a knife so I know when to stop grating.] Place grated butter in freezer until needed. Melt 2 tablespoons of remaining ungrated butter and set aside. Save remaining 6 tablespoons butter for another use. Place blueberries in freezer until needed.

2. Whisk milk and sour cream together in small bowl; refrigerate until needed. Whisk flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest in large bowl. Add frozen grated butter to flour mixture and toss with your fingers until butter is thoroughly coated.

3. Flour the counter and a small plate. Add milk mixture to flour mixture and fold with rubber spatula until just combined. Using spatula, transfer dough to liberally floured counter. Dust surface of dough with flour and with floured hands knead dough 6 to 8 times, until it just holds together in ragged ball, adding flour as needed to prevent sticking.

4. Roll dough into approximate 12-inch square. Fold dough into thirds like business letter, using bench scraper to release dough if it sticks to counter. Lift short ends of dough and fold into thirds again to form approximate 4-inch square. Transfer dough to plate lightly dusted with flour and chill in freezer five minutes.

5. Transfer dough to floured counter and roll into approximate 12-inch square again. Sprinkle blueberries evenly over surface of dough, then press down so they are slightly embedded in dough. Using bench scraper, loosen dough from counter. Roll dough into cylinder, pressing to form tight log. Arrange log seam side down and press into 12 by 4-inch rectangle. Using sharp, floured knife, cut rectangle crosswise into four equal rectangles. Cut each rectangle diagonally to form two triangles and transfer to prepared baking sheet.

6. Brush topped with melted butter and sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake until tops and bottoms are golden brown, 18 to 25 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Notes:

To make ahead: after placing scones on baking sheet in step 5, either refrigerate them overnight or freeze for up to one month (you may also use a ziplock freezer bag). When ready to bake, for refrigerated scones, heat oven to 425 degrees and follow directions in step 6. For frozen scones, do not thaw, heat oven to 375 degrees and follow directions and step 6, extending cooking time to 25 to 30 minutes.

I use a handheld Microplane grater, but grating frozen butter is a bit of a workout. I tried using the grater attachment in a food processor once, and the texture of the scones were tough.

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The Holiday Recipe Corner, In Which Lianne Reluctantly Shares Her Favorite Christmas Cookie Recipe

Hi everybody. This is Lianne Coble-Dispensa, your humble Editor-in-Chief of the Met Artists Newsletter. Normally you’d just be seeing my name in a byline for an article or two, but in a moment tinged with necessity, mild narcissism, and a tinge of laziness, I decided to step in and take over the recipe corner this month. Why? Well, it’s the holiday season, and one of the things I love most about the holidays is the fact that making (and eating) cookies is not just encouraged, it is practically mandatory.

Lianne & her husband Scott drinking incredible beer in Switzerland.

Lianne being fancy in a publicity shot that she never uses anymore because she’s got a full-time job singing at the Met. Photo Cred: Joshua South Photography.

Lianne & Scott showing off their glamorous Romeo & Juliette costumes.

Lianne marveling at the size of her steak.

Name: Lianne Coble-Dispensa.

Hometown: Liverpool, NY.

Years at the Met: Joined the Extra chorus in 2010, and the full-time chorus in 2015.

My favorite opera is: Tosca. But Otello and Rosenkavalier are right up there, musically speaking.

One of my most memorable experiences at the Met so far is: I’m going to give two examples, since I can (and I’m sure there are more I’m forgetting). Most recently, the Party in Hell (a.k.a. Walpurgisnacht) scene in Mefistofele. It was basically the only time I could do karate and aggressively play air guitar—half naked—during an opera and instead of getting fired, I got a paycheck. The second is listening to Sondra Radvanovsky absolutely slay the Three Queens during my first full-time season. I don’t cry easily, but she got me every time.

Other than opera, my favorite type of music is: Alt-pop and trashy techno for gym purposes, Gabriel Kahane, folky Americana, anything Baroque, and polyphonic choral music. My sister-in-law said she’s listening to Mongolian pop now, so who knows, I may try that out, too.

When I’m not at the Met, you can find me: Running, Crossfitting, doing just about anything at the gym, puttering around with the Met Artists Newsletter, and cooking. Basically, just constantly cooking.

