Kate in the Kitchen

Food talk, delicious ramblings and the evocative fare of a passionate cook

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Now that's a road trip meal!

This is the fifth year we have made a pilgrimage to Pine River, MN to drop Griffin at Trout Lake Camp on the Lower Whitefish chain. Idyllic, rustic, active, well fed and free from parental rule for a week, he hangs out with other boys his age, plans his days how he wants and brings enough money to keep himself in ice cream and pop for the whole week. Our only rule on these car trips is to stop at Blackbeard’s Mini Golf in Brainerd to play a round, although today, with temps hovering around 97 degrees, I dropped the two of them off and went to Kohls to look for……anything. I didn’t care what, but I wasn’t interested in mini golf.

We spent about a half an hour at Trout Lake Camp with Griffin before succumbing to the oppresive heat and heading back to the A/C in the car. I pray for them all that the weather breaks by Tuesday as predicted. Their cabin is nice, big windows for cross breezes, but it’s still really darn hot.

I think that no trip should be done through Brainerd without stopping at Moreys Fish Market and Grille. It’s a tiny little store absolutely crammed full of gourmet foods, sauces, crackers, artisan breads, cheeses, seafood and tons of other goodies. There is an extensive counter of smoked fish, an olive bar, a herring bar, (this is Northern MN, ya know!!) a deli, a coffee counter with espresso, all the happenin’ food magazines and plenty of napkins to catch the drool. Plus tables all around for folks to enjoy any number of fish goodies. I wanted some food for the road, I was hungry and unwilling to think about eating in some roadside dive whose menu looks no different than the outfit down the street. I walked the aisles at least three times before finally making my selections; A chunk of dill Havarti cheese, a half pound smoked salmon nuggets, a chunk of smoked trout, a half pound green cerignoli olives, a fourth pound of smoked salmon spread, a bag of three grain chips from Plockys and a bag of cheese/oregano cracker strips. I grabbed two napkin with utensils rolled in them and we ran through the broiler to the car. I couldn’t even wait to get on the road and went diving into the smoked salmon nuggets while Mike filled the gas tank; their sharp, smoky bite spread out over my whole mouth, curling it’s woodsy scent into my nose; my head filling with massive and happy sighs. I spread everything out on my lap as best I could, fished Griffin’s Boy Scout knife from the back seat and we dug in. The salmon spread was out of this world, wood smoked fish just bursting with flavor, chasing a slightly sweet and tangy after taste. It was perfect with the Plockys chips and the cracker strips, which were just loaded with chunks of baked cheese and splotches of oven dried herb. The salmon, oh my…..it was divine, gloriously flavorful and perfectly cooked, leaving barely a hint of oil on my fingers and taking my senses by storm. The trout was meticulously cooked as well, it’s texture was more oily and it’s mild taste was offset by just a hint of it’s smoky exterior. I piled the trout on a cracker with a slice of cheese and handed them to Mike where they promptly disappeared. We scooped into the salmon spread and gnawed through the rich, winey and buttery flesh of the olives, scraping the pits with our teeth to get the last sensational bites. Meanwhile, the parched and desolately dry North country flew by our windows, and good music poured from the speakers. Our immediate hunger was satiated in time, and the remains of our repast were wrapped well and tucked behind the shadiest seat. The temp never fell below 95 degrees outside, and inside, the A/C hummed heartily while we sat in that glorious stupefecation that follows an amazing meal; tummies content, and our favorite person by our side. Road trip food should always be this good, shared with someone you love while God’s country, still beautiful despite all it’s burnt glory, slips by your window and the music fills your soul.

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Of Terrines and picking beans

So Friday was day three in my friend Tim’s kitchen at the Yacht Club. When I came in he gave me a project that took most of the day. He wanted a terrine made, a classic Cold Food preparation of layered ingredients inside a mold that is then either poached, pressed and chilled or just pressed and chilled. I was making a cold vegetable one to be used as an appetizer, so Tim said “It needs to be about an inch, to an inch and a half, just big enough for a crostini.” There is no terrine mold made that is that small, so I had to fashion one out of a cardboard box, and duct tape. Whoever said cooking is all about the food?? Sometimes innovation matters more than cooking skills.

The box came out nicely and Tim proclaimed it fitting. Then I gathered my ingredients and had to turn the cooler upside down looking for leeks. Even Tim came in to look and found none, so out I went into the 98-degree day in my full chef whites (long black pants, socks and shoes!!) to the store for leeks. It took me well over an hour after my return to stop sweating profusely, and the kitchen was actually cooler that day than earlier in the week. The green leek leaves are blanched, then used to line the terrine mold inside plastic wrap, where the ingredients are then added in layers. This terrine had a cheese mix of goat and cream cheese with sauteed leeks, asparagus spears and roasted whole shiitake mushroom caps placed in alternate layers in the mold. After filling, the leek leaves are folded upon itself, the plastic covers it and another piece of cardboard was laid across the top and then pound blocks of butter were placed on top of that to weigh and compress it down. It then sits and chills until it’s use. It is cut thin, placed on crostini and served as an appetizer. I won’t get to see how it looks unless Tim brings a camera, then actually remembers to take a picture and send it to me. We’ll see if that happens.

The rest of the day I spent immersed in a 25# box of fresh green beans, snapping off the stem ends again and again and again……..until I could have screamed. It takes all sorts of tasks to make a professional kitchen work and someone’s gotta do it. But for ten bucks an hour and helping a friend, I would have polished floors. I would love to be able to spend a summer working for Tim, it was really fun and I think I would really love it more if I was comfortable, knew where everything was and how it all worked instead of being just a fill-in who had to ask a dozen questions to get anything done. We’ll see where I am at next spring when he opens up again.

The glory of a simple change

My husband Mike is a pretty simple man, never prone to anything that could be considered over the top. His personality won’t allow it; and he cares more about what he can do for others than what he can do for himself. He is also the most accepting and easy going guy I know. I am always asking him for meal requests, special items he would like to try, something new to eat etc. etc. and he will just smile at me and say “Everything you make is wonderful!” Ahhhhh…..be still my fluttering heart! My biggest fan in the kitchen.

His milieu in our culinary repertoire has always been the homemade tortillas we have on Burrito night. We splurged several years ago on a really nice tortilla grill, and quite often feast on fist sized fare, chock full of delicious stuff. We have experimented on the recipe of the tortillas; subbing milk for the liquid (didn’t work) and using shortening instead of oil (too heavy). Just this past week, when faced with a lack of his favorite flour, I made the suggestion that he sub in whole wheat for the regular unbleached. Ladies and gentleman, we have a WINNER! Fresh, soft, HUGE (for whatever reason, these tortillas spread out like wildfire, fulling stretching to the 10″ rim of our tortilla grill) and oh so delicious! After a lustrous meal of oooohing, ahhhing and sighing through our stuffed tummies, Mike turned to me with a twinkle in his eye and said “Do you think this is worth blogging???”

Tortillas

1 c. unbleached flour, 1 c. whole wheat flour, 2/3 c. water and 1/3 c. oil.

Mix flours in bowl, add oil and work into flour with hands. Pour in water, mix well to incorporate. Tear off dough and form balls with hands; cover with plastic and a wet paper towel and allow to rest for 20-30 minutes. Proceed with tortilla grill, or in saute pan. Stuff with any desired filling. We use: soy crumbles with seasoning, rice, cheese, refried beans, homemade guacamole (recipe is on this blog), chopped chipotles, salsa etc. etc. Wrap your fists around it and dig in. Delectably delightful.

Talkin' Snacks

I’m trying to remember when the last time was that we didn’t have on the A/C. We’re heading towards another weekend with temps near 100, and I know we aren’t the hotspot in the US. I am attending a pool party Saturday and needed to bring something snack-worthy. Everyone knows that I can cook, and there are expectations when I bring something anywhere that it is going to be good, so I can’t show up at a family gathering with a bunch of sacks of salty processed chips. I made Chex Mix, one of my favs, and easy, easy, easy, but I embellish the ingredients. I don’t add just pretzels, I add honey-mustard; it’s not just peanuts, it’s gourmet deluxe mixed nuts. I love rye crisps in it, and garlic bagel bites too. I toss some of this in the seasoning and some of that, but always use as the base- butter, worchestershire sauce and Lawry’s Seasoned Salt. I also add garlic and onion powder, dry mustard, some cayenne if I feel feisty or maybe some of my caramel crystals that I use for making caramel corn if I feel like making it a little sweet. I bake it until it’s aromatic, crunchy and lightly browned and then I watch as the men in my life make for it with hands bared and mouths wide open. It’s like popcorn; you can’t just eat a little at a time, no way…it tastes best when you grab a handful and shove it in your mouth where all the multiple flavors can collide on your tongue in a crunching, crashing mass. While it’s wonderful right out of the oven, it’s pretty good sitting in a container on the counter for as long as it lasts. Now if I can only hold on to it until Saturday.

