Summer Dreams

I have NOT been cooking. Things have been getting in the way as they are wont to do. I have to say I'm so disappointed in myself. Not only have I not been cooking, but I haven't even been assembling...I've been purchasing. Even though I've (sometimes)tried to make the healthier choices, what's taken precedence over everything else has been time. Sigh.

Soon school will be out for the summer and I will once again have the time to gather, garden, cook and prepare food from scratch. What I'm most missing lately is cooked greens. I am looking forward to swiss chard and spinach and arugula. I can't wait for radishes and beets and herbs. I'm hoping to do a lot of grilling - of things like shrimp and potatoes and corn. Green beans, asparagus, tomatoes, onions and bread. Yum.

I want to make a couple of risottos before the weather turns fierce. I'd like to do baked shrimp, tomatoes and feta on some griddled or broiled (or grilled!) ciabatta or baguette. I want warm vegetable salads with oil, garlic and parmesan curls. I want, I want, I want.

It's been too long and I'm parched!

Menu for a New Year

Well, here we are...
It has again been months since I last posted. This reminds me of the diary I used to keep as a little girl: months of absence, then obsession, then back to neglect.

Ahem.

So, my Xmas is going to be a bit of a downer this year. Working + no family + friends all going home = sad season. But I've decided to throw my holiday spirit into a New Year's Eve meal with new friends. I'm going out on a limb here considering my biggest entertaining fear is that I'll throw a party and no one will come but nevertheless, I'm hoping for about 14 people. I've had to relinquish some of the meal to friends but that's good practice for my control issues, right? Anyway, here's the menu:

Hummus with smoked paprika
Toasted pita chips and cucumber coins
Baked samosas with mint/cilantro chutney
Falafel with tahini sauce and raita
Fennel pilaf
"Indian" soup with chicken (this is the dish that's been delegated)
Mango with lime

...and...

Dessert. Which I couldn't decide on. My friend suggested something light, like fruit (hence the mango) but I feel like people could probably use something small and sweet. So, my big idea is to take a family recipe for "Butter Balls" (akin to mexican wedding cookies or russian tea cakes) and divide the dough. In one half I'm going to add cardamom and pistachio and in the other, vanilla and rosewater. I'm really excited to try this out. I imagine that they'll be delicate little mouthfuls, melting on the tongue and releasing their exotic flavors. Cross your fingers that it works...especially since I'm trying to woo someone with my cooking that night. :)

Happy Holidays and a Joyous New Year!

Oh food, I missed you!

Well, here we are again.

It is just past mid-terms and I feel like I've been treading water for months, just trying to stay afloat. And the eating. Oh, the eating. I haven't eaten this poorly for years. I started working at a hospital and they have an enormous amount of comfort food (not surprising) at very cheap prices (sort of surprising). Things like macaroni and cheese and grilled cheese and soft pretzels with cheese. Notice a trend? Also, chocolate cake, soup, pizza and wedge fries. It's sort of like being at a carnival without the rides. Though I do get on and off the elevator about 11,000 times a day. Anyway, the point is I've started succumbing to the lure of salty, warm food that I don't have to make. Not that I don't want to cook, it's just that I so rarely have the time (truthfully). It took a long time to come to terms with that fact. And then, because I'd never had that problem before I didn't know how to handle it (really, I still don't) and started just eating protein bars and scrambled eggs. It's been rather depressing around here culinarily.

But today (!) I have a day off from class and work through divine circumstance, and even though I still have lots to do (midterm paper to write, MUST clean apartment) I had the luxury of having a leisurely morning. Since I haven't had time to go grocery shopping in a while I was scrounging around for breakfast. Eggs? Meh. Cereal? Meh. Crackers? No. Special K protein bar? Hell no.

Then I had a revelatory thought, "I can cook something!!" So I did. I made polenta and stirred in some aged gouda, then topped it with some homemade chunky tomato sauce. It was SO gratifiying to stand at the stove and do a bit of light stirring, then eat something warm and hearty and seasoned just the way I liked it. God, how I'd missed that.