The most outrageous thing I've ever cooked (or eaten) was: Scott & I usually leave the tricky stuff for the experts, so besides roasting a goose for Christmas or making homemade pasta, our outrageous experiences are reserved for restaurants. And on that note, we ate some amazingly innovative (and a bit challenging) things at Noma in Copenhagen and Faviken in northern Sweden. Think reindeer, colastrum, and some interesting uses of seafood.

The three things in my kitchen I can’t live without are: My Instant Pot, Breville countertop convection oven, and a cast iron pan.

Currently, my three go-to ingredients are: Kale, Kerrygold butter, and alder smoked sea salt.

If I had to choose, my “last meal” would be: I feel like this answer could change at any given moment, but right now, it’s a combination of the following: the honey butter biscuits from Moss Cafe; a truly excellent burger, perhaps from The Burger Stand in Lawrence, KS: the bread and butter course from Eleven Madison Park; and to round it out, fois gras with a nice glass of Sauternes. Hey, it’s a last meal.

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As the title of the article insinuates, I’m reluctant to share this recipe with you all, mainly because I give these cookies as gifts every year, and once everyone sees how easy they are, I may become redundant. That being said, I found this recipe on the web, so it’s not like they’re an original family creation shrouded in secrecy. In fact, I found them here, on the Kitchen Trial and Error blog (which looks like it hasn’t been updated in a while, but still has the glorious cookie recipe posted from 2010, so I can give the blogger credit).

These are infinitely customizable, but if you like cranberries, pistachios, and white chocolate, you can’t go wrong with these. Start hitting the gym now; you’ll want to make room for the extra calories.

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Cranberry, Pistachio & White Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
adapted from ina garten
30 minutes, plus chilling, makes 3 1/2 - 4 dozen.

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup chopped dried cranberries
1 cup roughly chopped pistachios
1 cup white chocolate chips

Picture taken from Kitchen Trial & Error blog. I take no ownership of this image.

1. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. mix in the vanilla extract.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk or sift together the flour and salt.

3. Add the flour & salt to the butter mixture. mix on low speed until it just starts to come together. Add the cranberries, pistachios, and white chocolate a half a cup at a time until it's incorporated. Mix until the dough forms a ball. (Editor’s note: You don’t have to use a hand mixer, or even a stand mixer. It might help, though.)

4. Roll into a log about 2 inches in diameter (roll it wider or skinnier depending on how big you want your cookies). Wrap the log in some wax paper. (Editor’s note: plastic wrap is fine, too.)

5. Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

6. Preheat the oven to 350F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

7. Slice the log into 1/4 inch slices. Place the slices on the sheet pan. They don't spread much, so they can be pretty close together.

8. Bake for 10-13 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to brown.

9. Remove from the pan and cool to room temperature.

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Libiamo Returns: Operatic Wine Pairings

A party scene from ENO's production of Marnie. Photo credit: Richard Hubert Smith.

by Lianne Coble-Dispensa, with contributions by Scott Dispensa

La Traviata returns to the Met stage after two years off (with a "shiny new production" facelift!), and with it, another opportunity for revelry, mirth, and toasts to everyone's good health with a nice glass of champagne. But what about the other shows of the season? What beverages would you pair with them? In the first of four volumes, resident ersatz sommeliers Scott Dispensa & Lianne Coble-Dispensa share their pairing choices for the opening shows of the Met's 2018-2019 season.

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Samson et Dalila (Opens the season on 9/24!): This lush, lavish, and lusty production deserves a wine that stands up to its character! If we’re looking to pair with location, Samson is an Israelite, and Dalila is a Philistine, which means her people settled in and around what is now Israel, Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon. Scott picked two different wineries for you to check out: Domaine du Castel, an Israeli winery making Bordeaux-inspired wines, and from Lebanon, Château Musar, which has been continually producing critically-acclaimed wines despite decades of strife in the region. Regardless of which one you choose, you'll have an experience that combines the power of Samson with the luxuriousness of Dalila. 

La bohème (Opens 9/25): This opera is DYING for both food and wine pairings. Just listen to the 2nd act market scene! The townspeople cry out for panna montata, la crostada, Prugne di Tours, latte di cocco, and gentleman holler for birra (beer) and ratafia, a sweet liqueur popular in Italy and the Champagne region of France. Scott thinks this would be a great pairing for the enjoyable sweetness of La Boheme. Lianne notes that if you’re not into sweet booze, you could go the beer route and pick up an Italian brew. Lianne & Scott prefer the brand Birra di Meni, but you could keep things light and airy and settle on a tall, fizzy glass of Peroni!

