Cherry home fries. Photo courtesy ChooseCherries.com.

Both birthdays used to be bank, government, and school holidays. In 1971, both presidential holidays were shifted to the third Monday in February and combined as the vague Presidents Day, to allow federal employees a three-day weekend. Hmpf.

It’s tough to tie a food story to Lincoln, who ate only “incidentally.” He grew up poor without an excess of food. As an adult, he was so focused on work, it was tough to get him to eat at all. When he did eat, he nibbled simply, on apples, nuts, cheese, and crackers.

Although he never chopped down the apocryphal cherry tree, George Washington grew up the son of a wealthy planter, with all the victuals he could desire. While he was no foodie, he did in fact love cherries and other fruits from the groves of Mount Vernon.

So we’re keeping up with the tradition of cherry recipes, starting with an unusual one:

Prep time is 10 minutes, and cook time is 20 minutes.
 
 
RECIPE: CHERRY HOME FRIES

Ingredients For 2 Cups

 
Preparation

1. SAUTÉ the cherries and onions over low to medium heat for 15 minutes, or until the onions become a deep brown. While onions and tart cherries are cooking…

2. BOIL the potatoes in salted water until fork tender. Drain.

3. ADD the potatoes to the skillet with the cherries and onions. Add extra oil if needed. Sauté for 5 minutes on high until the potatoes are crisp.

4. SEASON with salt, pepper, and chiles to taste.
 
 

Mushrooms offer flavorful excitement, and are a cook’s delight: They absorb a lot of flavor quickly, and can be prepared in so many ways. For starters, consider:

Mushroom salad atop a bed of baby arugula. Photo courtesy Olio e Piú | New York City.

Today’s tip requires no cooking; that is, no heat. It’s marinated mushrooms, also known as mushroom salad: delicious as an appetizer, a side, a sandwich topper or as part of an antipasto.

You can add other raw vegetables; we’ve provided options below.

Marinated mushrooms can be made with any mushroom (here are the different mushroom types). Unless you’ve got deep pockets, go for the least expensive, which are typically white button mushrooms. Smaller are better, since you’ll be cutting them up.

Of course, you an use any mushroom: cremini, oyster, portabello, shiitake or a mixture. We’ve even used enoki mushrooms for an exotic garnish.

The only given is that the mushrooms be fresh. Those that are beginning to brown or wither are best used in a cooked dish.

RECIPE: RAW MUSHROOM SALAD

1. CLEAN the mushrooms and pat dry. Place in a colander over a bowl and sprinkle with the sea salt. Toss to coat thoroughly. Let stand for about 30 minutes so the salt can remove excess water from the mushrooms. Brush any remaining salt from the mushrooms.

2. COMBINE the marinade ingredients in a bowl: olive oil, vinegar, garlic, lemon zest, pepper and herbs. Toss the mushrooms in the marinade to coat. (We don’t add salt at this stage because of the residue salt from the mushrooms.)

3. COVER the bowl refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

4. SERVE as desired. We enjoy it atop a bed of greens or in a lettuce cup.

Variation

Try this recipe for Marinated Mushrooms with Walnut and Tahini Yogurt from Kristin Collier of the blog ColliersMarket.com.

Build a vegetable “raft” to make a serving of plain grilled or sautéed protein look like fancy restaurant fare.

This chef’s trick makes it easy to add glamor to a piece of cooked protein—beef, fish, lamb, pork, poultry, tofu. Not to mention, it gets people to eat more veggies!

Here, branzino in padella (branzino cooked in a skillet/frying pan) from Olio e Piú in Greenwich Village, New York City gets the raft treatment.

MAKE IT AT HOME

Branzino on a vegetable raft with a grilled lemon. Photo courtesy Olio e Piú | NYC.

If you want to include a grain or potato, there’s plenty of room on the plate (just move the lemon).

In his television show “Kitchen Nightmares,” Chef Gordon Ramsay has said that he gets worried when he is presented with a plate scattered with chopped parsley. While we love Chef Ramsay, perhaps he’d agree that this plain plate would look better with a dusting of minced parsley or chives around the rim. Or perhaps, a sprinkling of pink or smoked sea salt!

[1] This cherry pie gets a fancy lattice top (photo © Cherry Marketing Institute).