Chex Mix Kate’s Way

3 c. each Chex- Rice, Corn and Multi Grain (don’t use the Wheat), 1 c. mixed nuts (or your choice) 1 c. broken pieces of pretzel, 1 c. garlic bagel bites or rye crisps, break ‘em up if you want. Place all ingredients in large roasting pan and mix to combine. Use your hands, it’s fun!
Melt together 1/2 stick butter (NO margarine!) 2 T. Worch. sauce, 2 t. Lawrys Seas. Salt, 1/2 t. each garlic and onion powder, 1/4 t. dry mustard. If you combine the dry stuff in a little bowl and add to the butter slowly while stirring, it will mix better. Stir it up until the seasonings have dissolved for the most part, then drizzle it in portions over the pan, stirring to mix and pouring and stirring until it’s all over the place and your counter is covered with errant pieces of cereal and other goodies. Scoop them all back in the pan and place in a 250 degree oven, stir every 20 minutes or so, and bake for an hour or so until the house smells so good you can’t stand it. Cool it down a little and dig in.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Cheese, pates and chicken, oh my!!!

I spent my second day working at the yacht club by arranging gourmet cheese and pate trays, and then making Poulet a la Provencale for their Tour de France dinner. The cheese trays were fun, as I got to sample some pretty amazing cheeses- Saint Andre, Morbier, Agour, Bleu Arvinge (sp??) and Port Salut. I adored the Saint Andre, it was much like a Brie with a sharper and more tangy taste. The Morbier was a stinky cheese, not my fav, as was the Bleu……a VERY pungent bleu. The Port Salut was pretty good, a soft texture with a slight bite. Agour was similar to a very firm Swiss style, very crumbly and sharp with little aftertaste. My chef friend gladly gave me more information than I needed to know about those cheeses; he amazes me with his brainiac food knowledge. All day long I was enjoying listening to him talk about the foods being prepared for the French dinner, and was continually amazed and awed by what came out of his mouth. That’s why he’s paid the big bucks, but you could also tell that he just LOVES the subject of food. My kinda guy. Then I made up some Pate trays, and felt like I was playing with gourmet dog food. I have tried Pate, and had some decent ones, but it’s not at the top of my list for gloriously fanatical consumption. I got through that task quickly. Then Tim gave me a recipe for a chicken dish, a huge tub of cut up chicken and said “Can you handle this?” It was actually a pretty simple production, browning off the chicken, then browning onions and garlic, adding tomato product and a multitude of fresh herbs, and a long braise in the oven. Gathering the ingredients was the most challenging since I am not very familiar with where everything is in his kitchen. I am sure by the time I am done on Friday that I will be completely knowledgeable on the layout, just in time to never be in there again. I stood over the stove browning off the equivalent of 8 cut up chickens, in the hottest part of the kitchen on a searing hot day. Man, I love the feel of sweat running down my cleavage! The dish wasn’t too hard to get together and into the oven, I just kept my fingers crossed that it turned out OK. I may never know.

It’s been fun to be in a big commercial kitchen, utilizing the skills I spent 18 months honing in school. I had it good there, I get in and get out without any of the insane and crazy stuff going on. It gave me a good dose of the reality of it, and I find myself quite torn with wanting to continue on, work and learn more, and yet also to never be a part of the chaos, stifling heat and frantic, scurrying pace. Maybe it’s good for me to get a taste of it; to be able to know that I could do it, that I can get by if I really wanted to work in a kitchen. Tim’s kitchen is amazingly organized and runs like a well honed machine. Everything is in it’s place, labeled, marked, organized, clean. I loved how it was set up, and I loved seeing him in such a different light. I would work for him in a heartbeat, and I don’t say that lightly. I guess I will see where the wind blows me in my career path.

Something more appropriate for summer

I used this delicious, smoky relish-style salad recipe in one of my culinary school final buffet platters. I served it with fresh baked white corn tortilla chips, but it would be great with any favorite tortilla chip

Roasted Corn and Tomato Salad

16 fl oz. olive oil
12 fl oz. white wine
½ oz. roasted garlic paste
½ oz. salt
1 t. coarse ground black pepper
3# 12 oz. roasted corn kernels
15 Roma tomato, concasse
2 oz. sliced green onions
3 T. chopped cilantro
3 T. chopped parsley

Blend oil, vinegar and garlic paste, season with salt and pepper. Add corn, tomato, green onions, and herbs. Toss to coat and chill. Adjust seasoning if needed before serving

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Good soup for the summertime

Beats me why I am sitting at this computer with a brand new Saveur magazine beckoning me to open it’s glossy and drool inspiring pages. If I could be dumped on a desert island with one thing to read it would be that magazine. I have been transformed into a nutcase over articles I have read, features I have paged through and recipes perused. It takes me to places I would never go and teaches me about food in a way I would never imagine.

But here I am and I am feeling the need to blog.

Most people would not associate soup with summertime, unless we are talking about classic cold soups like Gazpacho, Vichyssoise and the like, but once in a while, soup is OK for warm weather consumption. It’s easy, doesn’t take a lot of time and with a salad and some good bread it makes a simple meal that is quick and easy. Call me crazy, but soup has been on my mind, and with Minnesota corn season underway, this one is a great option.

Rosemary Corn Soup

2 c. chopped onion
½ c. diced carrot
½ c. diced celery
3 T. butter
8 c. fresh corn
6 c. chicken or vegetable broth
1 T. fresh rosemary, minced
2 cloves garlic. Minced
¼ t. cayenne pepper
1 red pepper, seeded cored and diced
1 c. half and half
Salt and pepper to taste

In dutch oven, sauté onion, celery and carrot in butter until tender. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add 5 cups of the corn, broth, rosemary, and cayenne and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. With immersion blender, process until smooth. In a small skillet, sauté red pepper in butter until tender, add to pureed mix with remaining corn and heat through. Stir in half and half, and season with salt and pepper.

It's hot and I want soup

How weird is that? But I keep thinking about soup, and not exactly summertime fare either, but the satisfying, tummy warming and tongue happy flavors of a good hearty soup. This one is a fav; cook the pasta separate and stir into the hot soup before eating, and top with a good spray of fresh grated parm and asiago. It’s great for all that fragrant basil in my garden

Pasta Fagioli

2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, diced
2 tbls extra virgin olive oil
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 small zucchini or yellow squash, peeled and diced
1 c. fresh spinach, chopped
1 red pepper, seeded cored and diced
2 cup water
1 (16 oz) can cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 pound ditalini macaroni (or other small pasta)
grated parmesan and asiago cheese
fresh basil

Saute the onion, pepper and garlic gently in dutch oven in the olive oil for 5 minutes, and then add the tomatoes and water. Let simmer gently for about 10 minutes. Add squash and drained beans, simmer for 5 minutes, add spinach, and simmer until wilted, just about 2 minutes. While simmering, in a separate pot cook the ditalini macaroni until al dente, drain and rinse quickly under cold water, set aside. Ladle soup into bowls, add 1/3 c. pasta, and top with basil and cheese.

Tying up the veggie bundles

I spent about 4 hours yesterday helping my friend Tim who is the Executive chef at a local yacht club. It wasn’t anything special, I simply sliced carrots, blanched them and a whole pan of fresh green beans, then spent the next 2 1/2 hours tying them into little bundles with blanched green onion strips. And I did it all standing next to two oven banks and a six burner stove going full throttle, with three guys rushing by me back and forth and some indeterminate hard rock blaring from the stereo on the other side of the kitchen. But it was great, good to be doing something worthwhile, good to see my friend and good to lend a hand. I heard the phrase ‘Thank you’ directed at me yesterday more times than I could count. That’s a nice feeling. I will go back on Wednesday and Friday for more. It has been since May that I have had any reason to wear long pants and socks, and it was warm, warm, warm with an air temp outside in the 90’s and humid. But it was good be useful and to feel a little fatigue, but at the same time, that is the most effort I have put out this whole summer that I was paid for, and I am truly recognizing (and in some ways relishing) my lazy days. All too soon they will come to an end.