Aida (Opens 9/26): You might think that trying to find an appropriate adult beverage to pair with an ancient Egyptian opera would be difficult, but surprisingly, those Egyptians knew how to party! Alcoholic beverages were part of daily life, particularly beer, which was served to children and adults alike, as it had a lower alcohol content and was better for you than the local water sources. Ancient Egyptian beer was commonly made from Barley, so I’d recommend a barleywine-style ale like Sierra Nevada’s Bigfoot. Schafly and Smuttynose also make a highly-rated barleywine-style ale. Enjoy!

La Fanciulla del West (Opens 10/4): I’m going to give you a few options here. Fanciulla is set in California during the Gold Rush, and you know those prospectors were drinking their body weight in whiskey at the time. Conveniently, we have the Gold Rush cocktail, which is a combination of bourbon, lemon, and honey syrup (a riff on the prohibition-era “Bee’s Knees” cocktail, which uses gin instead of bourbon). But if you want something classier to pair with an opera about a powerful female figure, may I recommend wines (of any kind, they’re all fantastic) from the female-owned Day Wines and Kelley Fox Vineyards.

Marnie (Opens 10/19): Nico Muhly has made my job easy for me in this opera: the “happy hour” after-work scene at a bar opens with the chorus shouting out (or rather, singing out) their drink orders. So, we have some delectably dated choices: how about a Cinzano and lemon? Maybe a lager and lime? Or perhaps you’d like a Babycham (which is the brand name for a pear cider that was popular in the 60s)? All of them are low-alcohol choices, which I recommend, as you’ll need your wits about you during this psychological thriller of a show.

Tosca (Opens 10/25): Tosca’s setting in Rome in the 1800s inspired Scott to search for wines that may have been around during that time. He settled on Frascati, an Italian white wine, which has been cultivated in the countryside surrounding Rome for close to 2000 years. Frascati can come in many styles: dry, sweet, still, or spumante. Whatever mood you might be in, it is recommended to buy the youngest Frascati you can find, as these wines are not meant to age. Seeing as how the youthful couple, Tosca and Cavaradossi, meet untimely ends in the opera, this aspect of Frascati makes the pairing even more fitting!

Carmen (opens 10/30): My first instinct was to wrack my brain in search of a bold, sultry Spanish red wine to pair with Carmen. After all, Carmen herself is indeed bold, sultry, and Spanish. But if you’re interested in location, the opera is set in (and around) Seville, making Jerez the closest wine region. The Jerez region is best known for its sherries, so I’d recommend starting the night out with either a dry Fino sherry, or a light, salty Manzanilla sherry. If you want to kick things up a notch, float a wee bit of that Fino sherry in a glass of dry champagne. It’s a fantastic aperitif.

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Lianne Coble-Dispensa joined the Metropolitan Opera as a member of the extra chorus in 2010, and went full time in 2015. She is the Editor-in-Chief for the Met Artists Newsletter, and is a member of the Met Chorus Artists executive board. When she's not singing opera or furiously copy editing this month's newsletter, she enjoys spending the lion's share of her free time cooking various delights in the kitchen, reading non-fiction, Crossfitting, and running (you may see her in this fall's Staten Island Half Marathon). She is married to fellow chorister (and ultramarathoner) Scott Dispensa, and they live in Teaneck, NJ with two ostentatiously named cats (Maximilien de Robespierre and Charles Hubert Hastings Parry).

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Recipe Corner: Laura Fries and her Famous Red Velvet Cake!

By this time during preseason, the Metropolitan Opera Chorus has already rehearsed fourteen out of the twenty-three operas we're scheduled to perform this season. FOURTEEN! That's a bit of heavy lifting, and after all that hard work, you can bet we're ready to treat ourselves! Why don't you join us? Soprano Laura Fries, one of our resident bakers, is pleased to share an easy (and extremely tasty) recipe for a perennial favorite: Red Velvet Cake!