So, I have to attack this problem and figure out how to eat well while still eating cheaply and quickly. Tall order.

But the sun shines and my belly is satisfied so things are looking up.

School has started and it's a bitch. I won't even begin to tell you how much is being asked of me this semester, because a)it's ridiculous and would take forever, and b) no one really wants to hear about it. Suffice it to say, I'm not the only one...poor G. actually cried during class because our schedule is so demanding and overwhelming.

Anyway, despite all that...I'm still completely confident in my choice of career. I'm not confident that I'll make it or that I won't be homeless and broken by the end but whatever. The reason I'm so confident is actually two-fold. Today I actually went out to observe one of the sites where I'll be doing my practicals and I was actually able to answer a client's question that even the dietitian couldn't. Also, I'm sitting here tonight with the Food Channel on in HD, and a laptop in my lap watching Mark Bittman on the Times website. Because I CANT GET ENOUGH.

So, moving on....I stumbled across another blog started by a woman who decided to cook her way through Thomas Keller's French Laundry cookbook (ala the Julie/Julia project). I, of course, am familiar with Keller and have seen the cookbook but I thought "Hm, I should look at that again" so I picked it up today at Barnes & Noble and started looking through it...and I was like, "Damn."

Keller is smart, and really is an artist. One of his quotes "Respect for food is really a respect for life" I can't agree with more. But..Damn. His stuff is just so....involved. For example, several of his recipes require resting times of hours or days, for several parts of an individual recipe! ...I completely understand WHY but most of his stuff is just so beyond my means/abilities/desire. I want to touch food, prepare food, but I don't want to turn it into art - refine it to the point of making it ...I don't know...inaccessible? I'd love to eat at one of his restaurants someday though...Bouchon, Per Se or the French Laundry. I won't be able to sit still in my seat. Cornets with Salmon Tartare and Red Onion creme fraiche...someday you will be mine....

Where was I going with all this??

Sick Soup

I am feeling under the weather. On top of soreness from an invigorating run yesterday, I have general woman-related malaise. And. Last night. The dreaded sore throat.

Dammit.

So I immediately fizzed up some Emergen-C ('Lite' Lime) with some sparkling water and put myself to bed early. I slept in, ate some fruit, had another Emergen-C (Super Orange) and then layed in bed for another two hours listening to archived episodes of The Splendid Table.

But now I'm hungry....a little bit actual hunger and a lot craving-something-warm-and-brothy. Having finished Mario Batali's companion book Spain: A Culinary Road Trip earlier this week I recalled a Sopa de Ajo that had caught my eye and decided to take a crack at it.

However, I do not have 3 cups of staled bread (luckily), nor do I feel like going out to buy smoked pimenton (though I would like some). So, I'm making do.
I have a huge fresh head of garlic from the community garden, of which I sliced up about 6 cloves. I pricked holes in a tiny, red hot chile I had in the freezer and sauteed them both in lots of olive oil. Then I poured in about 2 cups of stock I'd defrosted. Now they are all simmering together and causing a nice aroma to waft around the apartment.

It got me to thinking though about how, lately especially, I'm doing a lot of that kind of culling of the pantry/fridge/cupboard to create nearly-instant dishes. I've always loved having this ability...to open the door, look inside at a myriad of randomness and extract...a meal!

I think mostly it has to do with always having the big 6 on hand: salt and pepper(we'll count that as 1), olive oil, garlic, onion, parmesan and lemon. Also, if you have eggs, potatoes and pasta around you will never, ever go hungry. I am almost never without these things in my kitchen.

For example, earlier this week I had a pile of leftover beet greens, so I pulled together a quick, yummy pasta. Frittata/omelets are always in the realm of possibility, as are fried or poached eggs atop damn near anything. And clearly I can make a soup out of garlic, oil, and a chile. Hurray. It gives me such a nice sense of self-sufficiency. When the larder is a little more full, I love the feeling of luxury that comes with being able to putter around for a few minutes and turn out something rich and delicious and palate-pleasing without having to run to the store. And if people are around, they think I'm a damn genius. Which makes me laugh.