Monday, July 24, 2006

A day in God's country with the blueberries

I wrote about my ethereal blueberry picking experiences as one of my first posts. This year marked the third of my annual day trip to Maiden Rock Wisconsin to pick berries. Some people might wonder why I will make a 1 1/2 hour car trip one way to pick fruit. Some people have never been on State Hwy 35 on the Wisconsin side of the St. Croix River and seen what kind of wondrous natural beauty is present there. Maiden Rock lies on Lake Pepin, a natural widening of the St. Croix River that is considered one of the most beautiful natural wonders in the US. (I don’t know if that’s official, but it should be) The road winds, turns, climbs and falls, all the while skirting along the cliffs that are prominent along the river. Tiny little towns lie along it’s edge, almost like an afterthought, with weathered houses perched on rock overlooking a vista of amazing beauty. I have never taken this drive on anything less than a gorgeous summer day, so the sun catches the dancing ripples in the water far below me, while eagles and vultures too numerous to count ride the winds aloft on the cliff edges, suspended like kites, circling and diving. To get to the berry farm, you drive three miles up the side of one of these cliffs, eventually coming to their farm with the breathtaking view of the St. Croix valley. In any direction you look is a panorama of Midwestern life; farm land, silos, crop fields and houses all reduced to the miniature status of their distance, like toys scattered across a verdant and fertile playground. But the berries are the reason you came here, and the bushes await you, hanging their heads in bowed obedience awaiting your hands to relieve them of their delectable blushing beauty. The harvest was at a peak, brought on by the recent hot weather, and it took me about an hour to pick my first 10-pound box. One bush alone yielded enough fruit to fill my colander to the rim before I poured it’s bounty into the box. The place was crowded with people, all bent and intent on reaping the harvest. Little children swung plastic ice cream buckets, proclaiming joyfully at their finds and parents talked amongst themselves of what they would do with their fruit. I picked, picked, and picked some more until two full boxes sat by my side. It took about 2 1/2 hours, but on a picture perfect 78 degree summer day with a stiff breeze to dry the sweat on my face, it was not a chore at all. Had I not been so hungry from my labor I would have kept going. All around me were bushes absolutely toppling over with fruit, begging me to take them. Handful upon handful went into my willing mouth, their flavor bursting from the skins with it’s tantalizing, sweet - sour flesh. I gorged until I could stand it no more, but my body called for something more. I made my purchases and doused myself in the crisp and cold well water from the old fashioned pump, drinking down gulp after gulp to drive the thirst from my skin. Down the cliff I went, along the winding road where the deep canopy of trees reached out to wave me along. I drove down the road to a little diner in Stockholm, mowed through a soul and hunger satisfying burger and then slowly drove back so I could take in the beauty of Lake Pepin where sailboats dotted the waters with their pristine white sails and the sunlight drew diamond sparkles from the sky blue waters. I could have stopped and drank of it’s pure delight, leaving me in such a stupor that I would have been unable or unwilling to return to my concrete world. Now the fruit awaits….for jam, syrup and bag upon bag for the freezer to get me through the fruitless days of winter. And of course, for the multiple handfuls that will simply be stuffed into my mouth as needed to replenish me and conjure up images of pristine waters and warm, breeze filled hours in God’s country.

Palak Paneer (Spinach with Indian Cheese)

I love spinach, love it a lot. In salads, as my green on a burger, cooked into my Lo Mein etc. etc. I also love this dish in the Indian restaurants I frequent so I wanted to reproduce it at home. The cheese part was easy.(see Paneer- Indian Cheese) This dish came out good, but we thought the seasoning was off. The recipe calls for cooking the spinach to a paste, which I did not do as I love the toothsome and earthy taste of spinach that is still identifiable as such. Overall, outside of the seasoning we liked it a lot. I used sour cream as the base and will try it with real cream next time. I also may resource some different recipe options to see if we can’t perfect the flavor. This recipe calls for 2 pounds of spinach, which is an extraordinary amount. I used two 9 oz. bags and it was fine. Be sure to chop it up a little to make for easier eating. I did not de-stem it.

Palak Paneer

1 lb paneer pieces

2 lb spinach

3 tablespoon onion (chopped)

2 tablespoon tomato (chopped)

2 tablespoon any cream (alternate: sour cream)

2 teaspoon garma masala powder

1 teaspoon cumin powder

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

2 tablespoon ghee or oil

Heat ghee or butter and saute onion until golden. Add spinach and cook to a paste. Add cream and spices, stir to mix and cook for several minutes. Add paneer, cook for 10 minutes to allow flavor to develop

Thursday, July 20, 2006

My favorite of the dishes I made

This was my favorite of all the dishes I made. I love this combination of cauliflower, potato and spices. The fenugreek is an amazing flavor, the seeds are toasted in oil until they are black and WOW……the taste is…..Mmmmmm. And really different. This had the best spice combo and balance of all the dishes. Just right, nothing too overpowering or heavy. I will make this again and again until I cannot stand the sight of cauliflower anymore.

Gobi Aloo (Cauliflower Curry)

1 head cauliflower, chopped
3 potatoes, cubed
1 chili chopped
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 cup peas
2 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon ghee or butter
2 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon







1/2 teaspoon coriander
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon Fenugreek (Methi)
2 Bay leaf

Mix all the spices except fenugreek and bay leaf together in a bowl and stir well.

Sauté Fenugreek (Methi) in oil till it turns black. Add Bay leaf.

Add potatoes, half of the spices and sauté for few minutes in medium heat.

When potato is half done, add Cauliflower.

Add tomatoes, peas, and chili and sprinkle rest of the spices over it. Cook and stir until cauliflower is tender.

Serve hot with Rice or Roti

Making Paneer (Indian cheese)

I’ll write about my Indian feast in manageable amounts. If I posted it all at once it would just be too huge to focus on. The Paneer was the first recipe I made yesterday. I followed the instructions in Nancy McDermot’s ‘The Curry Cookbook’. It called for 6 c. whole milk and 1 1/2 c. whole fat plain yogurt. Other recipes have called for mixing lemon juice or vinegar with the milk to acidulate, but I followed Nancy’s because I love her cookbook.

To start, line a colander with four layers of cheesecloth and place in the sink. Heat the milk to boiling (i used a 6-qt dutch oven), stirring constantly to prevent burning. Make sure it is rolling at a boil, then add the yogurt and stir gently. The milk will suddenly break into curds and whey, stir for about three minutes, then take the pan and carefully pour it all into the colander to drain. When it is cool enough, bring the edges of the cheesecloth together and squeeze out any excess whey, twisting the top of the cloth tight and squeezing repeatedly to wring out moisture. Tie to faucet and allow to drain for about 30 minutes. Place on a plate, put another plate on top of it, and weigh down the top plate to press the cheese. I used a lot of weight! Make sure it’s not too tippy. Leave it for 30 minutes. Carefully unwrap the cheesecloth and cut the cheese into 1/2″-1″ inch pieces. Chill in airtight container. It should keep for up to five days according to McDermot. I used it that evening in making Palak Paneer.

I think I killed the ipod

We have the Shuffle, love it. We both use it and G-man has his own Shuffle. When I take it out for a walk or rollerblading, if I don’t have a pocket I tuck it into the waistband of my shorts with the control button easily accesible. Yesterday I was walking in the 80 degree heat of late morning and the ipod went to the Shuffle mode without me even touching it, and when I tried to pause it, nothing happened. I shut it off, told Mike, my genius-that-can-fix-anything all about it, and despite his best efforts on both the Mac and my PC, we can’t get that little thing working again. I am thinking the salty sweat permeated the case and shorted out the chip. I feel bad. We love our ipod, it makes our walks more entertaining by far. *sigh*

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Ramblings on rain, critters in the garden and a bowl of oatmeal

It’s hard to type and eat oatmeal at the same time. I love oatmeal, but it has to have very definite additions. Milk must be part of the liquid and you must mix the oats and liquids before beginning to cook for a creamier taste; there must be dried fruit in it- raisins are always good, but dried blueberries and cranberries are better, and they also must go in before it cooks so they plump and soften during the process. And lastly, it has to have ground flaxseed in it. It provides a nuttier taste, plus the Omega-3 is a very good thing.

It’s just black and dreary outside, as we are getting a much needed and welcomed rainstorm. Thankfully I didn’t waste time watering our lawn last night, or at least what is left of it after the past month of hot, dry weather. We haven’t had any grass to cut in our front yard, and crossing it to the mailbox sounds like your crushing crackers under your feet. Some of it is still green, under the tree. Most of it is the color of straw, and has that pleasant, dry grassy smell. While coming back from the mailbox yesterday, I yelled at someone passing in a car who threw a cigarette butt out the window. Talk about asking for an inflagration! What a fool! There are parched lawns all up and down the street, and our local highways have numerous spots that are black and charred from one of those fools and their dumb cigs. No offense to smokers, but put your butts in your ashtray.