Here's what Laura has to say about her delicious dessert offering:

"I got this recipe from someone I worked with years ago at a temp job. Over the last 15 years, I have made at least 2 dozen of them, either for bake sales at the Met, or for personal requests (mostly from stagehands!). It's a one-bowl cake and amazingly simple to make. I'm very happy to share the it!"

Laura in La Boheme!

Laura and one of her many foster kittens!

Laura and her mile-high hair in Les Contes d'Hoffmann!

Name: Laura Fries.

Hometown: Ypsilanti, Michigan.

Years at the Met: 19 in the full time chorus, and 22 if you count my time in the extra chorus.

My favorite opera is: Anything Puccini!

One of my most memorable experiences at the Met so far is: Early in my career in the chorus, we were doing Otello. When Placido Domingo made his first entrance in Act I, it took my breath away and gave me goosebumps!

Other than opera, my favorite type of music is: 70s rock and roll.

When I’m not at the Met, you can find me: at a crafts fair.

The most outrageous thing I've ever cooked (or eaten) was: Croquembouche (a tower of cream puffs surrounded by spun caramelized sugar).

The three things in my kitchen I can’t live without are: My omelet pan, a filtered water dispenser in my fridge, and my waffle iron!

Currently, my three go-to ingredients are: butter, garlic and wine.

If I had to choose, my “last meal” would be: Salmon en croute, roasted asparagus, heritage tomatoes with basil and balsamico dressing, and macerated strawberries over vanilla ice cream!

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-Laura Fries' Red Velvet Cake-

1 cup Wesson oil

1 ½ cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon cocoa (Laura prefers Hershey)

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon Arm & Hammer baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 oz. red food coloring (You can substitute beet juice, but it will change the taste.)

2 cups cake flour

1 cup buttermilk

Grease two 9” cake pans. Preheat oven to 325º.

Mix oil, sugar and eggs. Beat until creamy. Add flour one cup at a time, then put in cocoa, vinegar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, food coloring and buttermilk. Beat until creamy.

Bake 35 minutes. Cool before frosting. (I freeze the layers and put a thin coat of frosting on before the final frosting step. This is a very tender cake that falls apart and creates lots of crumbs, so this helps!)

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-Cream Cheese Frosting-

1 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened

1 16-oz package powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

½ cup chopped nuts (optional)

2 tablespoons milk (or more, if the frosting is too thick)

Mix all ingredients together until creamy, then add nuts (optional).

**Note from Laura: "I usually make 1.5-2 times the frosting recipe."**

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Recipe Corner: Stephanie Chigas's Prescription for a Delicious Easter Meal

It seems crazy to say this, but we're at that point of the year where Easter has become a (not-so-distant) memory. The ham has been sliced, the Cadbury eggs have been demolished, and the Easter Bunny has gone back into hiding for another year. (Where does the Easter Bunny actually live between holidays? Does anyone know?) If you're already missing the season of pastels and egg-shaped confections, fear not: you get another chance! While Western churches celebrate Easter on the first Sunday after the vernal equinox, Orthodox faiths follow the Julian calendar, and this year, Greek Orthodox Easter falls on April 8th! Here to help you plan your Orthodox Easter menu is our beloved Greek mezzo-soprano, Stephanie Chigas! 

Name: Stephanie Chigas      
Hometown: Chicago, IL.
Years at the Met: 8.
My favorite opera is: I have 2 favorites: Così fan tutte and Werther.
One of my most memorable experiences at the Met so far is:  Dmitri Hvorstovsky’s surprise performance at the Metropolitan Opera’s 50 years at Lincoln Center Gala Celebration last spring.
Other than opera, my favorite type of music is:  All kinds! I am obsessed with the 80’s and Christmas music, and I absolutely LOVE the Beatles, Elvis Costello, Olafur Arnalds, and Radiohead.  I also like early jazz, gypsy jazz and mellow indie music.  
When I’m not at the Met, you can find me: At home in Astoria, watching "Golden Girls" marathons or cooking with my daughter, Zoe.
The most outrageous thing I've ever cooked (or eaten) was: I once made a turducken for Thanksgiving.  It is a turkey stuffed with a duck that is stuffed with a chicken. I don’t recommend it.  It was a pain to assemble and in the end it just felt very weird to me. 
The three things in my kitchen I can’t live without are: My wooden spoon that I’ve had as long as I can remember that I use for almost everything; my coffee pot; and my manual pasta maker. 
If I had to choose, my three (current) favorite ingredients are: Butter (a close tie with olive oil), mushrooms of all varieties, and tarragon.
Again, if I had to choose, my “last meal” would be: My last meal would be what I like to call the "Trifecta of Deliciousness,” which is a slice of Chicago style pizza, a Chicago style hot dog, and an Italian Beef sandwich with giardiniera on the side.