[2] Mom’s cherry pie (photo © Eric Hood | iStock Photo).

Jean notes that her recipe uses cherries canned in water. “not that dreadful canned cherry pie filling.”

By the way, we’re not sure why National Cherry Pie Day is February 20th and not February 22nd, George Washington’s birthday. But if you bake a cherry pie today, bake an extra one to celebrate the 22nd.

> The history of pie.

> The history of cherries.
 
 
RECIPE: THE BEST CHERRY PIE

Ingredients

For The Pie Crust

 
For The Filling

 
Plus

1. MAKE the pie crust. Mix the flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor (or use a pastry blender). Cut the butter into smaller pieces and add to the food processor. Pulse a few times. Cut the shortening into smaller pieces and add to the food processor. Pulse a few more times, until butter and shortening are the size of peas or smaller. Transfer to a large bowl.

2. SPRINKLE 3-4 tablespoons of ice water over the dough mixture at a time, mixing and pressing with a sturdy rubber spatula until the dough comes together. Divide into two and wrap each half in plastic wrap. (Tip: Dump the semi-formed dough onto plastic, wrap it up, knead it a bit until it forms a ball, then flatten it into a disk.) Refrigerate until ready to use.

3. MIX the 3 cans of cherries plus the juice from 1-1/2 cans with sugar, cornstarch, salt, and almond extract in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring regularly, or until the liquid is thick and bubbly (partially jelled). Set aside to cool.

4. PREHEAT the oven to 425°F. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and place it on a lower rack, to catch any drips.

5. SPRINKLE the counter with flour and roll out the bottom pie crust. Arrange in a pie pan. Pour the cooled pie filling into the crust.

6. ROLL out the top crust. Use a sharp knife to cut the top crust into strips for a lattice crust or use a cookie cutter to make other designs. Either drape your top crust over the pie, if you used a cookie-cutter design, or weave your traditional lattice crust (here’s a YouTube video).

7. TRIM the edges of the top and bottom crust to 1/2-1-inch beyond the pie pan and then fold them under. Either press around the perimeter with the tines of a fork or crimp it with your fingers.

8. BRUSH the crust with a beaten egg white (or cream) and sprinkle sugar on top.

9. BAKE for 20 minutes at 425°F, then lower the oven temperature to 375°F and add a pie crust shield (or a foil tent with the center cut out) to protect the outer edges of the crust from burning. Bake for another 30-40 minutes, until the crust looks nicely browned and the juices bubble up thickly.

[3] How artistic are you? This pie has an extra-special crust fashioned by Carey Nershi (photo © Carey Not Carrie | Vermont Creamery).

[4] Look for pitted cherries in water, not “glop.” Photo courtesy Oregon Specialty Fruit.

A bone-chilling day like today calls for extra helpings of comfort food. One of our favorites is rice pudding. We’ve made it every way, including conventional, with rum-soaked raisins, with dried cherries and cranberries replacing the raisins, and a Thai-inspired version with black rice and coconut milk.

Today, it’s Hungarian rice pudding. This is the recipe made by the Hungarian grandmother of Branko Podrumedic, owner of Little Bucharest Bistro in Chicago. In Hungarian, the recipe is called budinca de orez.

Rice pudding is usually served as a dessert, but Branko notes that it also makes a delicious breakfast. If you’d like an eggier pudding for breakfast, you can increase the eggs to four, and reduce the honey for a less dessert-like (sweet) dish.

For a richer rice pudding, use half and half instead of regular milk. For a non-dairy version, use coconut milk.

Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
_________
*We prefer white basmati rice, which makes a creamy rice pudding but holds its texture.
Preparations

1. COOK the rice. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. BEAT the eggs in a large bowl. Add the milk, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Beat very well with a whisk or electric beaters, ensuring that no honey remains at the bottom of the bowl. Add the rice and raisins to the liquid mixture. Stir until combined.

3. GREASE a baking dish, and gently pour in the rice mixture.

4. SPRINKLE nuts on top and dust top with cinnamon.

5. PLACE the baking dish in a pan of warm water and bake for approximately 50 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Serve hot or cold with cream, fresh berries, fruit sauce and/or toasted coconut garnish.