Creatures vs. Garden, part 2. Yesterdays silly little act was chasing off a rabbit trying to dig under my newly installed fence around my vegetable garden. (see my post about the woodchuck and the green tomatoes). I watched it while it hopped around and around the fence, obviously looking for a way in, and when I noticed it begin to dig at the ground, I ran outside shouting and waving my arms and chased it across the lawns to get it good and scared, yelling and making myself out to be quite comical. I am sure my neighbors think I am certifiable, I chase off the squirrels who hang on my bird feeders too. Maybe they just see me and sigh “There goes Kate again.” Now I realized that I moved into the critters world, but some manner of respect both ways should be in order. They respect my fence and smelly stuff to keep them away, and I will respect them……. a little.

I love the smell of rain!

Monday, July 17, 2006

Sweet Stuff

Just to make sure that y'all are aware of the fact that I love dessert. These cupcakes are SO delicious! Try them with either hot coffee or ice cold milk

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Combine:
8 oz. cream cheese
1 egg
1/3 c. sugar
1/8 t. salt

Stir well, add 1 c. chocolate chips and set aside

Mix together:
3 c. flour
2 c. sugar
½ c. cocoa
2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt

Add to dry ingredients, beating well:
2 c. water
2/3 c. oil
2 T. vinegar
2 t. vanilla

Pour batter into lined muffin pan. Top each with 1 T. cream cheese mixture. Top with sugar and chopped nuts if desired. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.


This cake is amazingly tart and sweet at the same time.

Lemon Lovers Pound Cake
From the 2004 Taste of Home Annual Cookbook

1 c. butter, no subs
3 c. sugar
6 eggs
5 T. lemon juice
1 T. lemon peel, grated
1 t. lemon extract
3 c. AP flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 1/4 c. sour cream.

Icing:
1/4 c. sour cream
2 T. soft butter
2 1/2 c. powd. sugar
3 T. lemon juice
2 t. grated lemon peel

In large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes; Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one; Stir in lemon juice, peel and extract; Combine flour, baking soda and salt, add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream. Beat until just combined. Pour into greased and floured 10-in. fluted tube pan. Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely. For icing, beat sour cream and butter until blended, gradually add confectioners sugar then beat in lemon juice and peel. Drizzle over cake. Store in refrigerator.

Every year at Christmas my Mom would make these sinfully rich, decadent bars. I make them for our Christmas still, kudos to my Mom's memory

Three Layer Bars

Base:
½ c. (1 stick) butter
¼ c. granulated sugar
5 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. graham cracker crumbs (from 32 square crackers)
1 c. coconut
½ c. chopped almonds

Filling:
¼ c. (½ stick) softened butter
2 tbsp. vanilla instant pudding mix
2 tbsp. milk
2 c. powdered sugar

Glaze:
2/3 c. (4 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips
2 tbsp. butter

Prepare the base layer: Melt the ½ cup of butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and stir in the granulated sugar and cocoa powder until well blended. Add egg, and cook, stirring, until the mixture begins to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, crumbs, coconut and almonds. Press into an ungreased 9-by 9-inch pan.

Prepare the filling: In the small bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the ¼ cup of softened butter and the pudding mix. Beat in the milk and then the powdered sugar. Spread over the base layer. Chill at least 15 minutes.

Prepare the glaze: Melt the chocolate in a saucepan over very low heat, stirring. Remove from heat, add the 2 tablespoons of butter and stir until butter is melted. Allow to cool slightly, then pour and spread over the filling. Refrigerate until set; cut into small bars.

For the love of Risotto

Risotto is a 'love' food. It takes some time and attention (like love), some planning for the right ingredients and uninterrupted time at the stove. But when done right, each bite is sheer bliss; a soft but still somewhat chewy grain in a creamy sauce flavored with the taste of a good wine and asiago cheese. Cooks Illustrated worked out a method for making risotto that is less time consuming allowing you the ability to do other things while it's cooking. Foodie types will tell you that the only legit way to make risotto is to stir, add broth, stir, add broth, stir, add some more broth and stand there glued to the stove for 30-40 minutes. Not true, and I have made it both the tried and true method and that of Cooks. You would never be able to tell the difference. While the base methodology is the same, you just don't need to stir it all the time.

Risotto (my method with a little help from Cooks Illustrated)

2 T. butter plus 2 T. olive oil

1 large shallot, peeled and chopped

2 clove garlic, chopped

1 red pepper, seeded and chopped

3 c. water plus 3 c. chicken broth, heated but not boiling

2 c. arborio rice

1/2 c. dry white wine (i mostly use Sauv. Blanc, but have used Pinot Grigio also)

1 c. asiago cheese (or half parmesan too) freshly grated

Heat butter and oil in dutch oven. When butter foam subsides, add shallot and cook for 3-5 minutes or until opaque. Add garlic, cook for 30 seconds until very fragrant. Add pepper and cook 5 minutes. Add rice, stir and cook until edges are clear, 4 minutes. Add wine, stir and cook until evaporated. Add 3 c. of the liquid, stir to combine and allow to simmer, stirring only to prevent rice from sticking to the pan bottom, usually once every 3-5 minutes, until liquid is mostly absorbed. Add remaining liquid, about 1/2-1 c. per time, stir to combine and allow to simmer, stirring only to keep rice from sticking. This whole process should take anywhere from 25-35 minutes. The rice, when finished should be tender, but still a bit chewy and there should be a fair amount of creamy sauce surrounding it. Stir in half of the cheese and garnish your bowl with the rest. Add some cracked black pepper to taste. Try not to gobble.

Risotto is one of those dishes that tastes pretty good even if it isn't perfect. The first time I made it, it came out like paste. Although the flavor was OK, the texture was something else! Very gluey and way overcooked. Keep on making it though, no recipe is fool proof the first time, especially this one. Add other veggies when you get better at it and can judge how they would best fit in; mushrooms work really well in risotto, and I have used cauliflower and carrot too. The addition of saffron will make traditional Risotto alla Milanese. I like the red pepper in it because it gives it a really beautiful color. Experiment. Sample. Taste and enjoy

How many green tomatoes could a woodchuck chomp?

.......if a woodchuck could chomp tomatoes??

I live in a semi-rural area and have been blessed to interact with multitudes of wildlife. I also have a perennial garden and a small vegetable garden and need to protect them from those creatures. It's relatively easy with some small measures; fencing and stinky stuff. Thankfully I found a better anti-deer and rabbit spray this year that smells and tastes strongly of capsaicin and not like someone chucked a dozen eggs under the bushes and left them to rot. Much more pleasant to use. The only casualty so far that I was not prepared for was the large Day Lily bud that some naughty creature ate the day before it opened. Sometimes you just have to scream for one exasperative moment and then just let it go. There are good things about seeing wildlife in your yard
Just the other night a fawn took refuge under the Star Magnolia bushes during a rainstorm. Who knows where Mama was and whether or not they ever got reunited, but it was gone several hours later. Last winter we would regularly see up to a dozen deer in our yard, milling about, cavorting and sometimes sleeping under the trees in the snow. This year, I bit the bullet and kept the bird feeders empty and the deer did not come back. This is good, because then mine and the neighbors Hosta gardens do not end up as their personal salad bars.

But today I spotted a new critter, a cute lil' groundhog. It looked like a mutant squirrel with smaller ears and tail, and it waddled around my garden hiding behind the compost cans while I talked to it, asking it's purpose in my yard. Eventually it became tired of my constant inquiries and took off, running behind the echinacea and hollyhocks and out onto the open grass where it eventually disappeared past the neighbors house. Upon intense investigation, all my green tomatoes on the bottom 8 inches of the plants have disappeared. And I mean DISAPPEARED! Not left with teeth marks from a stupid squirrel, or half gone like what a rabbit will do, but completely and totally GONE. No wonder that cute lil' groundhog was waddling. It has just lunched on a sizable meal of organic green tomatoes. Thankfully it isn't a pepper fiend, as I have 6 nice sized peppers just hanging around enjoying the heat. And it ignored the asparagus stems scattered on the ground (for the beneficial nematodes). So guess what I will be doing tonight??? That's right....a fence!

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Tilapia with Olive Tomato Tapenade

A perfectly cooked piece of fish is a thing of beauty. This is delicious, quick and nutritious.

Olive Tomato Tapenade

6 Roma tomato, cored, seeded and diced (feel free to skin if you wish)
¼ c. kalamata olives, chopped
1 medium shallot, diced
2 clove garlic, minced
1 T. capers, chopped.
1 T. lemon zest
2 T. lemon juice
Dash balsamic vinegar

In sauté pan, cook shallot until clear in a small amount of olive oil. Add garlic and cook until just fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add tomato and lemon zest, cook until tomato breaks down. Add olive, capers, vinegar and lemon juice, stir to combine and heat through.