by Stephanie Chigas, with contributions by Lianne Coble-Dispensa

"My dad was a chef and restaurateur, as is my one of my sisters, and my mom is a phenomenal home cook, just like my Yiayia (or grandmother in Greek).  So naturally, they instilled in me a deep love of cooking, sharing traditions, eating, and having fun with family and close friends. I love that I am passing this down to my daughter and seeing her love for cooking grow, too.  It is my absolute favorite pastime (aside from watching "Golden Girls"!).

That being said, spring is here and Easter is right around the corner, so I’d like to share one of my favorite dishes that I make often this time of year: Salmon En Croute.  It’s light and springy, but can be enjoyed at any time.  It goes best with great company!

To make it, you’ll need:

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 3 leeks, washed and sliced
• 1 red onion, finely sliced
• 2 tablespoons dried tarragon
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 puff pastry sheets, thawed
• 1 egg plus 2 teaspoons water, for egg wash
• 1 (3-pound) salmon fillet, skin removed

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks, red onion and tarragon and sauté until the onions and leeks are soft, which should take about 10 minutes. Add the wine, raise the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Let the liquid cook off, add the salt and pepper, and remove from the heat and set aside. Let this cool before using. 

Unfold 1 thawed pastry sheet and lay it on a lightly floured surface. Brush 1 edge with the egg wash and overlap the other sheet by 2 inches. Roll the pastry out until it's big enough to fold around the salmon. Spoon the cooled leek mixture down the center of the pastry, place the salmon on top of the leeks and fold the pastry over the salmon. I like to shape the pastry around the salmon so it looks like a fish. :) Egg wash the edges to seal, and press firmly. Place the salmon parcel seam side down on a sheet pan. Brush with egg wash and place in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and golden brown. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes before slicing. 

I like to serve this with some grilled asparagus and Dijon mustard.  Enjoy!"

Stephanie's finished creation! Photo by the chef herself. 

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A Very Special Cocktail Corner, featuring a Toast to Turandot!

To celebrate Turandot's thrilling return to the Met stage later this month, we have a special treat from chorister Sara Heaton's husband, Justin Keller! Justin, a talented mixologist and accomplished musician, was titillated by Turandot's slightly gruesome undertones, so he created an appropriate cocktail to pair with the evening. Enjoy responsibly, and try not to spill blood on your shirt...

A cocktail fit for an ice princess hell-bent on beheading her suitors. Or, you know, just a nice drink for a Friday evening. Either works. 

Here's what Justin has to say about his delicious creation:

"I was honored with the task of coming up with this. Hope it does the trick!

I got the plot summary from Sara. Sounds like things start off bitter and bloody, and end sweetly.

So, I basically made an extra bitter negroni (I added some lime juice, and used dry vermouth) and shook it with an egg white. That way there was foam on which to drip some “blood.” It’s poured over a berry jam sitting at the bottom, which gives a sweet finish to what was a pretty bracing drink."

1 1/2 oz gin
1 oz Campari (gotta have something Italian in there!)
1 oz dry vermouth
1/2 oz lime juice
1 egg white
Dark berry jam
“Blood” (dark berry jelly, sans seeds, mixed with angostura bitters)

Dry shake everything except the jam and “blood,” then shake with ice and pour over a small dollop of jam. Gently place a few drops of “blood” on the foam.

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Justin Keller is a teacher, lecturer in Jazz & Classical music history, and an accomplished freelance multi-instrumentalist who has performed with such varied artists as Sufjan Stevens and Gunther Schuller, among countless others. His wife, Sara Heaton, joined the extra chorus in 2011, and became a full-time member in 2016. The two lovebirds live in Beacon, NY, and love hiking, cooking, and, of course, mixology. You can learn more about Justin here and here.

Recipe Corner: Rebecca Carvin's Savory Onion Tart

Last month, we introduced you to a sweet chorister with an equally sweet treat to share! This month, mezzo-soprano Rebecca Carvin offers us a tasty, customizable tart that's great for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! 