*******

I just tasted the "soup." It's slick from the oil, with a simultaneously biting and soothing flavor from the chile and pungent garlic. Oh, so good. And the heat (temp and spice) feels wonderful on my throat. Here's hoping it kicks my cold to the curb.

A New Love

I never liked chicken salad. Nor did I enjoy "curry powder" (the stuff my mother used to have in a plastic McCormick's shaker that lived in our pantry for years).

Recently, however, I started eating meat again (an experiment) and have been poaching a few chicken breasts at a time in order to use the meat on (green) salads. I had about a 1/2 a chicken breast leftover the other day though and inspiration absolutely struck. Chicken salad! But new and improved! I had the ingredients I needed: soft and nutty whole wheat bread, fresh green leaf lettuce and yogurt. Yes, yogurt.

I shredded the chicken and dumped it in a bowl with a squeeze of lemon, a splodge of plain yogurt (about a Tbls.), salt, pepper and a sprinkling of cumin. Then I added a dash of my curry powder (the stuff that I create from whole seeds bought at the co-op, that are toasted and then ground - this stuff lives in my pantry in a glass jar to seal in freshness and never lasts more than a month or two). I mixed it up and slathered it onto lettuce lined slices of bread. It is really good. Bright, fresh-tasting, tangy, lemon-y, chicken-y. Because I used yogurt instead of mayo it isn't heavy or guilt-inducing. This super simple chicken salad is my new recipe darling - I've had it 3 times in the past two weeks!


1/2 chicken breast, shredded or diced
1-2 Tbls. plain yogurt
1/4 lemon, juiced
large pinch each salt, pepper, cumin, curry powder
2 slices bread
2 leaves lettuce

You don't really need instructions do you? Enjoy!

Herbaciousness

All foodies know about the magic of herbs and spices. We learn to covet these lovely, fragrant powders and leaves, and we actively use them; a pinch here, a dusting there, a shower on top to "spice" up our meals ("herb" up?). But those outside the foodie realm seem to be mostly in the dark about the gloriousness of herbs and spices. They frequently don't even know the difference between an herb or a spice, let alone how to use it and what dishes each one complements. I recently came up with the theory (I'm full of theories) that the reason is that herbs and spices are just so damn expensive that people don't have the opportunity or desire to burn through piles of the stuff, experimenting and learning.

Except that they're NOT that expensive...well, at least not when you live near a co-op or have access to a garden or farmer's market. Co-ops allow you to buy miniscule amounts of the stuff, or just as much as you need for a recipe, allowing you to dabble to your hearts content without breaking the bank. This fact has had a huge impact on my cooking, allowing me to make delicious, richly flavored food without a lot of added cost. For example, last week I bought $0.37 worth of thyme. Everyone can afford $ 0.37. And of course, if you have access to fresh herbs straight from the ground, well, you've been smiled upon by universe (as long as you don't have to buy the sad ones in the plastic containers at the grocery chains).

Anyway, my point. Wait, what was it? Oh yes. Herbs and spices are that special, not-so-secret ingredient that sets my cooking apart. It is the element that raises simple dishes to new heights (eggs, vegetables, pasta), and is the potent background that lends complexity to recipes that rely on levels of flavors for greatest impact (usually ethnic or long-cooking foods).

What I'd like to offer then is a sort of herb tutorial here; successive posts focusing solely on one herb or spice, talking about its flavor, properties, origins, and complementary foods, and then offer a recipe/suggestion that really highlights its attributes.

But first things first; the difference between an herb and a spice. Here's the simplest explanation I can give (of course there are finer points and exceptions but we'll address those later):

Herbs are leaves.
Spices are everything else (stems, seeds, roots, even bark as is the case with cinnamon).

Herbs are typically used whole and fresh.
Spices are mostly dried and ground into powders.

Straightforward examples:
Herb - parsley
Spice - black pepper

Less-straightforward examples (for my amusement):
Herb - chervil
Spice - asofoetida

So, that was herb tutorial #1.

Stay tuned.