For dredging tilapia (tastes good but not required- the fish is just as good seared plain)

1/2 c. yellow cornmeal
1/4 c. flour
1 t. each ground mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, dill weed, cracked black pepper, and kosher salt

Mix together on plate and dredge one side only of the filets well, then place in HOT saute pan with a little olive oil and allow to cook until well browned on bottom. Flip over and cook until fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve topped with tapenade.

By coating only one side of the fish, you get the crisp, crusty flavor of a fried fish without using a lot of oil or coating. Notice you don’t dip the filet in any liquid as is normal with coating fish for saute purposes. If the pan is hot enough, you will get a good sear on the flesh with the liquid it naturally contains. Don’t be too quick to rescue it once it’s in the pan, you should see the fish almost halfway cooked before you flip it over. And you will go “Ooooohhhh” when you see how delicious and browned the bottom will be. One more tip: Coat the flat side of the filet with the cornmeal mix. It sears best that way.

Tilapia is a very forgiving fish. It works well when it is slightly over-cooked even given the fact that most fish over-cooked tastes like eating shoe strings. Tilapia is mild and works well with anything you want to put on the top. It’s great baked with lemon and dill, grilled plain or on a plank, seared in a pan or broiled. This fish turned out perfectly, moist, tender and so flavorful with the tapenade. The olives give it a slight briny taste with little jolts of the crisp caper nuance. There is the bite of the garlic, the sour of the lemon and balsamic, all working in tandem with the pleasant flavor of the Roma. A great multi- layered taste to deeply compliment the firm, meaty flesh of the fish. We ate it with steamed asparagus, which also came out very well cooked.

This was tonights meal. Mike requested it, and that is rare since he hardly ever asks for anything specific. Griffin is away for the week so we are planning all sorts of grown-up meals where we won’t have to hear anything along the lines of “What IS that stuff?? How much do I HAVE to eat??” We love fish, Griffin thinks he hates it but I think it’s only because most 12 yr olds DO hate fish so he thinks he should too. Obviously it’s not as great as a steak to him, but it’s cheaper and better for you so it automatically ranks very low on the scale of acceptable foods. I know I will miss him this week, but I look forward to eating some delicious food without lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth. And of course, I will share it all here!!

How far has your food world turned?

I am a Pisces, and as anyone with a little knowledge regarding astrological signs and their nature may understand, Pisces are very passionate people. They feel everything deeply, tend towards the mercurial, are very expressive and often dreamy. For me at least, the way I feel about food matches beautifully with my Pisces attributes. I can turn a simple something into an amazing experience just because of the day I was born.

Whether it’s that or the fact that I can look back on my life and see how far my food world has turned I can’t say. It could be both. I can easily recall my childhood meals that focused on what was cheap that could feed 5 hungry kids. My parents were divorced and my mother had us all and times were tough. We ate a lot of cheap stuff- hot dogs and Hormel chili, Jenni-O turkey roast, Mock Chow Mein, Tomato Rice Hotdish, Sloppy Joes, plenty of stuff that contained cream soups, lots of jello and white rice and other things that I think I have blanked on. It was survival food, and thankfully we never really knew any better. But I could cook, my mom made sure of that, and when I got into college I was one of the minority that could make her way through a kitchen without burning anything. My college friends were in awe, and I was disgusted at them. I grew up learning to cook, clean and do all the things required to take care of yourself outside of your parents house, and just figured everyone was learning the same thing. Boy, was I SO wrong! I had a roommate who was helpless doing anything for herself; she couldn’t even make a frozen pizza without a disaster and would have to go home every two weeks so her mother could do her laundry. It was a 4-5 hour trip, one way. I called my mother one night to thank her for teaching me to be independent, and apologized for always getting mad when she insisted I do it myself. I’m pretty sure she cried, but I never knew.

There was a time in my early 30’s that I realized I had to change my food world. I was so fed up with eating the same things, making the same recipes and feeling lethargic and heavy after every meal. And I was starting to see the effects of what my old fashioned diet was doing to me. While my cholesterol tested well, the rest of me felt yucky. I decided it was time for a change. I needed to understand the healthier ways of eating, and I began a long journey towards eating better and being knowledgable about how my body is affected by what I put in it. I read everything I could find on healthy eating and living- Natural Health magazine was my absolute favorite, and I absorbed everything within it’s pages like I was dying of thirst. And I learned an enormous amount. None of the major changes happened overnight, in fact, I still love deep fried food and am particularly drawn to onion rings, but I know everytime I eat them that I am going to feel like I have bricks in my stomach. I know that processed foods like bacon, sausage, pepperoni and bratwurst aren’t the best to eat, but I still love sausage pizza, BLT’s and a good brat slathered with mustard and relish. Not to mention summer sausage on a cracker with sharp cheddar cheese. One thing I have completely gotten away from however, is fast food. I can recall sitting in a fast food place and eating a burger and suddenly it occured to me that I didn’t even like it. I’m not certain that I didn’t blurt it outloud, which might cause a near scandal- I mean, heaven forbid anyone should actually REALIZE that that food is garbage! But it is, I mean, come on….we all know it’s the worst food on the planet for you to eat, or even feed your kids. When I started to talk to my son about how it isn’t very good for him, he actually listened. He now dislikes it too, the only fast food he ever eats anymore is Dairy Queen Grill and Chill. But me, even eating one of their burgers elicits the reaction of “This really isn’t that good” out of me. But their onion rings……..oooohhh. Those are trouble.

My diet is really, really different now than 10 years ago, and even with healthier eating my problem now is simply that I eat too much. I rationalize it often with the fact that the food is better for me, but it’s still too much. Everything in moderation, especially moderation, right?? By no means am I always eating whole grains, no meat, and my 9 servings a day of vegetable and fruit, but I am eating better and doing better for myself than I was 10 years ago. Little slips here and there are OK, provided that they are followed up with a healthy meal. I religiously read nutrition labels and explore new ways of making our meals. There is no looking back for me, and I hope that my son will continue to be adventurous and willing to eat new things, and not fall into unhealthy eating habits. Change happens gradually, and anyone can do it.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Fudgesicle glory and the old time ice cream treats

Or is it pronounced..’fudge-icle? Maybe it depends on the age of the person you ask. I say ‘Fugde-sicle’ but my 3-yr old nephew Joey calls it a ‘Fudge-icle’ or sometimes ‘the brown popsicle’

I absolutely LOVE a fudgesicle. Almost nothing else can compare except maybe a homemade pudding pop. There is nothing like the chocolate-y good, creamy and delicious taste of one on a HOT day. (and trust me, in MN lately, it’s pretty darn HOT). Heaven on a stick, the blinding, ding-batty, fall down from joy crazy love from one little cold treat on a piece of wood. What is it about this simple thing that makes me SO nuts??

It used to be that you could find a Fudgesicle in any chest freezer in any convenient store on any street corner of any city. Right there next to the Bomb Pops, the Klondike Bar (what would YOU do for a Klondike bar??) the Eskimo Pie, Ice Cream Sandwich, Drumstick and the neon colored popsicles that turned your tongue all sorts of interesting colors. I remember Bomb Pops were impossible to eat before they melted down your arm in streaks of red and blue that never washed away. An Ice Cream Sandwich could be counted on to stick to your fingers like glue; the only way to get off that chocolate-y ’sandwich’ part was to scrape your finger over your bottom teeth to pry it off. Or maybe rub your finger over the roof of your mouth to release it. And the ice cream had all the flavor of air. There really wasn’t much too it. But you were a kid, and those treats were the epitomy of summer. You and your friends and your quarter in your pocket (or 50 cents if it was a Bomb Pop) and you would arrive at the store breathless from your furious bike ride, your face flushed with sweat, your head pounding in the heat. Into the store you would go, toss back the door on the chest freezer and stick your head into the cold and frosty air that poured out. Eyes searching out the prize….what will it be today?

For me, it was always the Fudgesicle. Sometimes it was so cold that my tongue would stick to it, as I simply couldn’t wait for a bit of condensation to form to prevent it. You would need to lick and lick, again and again to permeate the frosty outer layer, and begin to unleash the rich, creamy, dreamy fudgey taste. It was like eating frozen chocolate milk, or your most favorite chocolate ice cream, but it was creamier and richer and more fudgey than that. Chunks would break off in my mouth and I swirled them around with my tongue, pressing them into my cheeks to send the flavor over all corners of my mouth. It never seemed like it was enough, and the closer you got to the stick the more you could taste it’s woody, cardboard flavor mingling with the yummy chocolate tango on your tongue. I often would suck on the stick just to get out the last figments of flavor, the remaining chocolate sensation. My mouth was happy, my tongue, overjoyed. I couldn’t wait for the next one.