Rebecca Carvin, looking lovely at her desk in the dressing room!

Rebecca, in costume for Andrea Chenier.

Name: Rebecca Carvin
Hometown:  I have now lived in NYC longer than anywhere else.  I guess that makes my hometown NYC!
Years at the Met: I joined the extra chorus in 1995, and the full time chorus in 1999.
My favorite opera is: Vanessa, by Samuel Barber. I think I know every note. 
One of my most memorable experiences at the Met so far is: There are so many incredible moments, it’s hard to choose just one. In general I have to say the performances of Satyagraha, Dr. Atomic and The Death of Klinghoffer are some of the most memorable performances. Each one of them moved and changed me in different ways.  
Other than opera, my favorite type of music is: Vocal chamber music. 
When I’m not at the Met, you can find me: in Riverdale.
The most outrageous thing I've ever cooked (or eaten) was: I ate brain in Morocco, and it was DELICIOUS! 
The three things in my kitchen I can’t live without are:  my cast iron pans, my large cutting board and a sharp knife ( I would add a fourth....my apron!)
If I was forced to choose, my three (current) favorite ingredients are: Olive Oil, Rosemary and Raspberry preserve...throw some garlic in there and we’re good to go. 
Again, if I had to choose, my “last meal” would be: A grilled american cheese sandwich on Wonder Bread served with catsup.  Dessert would be ice cream. Any flavor. 
 

contributions by Rebecca Carvin and Lianne Coble-Dispensa

Rebecca Carvin’s culinary credentials are known far and wide, and the photographic evidence is on display on her entertaining Instagram account, (@mybackstageopera), which chronicles not only her adventures in the kitchen, but, as the handle suggests, her experiences as a veteran of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus! If you’re interested in seeing the day-to-day of a professional opera chorister, this is a great place to start.

Our talented Rebecca has brought a delicious “recipe without a recipe” to the table (pun pretty much intended), and is thrilled to be able to share it with you. It’s simple, savory, and possible for anyone with an oven and an empty stomach!

“So, I guess I will share my Onion Tart recipe…but it's not really a recipe. It's just really good.  

You take about 6 Sweet Onions (sliced thinly into rings) and sauté them in butter until caramelized. (You want enough to fill the tart pan, as they will collapse as you bake the tart.)  

Put them in a tart pan lined with a pie crust (use your favorite pie crust recipe, or use pre-made), sprinkle with some thyme, rosemary, or whatever fresh herb you might have on hand, and bake until the pie crust is golden. (Note: Bake at the temperature your pie crust recipe recommends.)  

If you want to make it more like a French Pissaladière, put some anchovies and black olives on top before you bake it!

This is GREAT as a side dish for roasts or stews, or as an appetizer.  I often make these in individual tart sizes to sell at the annual Met Chorus AGMA Relief Fund bake sale.”

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Chris Schaldenbrand's Favorite Cookie Recipe

Are you experiencing mealtime ennui? Does the idea of scrolling through Pinterest yet AGAIN for recipe inspiration fill you with dread? Well, look no further! The Met Artists Recipe Corner is here to provide you with monthly doses of delicious inspiration, featuring the many talented chefs who also happen to work at the Met! This month, meet chorus member Chris Schaldenbrand!

Chris  Schaldenbrand, looking particularly relaxed in this photo.

Name: Chris Schaldenbrand
Hometown: Farmington, Michigan
Years at the Met: Debut- 1992
My favorite opera is: Elektra
One of my most memorable experiences at the Met so far is: Verdi’s Requiem.
Other than opera, my favorite type of music is: Club/Electronic music.
When I’m not at the Met, you can find me: At the gym or in the kitchen.
The most outrageous thing I've ever cooked (or eaten) was: Macrobiotic food; I was raised on it, actually. I would take thermoses of seaweed and brown rice to grade school!
The three things in my kitchen I can’t live without are: Sugar, butter, and eggs.
If I had to choose, my three (current) favorite ingredients are: Cinnamon, cardamon, and Maldon sea salt flakes.
Again, if I had to choose, my “last meal” would be: A jar of Nutella.