Every time I go into a convenience store I open the ice cream freezer and see what is inside. I search in vain for the Fudgesicles, pushing aside the Dove Bars, Snickers Ice Cream bars, Black Cows, Crunch Bars, those HUGE freezies that just make my brain hurt to look at, and all manner of modern ice cream delights. But never, ever a fudgesicle. I can’t believe that little kids aren’t going to experience the joy of eating them, but you can still buy them in a box for your home freezer. They are smaller, and taste a little bit more like the inside of a tin can, but there is still that creamy, dreamy, mind boggling, fall down from joy kinda love that is evoked from a smooth chunk of it being dredged around your tongue. I just had one tonight, with Joey, and Griffin, while the heat danced outside the windows and shimmered through the trees. All we had to do was open Joey’s freezer.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Facing 100 degrees and food dilemmas

One thing is certain about living in Minnesota, and that is you can expect some hot weather in the summer. Our winters can dip down to -30 below or colder and our summers can soar into the 100 degree range. Winters as of late have not been that cold, but our summer of ‘06 is about to teach us the meaning of ‘HOT’. Weather predictions are running from mid to upper 90’s into the triple digits for Thursday through at least Monday. Thank God for central air, the sister in laws pool and ice cubes. But what do you eat when it’s that hot??

For Mike and I, simplicity is the key. But there is a 12 year old boy in the house as well, one who can mow through the contents of the fridge and pantry with all the fierceness of a bear just out of hibernation. He is going through a phenomenal stage of eating right now, and simple meals will not suit him. Mike and I could be happy with a salad- nice field greens and spinach, a crunchy topping like apple or jicama, some tomato, avocado, sunflower seeds or almonds…..you get the picture. Griffin’s idea of a salad consists of a half cup of salad dressing poured over three lettuce leaves. Mike and I could eat Lo Mein, or a veggie stir fry; Griffin wants a steak, another steak and then maybe a steak for dessert. Oh, and can you make a potato with that? He walked in the door yesterday after spending the day with his cousins, and the first thing out of his mouth was not “Hi Mom!” it was “What’s for dinner???” Less than an hour after two chicken thighs and a large helping of mac-n-cheese went tumbling down his throat, he snacked on a bowl of pretzels and then wanted more. I suggested he wait and allow his stomach to catch up. He never ate the second bowl.

Grilling in that kind of heat can be pretty extreme. Last summer I recall grilling out on a particularly hot afternoon, and my meat thermometer read 118 degrees next to the grill. It’s not too bad turning on the oven when the A/C is on, but it’s not the most fun either. I could cut up a watermelon, lay out a plate of cheeses with crackers or bread and that would suit me. Mike would add his own twist to it, and Griffin would whine for a steak. It’s days like that when I want to wave the white flag of surrender, open the cupboard and get out of the way. Do what you want, eat what you want, I am TOO HOT to care! The heat curbs our after dinner walks too, and limits my garden time. But it particularly wreaks havoc on my creativity and my enjoyment of food. I guess I just need to sigh heavily and hunker down to wait for the end of the hazy heat. Good tomatoes, thick hardwood smoked bacon and thick leaves of romaine lettuce can make a delicious BLT; there’s always burgers, corn on the cob, the ever-changing salad bowl; a cold pasta dish and a plate of fruit. And if need be, we could just graze on leftovers. Hey! I forgot that the G-man leaves Sunday for a missions trip with our church! Oooh….the promise of quiet mealtimes….hmmmm. What should I make?!?!?!

Monday, July 10, 2006

Today's thoughts on food and eating

I like to think about food, read about food, plan menus, shop for food and make food. Oh yeah, I like to eat it too! I was grocery shopping today, and as always happens when I am at a grocery store, I like to see what is going in other shoppers carts. Sometimes it makes me sad, other times I am happy to spot a cart full of yummy looking food that obviously has a plan in someone’s kitchen. I like to eavesdrop on conversations too. One thing utterly unrelated to food that has become apparent to me from this activity is that the kids in a lot of families seem to be the ones dictating what goes in the cart, sometimes to the point of bullying their parents to get a particular item they want. This is where I get sad. I see carts FULL of junk food and kids whining about getting something they want, and the obvious signs of it’s effect walking alongside. One family had a cart just for pop. There must have been almost two dozen cases of pop in that cart, and one child was crying because he didn’t like any of the varieties. How could that be? When did parents forego their authority and give in to the incessant demands of their kids? Who is in charge here anyway? Oy vey!


The food industry in this country today is full of an amazing number of choices, more so than at any time in our nations history. More and more people are becoming aware of the effect that occurs in their bodies when they eat the right kinds of foods. And sadly, we are seeing in devastating ways what can happen when too much goes in, especially of the wrong types of food. There is a higher demand for gourmet food and these types of stores have popped up in record numbers. Top notch restaurants are everywhere, serving unique and delicious menu items to throngs of people who are learning to understand and appreciate well made, quality foods. Cooking classes abound, teaching people how to create wonderful food items at home, and stores are available where you can go in and put together a month’s worth of meals for your freezer all for one afternoon of time.

I don’t have cable and I don’t watch the Food Network too much. When I have seen it, I have not been too impressed, but what it has done that I can commend is that it has made people much more aware of what they are putting in their mouths. I think it’s wonderful that people are demanding better food to eat, more nutritiously sound meals and more knowledge about making really good food at home. Never has cooking, and cooking well, been so chic, so in demand and so important. There is a whole new era that we are in where food has become more life-affirming than ever before, and the sharing of food and drink, while always an important social ritual, has never been more appreciated. In the Minneapolis/St. Paul area of Minnesota, we have seen a phenomenal growth in wonderful, chef-driven restaurants; where menus are beautiful handprints of the mind and heart behind the stove. I love how it has raised up a whole class of people who are demanding that their food be different, be something outside the box and maybe even off the radar. Where we once used to think that we knew what a good cut of beef tasted like, now we have restaurants where top-quality meats are cooked to mind numbing perfection while dressed with minimal fuss or extras so the pristine taste of the meat can bedevil your tongue. In a world where a salad used to be iceberg lettuce and thick dressing, now we have tiny little field greens dressed in the most spartan of vinaigrettes, and topped with an army of divine edibles. And grains have come front and center, some from far back in ancestral times and a culture across the world. It’s no longer just rice and potatoes. Vegetables in every color of the rainbow are now common and expected, and unique and exotic fruits line supermarket shelves right next to the basic apples and oranges. As different cultures live in tandem with one another, we take on aspects of one another’s cooking methods, individual ingredients and meal time rituals, turning one dish after another out that simply explode with amazing flavors and textures. It’s a wonderful time to be in food heaven.

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Guacamole recipe

Take two or three big firm but soft avocadoes and slice them around the horizon, then twist the two halves apart. Using the tip of your knife, gently pry the pit out. Take your knife and slice through them from end to end, being careful not to slice through the skin and into your palm. Blood does not make Guacamole taste better. Then turn the avocado and slice across the opposite way and scoop out the chunks with a spoon. Or be caveman-like and just scoop out the flesh and mash it in a bowl. I like the chunks. Try it that way once and see.

Finely dice a clove of garlic and add to the bowl, then a teaspoon of kosher salt. Don’t use iodized salt, it makes the avocado taste tinny. Squeeze the juice of half a lime in, then zest some of the yummy green lime zest over the bowl. Mix it up and leave it sit for a while. Mix again before you eat it. The lime juice will keep it from browning. Use lemon if you want, but lime is better. Sometimes I de-seed and chop half a tomato and add that too, more acidity to prevent browning. I don’t add onion, as raw onion makes my tummy do funny things and you wouldn’t want to kiss me after I eat it. What’s left after our burrito feast gets devoured with chips, or sometimes snuck in the middle of the night from the fridge and eaten from the bowl with a spoon. The only problem with avocados is that the pit is too big. There should be wayyyyyy more to them- what a divine food!

The crabbies took over today, not a good food weekend

Not a big food weekend, it was really hot! Friday I wanted to make burritos but could not remember the formula for the dough to make the tortillas. Mike usually does it and he was late with a client, so G-man and I made some yummy man-n-cheese (please note: an ORGANIC variety….NOT Kraft! thank you very much!) and I had a soy chik’n patty dipped in a mix of Famous Dave’s georgia mustard and Baby Rays Honey BBQ sauce. It was food, and I wanted to eat with my chowpup so it had to be something he would want to mow through.
I spent Saturday with my family, hanging out with my Dad and seeing the swanky new library in downtown MPLS. It’s like a freaking shopping mall when you walk in the door, the thing is amazing, and they have this monstrous collection of cookbooks. My sister and I were about drooling walking through the aisle, reading title after title after title. I officailly got a major headache from cranking my head sideways to read those! Since I am not a county resident I cannot check anything out, but I took copious notes so that I can draw smoke searching the county library computers in my neck of the woods. We ate at an Irish pub in Mpls, near where my Dad lives. Nothing too exciting except my memories of times I visited there in college and drank WAY too many Black and Tans. I wanted to plow my way through their classic fish and chips but just didn’t want all that greasy food on such a HOT day, so I had a salad with beef tenderloin medallions on it. It was really good, craisins, blue cheese crumbles, toasted almonds….everything I love in a salad, especially good field greens and spinach. But I also had some Potato Leek soup that tasted like it came out of a can. Not good. Where was the leek, I kept thinking?? This tastes like Campbells Chunky…….at least it had real bacon on the top. That helped it be palatable. But yuck….Potato Leek soup can be so simple and divine. Now I feel like I need to make a pot to remind myself of how good it can be. Hmmm…..cold potato leek soup is Vichyssoise…good for hot day. Hmmmm

Anyway….enough of that. Today after church we stopped outside to partake in a fundraiser and ate brats and burgers. Boring, and I was crabbbbbbbbyyyy!!! Blech! It was like I had sprouted horns and claws!! Yuk!! I did not want to get up this morning, much less do anything, but we had the day planned already and my mood just didn’t want to cooperate. Afterwards we went to Mike’s mom’s for a visit with her sister that I have never met. It was fun, but I fought the crabbies on and off, and just wanted to curl up and take a nap. I had a yummy scone though. That helped. Food always helps. Mike said he would make the burritos for dinner as we were driving home, then somehow seemed to think that making the tortilla dough was enough and went to do other things. Once I reminded him of his promise we had dinner on the table within 20 minutes, but it was another notch in the crabbbbbbbbyyyyyy belt I was wearing. Yikes, I hope I can sleep tonight, that is one remedy that allows me to get rid of that nasty Sybil-like part of my personality. The burritos were yummy, we have a tortilla grill that we cook the tortillas on and I make my wonderful guacamole. We cook soy crumbles with taco seasoning, spread the tortilla with shredded cheese, chipotles, rice and the crumbles, dollop the guac all over it and then shred cilantro over that. A meal for the fists. Not authentic by any means, but surely delish for a crabby day. Tomorrow is grocery shopping and food planning. That should help knock the ol’ crabbies outta the park!

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Might as well give up the Indian Chicken recipe too

This is really good with or without the Fragrant rice pilaf. Try it with fresh shucked Sugar Snap peas for a real taste treat. You can get red curry paste either in a can or jar, and it is potent!! Until you know how much you can handle, use less than what the recipe calls for, then boost it when you make it again. Coconut milk is not the same as Cream of Coconut that is used in overly sweet bar drinks. Do not sub one for the other. Regular milk or bread is a good antidote if you OD on the curry paste.

Indian Chicken with Peas and Fragrant Rice Pilaf

For the Chicken:

1 T. vegetable oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 t. minced fresh ginger

2 t. minced fresh garlic

1 lb. chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces

1 14-oz can low fat unsweetened coconut milk

1-2 t. red curry paste, or to taste

½ t. turmeric

¼ t. salt

1 c. frozen baby peas

To velvet chicken: 2 T. sesame oil, 1 T. flour, 1 T. cornstarch

Heat oil in medium skillet, add onion, stir and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add ginger and garlic and cook for one minute. Stir together sesame oil, flour and cornstarch to smooth paste, add to chicken and stir to coat. Immediately add chicken to pan and turn heat up high. Cook chicken, stirring only occasionally until outside is lightly browned. Add coconut milk, curry paste, turmeric and salt and stir to combine. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally until the sauce reduces slightly, about 8-10 minutes. Add peas and cook for about 2 minutes more to heat peas through.
Sauce can be thickened slightly with cornstarch slurry if desired. Cook mixture for several minutes to cook off cornstarch taste.

Fragrant Rice Pilaf

1 15-oz can reduced sodium chicken broth

1 c. water

¼ t. ground cloves

1 bay leaf

½ t. ground cardamom

1 stick cinnamon, or ¼ t. ground cinnamon

¼ t. salt

1 1/3 c. basmati rice

Pour liquids into pan, add spices and stir to combine. Bring to boil, then add rice, cover and reduce heat to low, cooking until rice has absorbed liquid and is tender. Remove cinnamon stick, if used.

Here'e the Lo Mein recipe, for contrast

Vegetable Lo Mein


1# whole wheat spaghetti

4 scallions, thinly sliced

¼ c. oyster sauce

¼ c. rice vinegar

3 T. reduced sodium soy sauce

2 t. sugar

2 t. sesame oil

1/8. t. crushed red pepper

1 clove garlic, finely minced

1 t. finely minced fresh ginger root

2 T. canola oil

1 c. shredded carrot

1 red pepper, cored, seeded and thinly sliced

1 c. snow pea pods, de-stringed and thinly sliced

Peanuts for topping (optional)

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain.
Stir together scallions, oyster sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic, ginger and red pepper until sugar is dissolved.

In a large non stick skillet, heat canola oil over medium high heat. Add peppers and carrots, stir fry for 3-5 minutes. Add pea pods, stir fry about 2 minutes. Add in spaghetti noodles and cook, stirring occasionally until hot, about 5 minutes. Pour in sauce and toss pasta and vegetable to coat. Top with chopped peanuts if desired.

Sesame Noodles for dinner

The weather has been hot, and will get hotter. I want to eat but nothing heavy, or really spicy like I did last night. I made an Indian Chicken recipe that Griffin loves, and it’s wonderful and was great last night, but it was too spicy and a bit too overloaded for the heat of July. Tonight, knowing that the G-man was going to be out for the evening with Grandma, I had an opportunity to make a meal that just Mike and I would enjoy, so I settled on Sesame Noodles.

I love noodle dishes, simple easy and definitely nutritious. I have perfected Lo Mein from my kitchen that is delicious, and on good days I can get my 12 year old to eat it without too much wailing and gnashing of teeth. The Sesame Noodles are a bit different. The original recipe came from Eating Well magazine, one of those food mags that makes me drool when I read it. I swapped the red pepper and pea pods (ridiculously expensive right now) for some toothsome spinach and matchstick carrots. (these are handy when pre-cut already in a bag!) The recipe calls for either rice vinegar or lime juice and I use the latter since I love it’s tart bite and taste of summer. For an extra twist I decided to try some lime zest in the dish, and used both black and white sesame seeds for an interesting contrast. The good thing about noodle dishes is that you can be sitting down to eat in about 15 minutes, with chopping and all, so it was doubly great to be done quick as Mike was heading out to meet some friends. A sauce comprised of soy sauce, sesame and canola oil, some wasabi paste for heat, the lime juice and chopped scallions pulled it all together with the quick saute of carrot, garlic and spinach. A garnish of cilantro, a pair of chopsticks and we were in business.

The flavor was outstanding. Hints of the lime zest and the slow heat of the wasabi kept my mouth lively with the deep amber of the sesame oil peeking through. With the spinach and carrot adding some contrasting textures, intermingled with the tiny, almost imperceptible crunch of the sesame seeds, each bite in my mouth seemed like it was alive, toying with the whole grain goodness of the slippery wheat pasta. Thankfully the use of chopsticks makes me eat slower so I could savor this delightful dish in front of me. I love it when I can take a recipe and make up some variation on it’s theme that simply blows my mind. Man, do I love it!!

If you want to try it, here it is.

Sesame Noodles*

1 # whole grain spaghetti

½ c. reduced sodium soy sauce

2 T. sesame oil

1 T. canola oil

2 T. lime juice

Zest of half a lime^

1 ½ t. crushed red pepper

4 scallions, finely sliced

8 oz. fresh spinach^

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped^

4 oz. matchstick carrots^

½ c. toasted sesame seeds

¼ c. chopped cilantro

Mix together soy sauce, oils, lime juice, red pepper and ¼ c. scallions. Set aside

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain.

Meanwhile, roughly chop spinach. Heat a sauté pan with a small amount of oil and add garlic when hot. Sauté for 20-30 seconds, then add carrots. Cook for 2 minutes stirring constantly. Add spinach and cook until wilted but still firm. When pasta is done, add back to cooking pot and toss in vegetables and sauce mix. Stir to combine. Add zest and half the sesame seeds and mix. Serve with cilantro and remaining sesame seeds as garnish.