Contributions by Chris Schaldenbrand and Lianne Coble-Dispensa

Bass-baritone Chris Schaldenbrand is the kind of gentleman you want in your life. Besides being a kind, talented, hard-working colleague, he is also an extraordinary baker. His professional-level cakes inspire the fiercest competition at the AGMA Relief Fund Bake Sale’s silent auction, and anything he bakes for a Met Chorus gathering is destined to be both admired, photographed, Instagrammed, and, well, quickly demolished. (Check out how Chris made one of his spectacular Christmas creations here.)

However, Chris doesn’t expect you to roll out the fondant and commit to 5 hours of pastry sculpting. In fact, the recipe he’s recommending today is a delicious riff on everyone’s favorite standby: the chocolate chip cookie. Here’s what he has to say:

“I have many favorite cake recipes, but I thought a cookie recipe would be more accessible to the casual baker who doesn’t want to commit to making a cake.

This is my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe ever. It comes from the famous chocolatier Jacques Torres. It uses both bread flour and cake flour that gives it an amazing multifaceted texture. For the chocolate chips, I usually use Trader Joes 72% Dark chocolate pound-plus bars and chop them up into bite sized chunks. I love to make these cookies oversized (around 8 oz or more per scoop of raw dough) so you can get substantial chunks of chocolate.”

Enjoy!

Legendary Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies

(This recipe was originally posted on the blog Dinner Then Dessert, and can be found here)

Prep Time 1 day 12 hours

Cook Time 13 minutes

 Total Time 1 day 12 hours 13 minutes

 Servings 55 cookies

·       INGREDIENTS

·       2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour

·       1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour

·       1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda

·       1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

·       1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt

·       2 ½ sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter

·       1 ¼ cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar

·       1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar

·       2 large eggs

·       2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract

·       1 ¼ pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves , at least 60 percent cacao content 

·       Sea salt.

Instructions:

1.       In a bowl, combine the two flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

2.      Using your stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars together for 5 minutes. You want the mixture to be significantly lighter than when you started.

3.      Add the eggs in one at a time, making sure they are mixed in well after each one. Don't worry about over-mixing yet, there is no flour in the bowl.

4.      Add in the vanilla. Lower the speed and add in the flour mixture for just a few seconds until it is mixed in. This is when you should worry about over-mixing,

5.      Add in the chocolate fèves and mix carefully with spatula to prevent breakage.

6.      Take the bowl off the stand mixture and cover the dough with plastic wrap as if it was a guacamole. Letting air get to the dough will dry it out in a bad way.

7.       Refrigerate for 36 hours. Technically you could for 24, but trust me go for 36.

8.      Preheat your oven to 350 degree F or 176C.

9.      Using a 2 tablespoon scoop, put them onto a baking sheet.

10.   Sprinkle the tops with sea salt. I love Maldon Sea Salt.

11.    Bake for 11-13 minutes.

12.   Let them cool for 5-10 minutes.

13.   Best enjoyed warm.

14.   This made 55 cookies for me, 39 of which we froze for later use! It is the gift that keeps on giving.

15.   Alternately, here is text from the original recipe for larger cookies: Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes

Your Chorus Holiday Dream Cake!

Chorister/Baker Extraordinaire Chris Schaldenbrand makes the Christmas cake that even Mrs. Claus would be proud of.

by Edward Hanlon

The Met Chorus Artists are a talented bunch but rarely are those talents so... tasty! Christopher Schaldenbrand  has been baking as long as he has been singing and, luckily for the rest of us in the chorus, he hasn't stopped since taking on the rigors of a full-time position.  This Christmas he surpassed himself for sheer beautiful tastiness and was good enough to chronicle the process.  So here goes!

Step 1: Baking

Step 2: Stacking and Carving

Step 3: Assembly

Step 4: Finishing Touches

The Party!

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Christopher Schaldenbrand joined the MET Chorus after a distinguished international career singing with some of the world’s leading opera houses. He is a former Lindemann Young Artist and winner of the Met National Council Auditions, making his debut as Silvano in Un Ballo in Maschera and singing a total of 267 performances. Mr. Schaldenbrand also appeared on the Met stage in the roles of Schaunard (La bohème), Guglielmo (Cosí fan tutte), and Albert (Werther).

Mr. Schaldenbrand is also is the owner of New York Cake Works, where you can find many more incredible cake creations.