*Original recipe from the Summer 2004 issue of Eating Well; changes are noted with ^

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

When even the simple becomes profound

I love food, that’s no secret. What I love most about food is it’s ability to create amazing sensations in your body. The first taste of a perfectly grilled steak can cause me to do handsprings in my soul. The flavor of a sensational glass of wine makes me swoon, a perfectly cooked risotto lifts me 10 feet off the ground, and sometimes, a simple glass of milk and a few cookies leaves me feeling like there is nothing better in life at that moment.

It’s true, I am a simple girl. I live a simple life and I like simple but flavorful food. I haved already waxed on about my dislike for ‘gourmet’ types of food and the pretension that often comes with it. Food should make one’s soul feel nurtured and loved, it should bring a sense of calm to an already chaotic life and make one glad to have taken a seat at the table to rub elbows with friends and loved ones and to enjoy a beautiful meal. It doesn’t even have to be anything fancy, as I have already talked about how wonderful it is to share even the simplest of food. It always tastes better when shared. Food+people=community. Pretty simple. And simple things can nurture and soothe as well as those preparations that take time, love and skill.

This past holiday weekend I had the extreme pleasure of spending 4 days at our lake home, and was equally blessed with 4 days of absolutely gorgeous summer weather. Our lake home sits on the Eastern shore of a small lake in West-Central Wisconsin, barely an hours drive from our home in MN. The closeness of it is one of it’s appeals, the second is that it is shared by family, and most weekends see a gathering of many with fun at a maximum. Meals are always highly anticipated, but even a standard lunch of sandwiches, chips and fruit is elevated to a higher status simply because of the numerous faces gathered around the big picnic table, all laughing and at ease with the joy of just being together.

This past weekend was not full of the all out gustatory feasts of past weekends. We had a lot of kids, the hot July weather, the boat and the innertubes. No one wanted to spend any more time than necessary inside trying to make a fabulous meal. The cabin faces west, and on hot summer afternoons, the kitchen can fill with the heat of the sun at it’s peak while it drops to it’s daily demise, making meal time often more effort than is wanted. We knew the kids would just want to fill their tummies, as would we. Grilled hot dogs, beef brats, potato salad, coleslaw, watermelon, grapes and potato chips rounded out our fare. As usual, the meal was punctuated with much laughter, especially after we tried an introduction of coleslaw to our youngest family member at 16 months, who spit it out forcefully and shook her head, making the absolute worst possible face imaginable. My niece Anna nearly shot milk through her nose at the sight. Ahhh…wonderful memories! The play continued, boat rides and swimming and shouting and laughing. As the sun dropped over the horizon and the cool of the summer night began to caress our sun warmed skin, the kids changed into pajamas, pulled out the sofa bed and all piled on for a movie and relaxation. Laughter mingled with snoring before too long, and the grownups gathered in the kitchen for a snack. The wide patio doors were open to the wonderful breeze off the lake and the heat of the day had been dutifully chased from inside. I poured a cup of milk and took a few cookies. I was tired, and needed something to send me over the edge into dreamland, what better than milk and cookies? The cool milk made the crunchy cookie dissolve into a soft mass which I pressed around my mouth, tasting it at the same time as just spreading it out to go down better. No milk softened cookie should need anything more in the mouth. A perfect combination ensued, and a sense of profound peace came over me, or maybe it was just all the activity, sun, water, swimming, hot air and delightful laughter catching up to me. I thought about getting up to replenish my cookies as I stared into the dregs of lost crumbs at the bottom of my milk glass, but realized that I was beyond tired and the only thing I should do is get into bed to allow the Sandman to send me into slumber. How could such a thing as a store-bought sandwich cookie and a glass of 1% milk do such a thing to me, to bring on such a sense of listlessness and serenity? All up and down the shore of the lake twinkled the lights of a dozen campfires, and the air was filled with the smell of woodsmoke and occasional voices caught on the evening air. Even the occasional burst of fireworks did little to change my sleepy mood. The moon winked across the water as the night air rustled the trees and chilled my skin. It was such a nice contrast to the heat of the day and it felt good to pull a sheet over me. Filled with simple pleasures, picnic food and a loving family, I drifted into nothingness, suspended above it all in sleep and dreams with the love of my life by my side. Nothing more would have made me anymore peaceful, and another day was around the corner to do it all again. Ah, the joys of simple life and the profound way it jolts us, ever so gently just for this moment to savor, savor, savor, as a great wine or a wonderful meal, but with a lasting impression that no one can take away.

Eating alone at the lake

On a post-holiday weekend slide, here I sit back in the reality of my real world, with my warm, fuzzy thoughts about the 4-day escape I had to our lake home. I am blessed beyond compare to have married into a family with a lifelong attachment to a simple cabin on a small lake in WI. It’s the kind of place where you feel the weight of the world leave your shoulders the moment you open your car door in the yard. It’s where more than 30 years of memories and love have happened, where families have bonded, grown, shared and loved, and where a lot of food has been served to a lot of hungry, suntanned and windswept generations.

I was able to spend a good chunk of time there alone this past weekend (well, for me it was a good chunk) and took a meal along to really celebrate that time; me, alone with the wind and the water, the sun, the heat and the memories. I wanted to eat slowly and really taste my food, and mingle the flavor with the watery air, the glint on the lake and sounds of the loons. It was a hot afternoon, made tolerable by the steady westerly winds off the lake. A picture perfect end to June and a sultry introduction to the heat of July. It was a wonderful meal.

I had picked up some tomatoes at the market, although I was skeptical because they felt cold, like they had been chilled, but I tossed aside my doubt as I thought fondly of the fresh mozzarella chunk I had brought and the garden basil awaiting me at the cabin. Caprese salad! With a drizzle of green gold olive oil and a modest sprinkling of sea salt I figured that I could make any tomato edible. Once the hunger started to make me sit up and take notice, I laid out all my goodies nearly giddy with delight and anticipation. I had a chunk of salty salami and a wedge of good brie. There was a disc of Laughing Cow cheese, Cameo apples, dried figs and a bottle of Black Opal Cabernet that almost stubbornly refused to give up its cork. Somewhere I read that pulling a wine cork is somewhat like giving birth- it’s a really tough, tough thing to do but the result is amazing. That is what this bottle was like, and truth won out as I sipped. All the effort was well worth it. I poured out a bowl of sweet Bing cherries and sectioned the apple, spritzing it with a squeeze of lime for extra flavor. I sliced the tomato and saw that my instinct had been correct, and hopefully I would be able to enjoy it with a another splash of fresh lime and the oil so I dressed the fresh mozzarella and tomato slices, thinly sliced the basil over the top of it all and set the plate on the table. The salami was chunked and the cheese disc unwrapped. My feast was set out before me, regal yet simple, giving me a sense of peace and blessed contentment. I sipped the wine and sampled all the small bites; a bit of brie with the apple, then the fig. A smear of cheese on a cracker filled my mouth with it’s salty, briny flavor. The sweet cherries left their purple stain on my fingertips and I briefly thought about moving outside to the deck so I could spit the seeds into the brush with the glee of a child. I sipped the wine and then tried the Caprese. Oh the disappointment! The tomato was mushy and tasteless, and I had so wanted its impeccable summer flavor on my tongue. I tried another bite but then, with a sigh, I scraped the basil off and spread it over the delicious and simple mozzarella. The squirt of lime juice was a welcome addition to the oil and sea salt giving the cheese a light twist of flavor. I liked the apple with the brie, but decided that an apple with a more pronounced tart-ness would offset the mellow cheese texture better, and instead, brought forth my jar of real peanut butter to dip in a few apple chunks. Although I love this pairing, it didn’t quite match with my other meal items, as good as it is! The brie married beautifully with the figs and the figs were quite complementary with the Laughing Cow cheese on a good salty cracker. When my taste buds craved sweet I would pop a cherry in and savor the soft flesh, the tangy juices and the lively dance happening in my mouth. I was in food heaven and loving every minute. The wine captured all the taste of the dinner together nicely despite its heavier feel. And throughout the entire meal I could watch the sunlight over the water and hear the far-off sounds of others. The loons dove and swam; the wrens continued their constant calling, ground squirrels raced around under the deck outside and butterflies danced over the wildflowers down on the slope. The plates were now getting emptied and my tummy was very content, so without allowing for too much of a good thing, I sighed peacefully and got up to clear my dishes. It was really warm now and I was pleasantly full, my face feeling flushed and sweaty. Now comes the night, hopefully with some cooler temps, and maybe dessert. After that meal, I wondered how I can manage to find something with a fitting finish.