Dejamo's Distracted

Cooking on a Budget: Pink Beans and Brown Rice

2009-11-09T08:00:00.003-06:00

I love my "untried recipe" filing system. It's just a simple Excel spreadsheet, but it helps me keep track of every recipe I have pulled out of magazines, marked in a book, or snagged from the internet.They're all listed in one place, so finding something new is so much easier than it used to be.

That's how I found this red beans and brown rice recipe. I am trying to eat beans at least once a week because 1) they are inexpensive; 2) they are relatively easy to make; 3) they taste good; and 4) they are good for me. But even though I have many many recipes that I like, still I want more. I am always on the lookout for a new bean recipe that will give me a new flavor profile, or combine things in ways I have not previously combined them.

So I opened up my spreadsheet, sorted the recipes by main ingredient, and browsed the "bean" section.

When I came to a recipe for Red Beans and Brown Rice from Lean Bean Cuisine, several things clicked into place. I have liked every recipe that I have made from this book. I have always wanted to make Red Beans and Rice. The last time I cooked beans and rice together was sometime in the mid '80s, and it was quite successful but I didn't pay attention to what I was doing and could never quite duplicate it so I pretty much gave up, but this recipe looked like it might work.

I have no doubt that this recipe does not qualify as authentic to the New Orleans specialty, and I'm not terribly fond of kidney beans, so I thought I might try it with pink beans instead, something else I've been wanting to try. I bought La Preferida pink beans and, with the exception of chickpeas, they were the firmest, least mushy beans I have found in a can. They were soft and tender, but did not fall apart, which is nothing to take for granted when you are talking about canned beans. They have a nice, clean taste too. Whatever that slightly off taste is that I find in kidney beans is nonexistent here. They are somewhat similar to pinto beans, but fresher.

of course, that might just be because they are new to me. The true test will be the next time I use them.

Knowing that this was not an authentic N'waluns red beans and rice recipe, I felt free to improvise, mostly based on what was available in my kitchen. Specifically, I forgot that I needed a green bell pepper so I did not have one. What I did have was celery. I knew it would not impart the same flavor, but I knew it would add a component that could help to replace the missing bell pepper. I will definitely add the bell pepper next time, but I will add it to the celery - I liked the earthy flavor that brought to the beans and rice.

I also added the rice to the pan before I added the liquid, and sauteed it for a few minutes before adding the liquid. Especially with brown rice, I find that coating each grain with a little of the oil helps keep it from turning into one big clump of mush. The extra bonus is that toasting the grains adds an element of warmth that elevates the rest of the flavors.

I also did not feel like having a whole heap of beans and rice hanging around, so I used just 1 cup of rice, and 2-1/2 cups of vegetable broth. I could (and should) have just used 2 cups of liquid; while the flavors were there, it could in no way be considered fluffy.

But it was tasty. The 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne and single teaspoon of Tabasco sauce was quite enough heat for me. The extra vegetables add some textural and flavor contrasts to the warm comfort of the beans and rice. It travels well for work lunches.

And at barely over a dollar a serving, it counts as a budget item in my book.

Something I think I did not mention when I talked about how I come up with the prices for my dishes is that where possible, I buy organic or higher quality, so these prices, which I think are already pretty low, would be even lower with conventional, national brands. But as I have stated before, even in this economically challenging time (especially in this economically challenging time), I want to make sure that my dollars are going towards responsible, sustainable food production. The latest beef recall at the end of October only strengthens my determination to support as many local, sustainable and organic (more or less in that order) businesses as I can.

Ok, I'm stepping down from my soapbox. And getting ready to enjoy a nice comforting bowl of pink beans with brown rice.

TOTAL COST: $4.05
COST PER SERVING: $1.01

Home Cookin Chapter: Beans and Vegetables

RED BEANS AND BROWN RICEMakes 4 servings

2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup uncooked brown rice
2 cups water or vegetable stock
2 tsp dried oregano
1-3 tsp Tabasco or other bottled hot sauce
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
2 cups cooked or canned red kidney beans, drained
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic, and saute until vegetable are translucent.

Add the rice and saute, stirring frequently, until the grains give off a rich, toasty aroma and start to pop. Slowly add the water, which will splatter from the heat, and then the seasonings.

Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 30 minutes. Add the beans and carrots, adjust the heat to low, cover, and cook for an additional 15 minutes or until the rice has absorbed all of the water.

Fluff the rice with a fork and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

adapted from Lean Bean Cuisine by Jay Solomon (Prima, 1995)

Exported from Home Cookin 5.9 (www.mountain-software.com)

Baking Class: Key Lime Cookies

2009-11-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

I am a sucker for key limes. If key lime pie is on the dessert menu, chances are good that I'm going to order it, even if I wasn't planning to have dessert. Forget the chocolate, forget the ice cream. The only thing that will trump it is butterscotch anything, but you don't see that on the menu too often around these parts.

Other than pie, I don't see too many recipes that use key limes. I have had so much success with the recipes in Tish Boyle's The Good Cookie that I didn't hesitate on this one. It is with only the least hint of irony that I confess that the recipe says you can substitute regular limes for key limes, which I did. The key limes at my grocery store always look sad and neglected, and I'm not a fan of bottled lime or lemon juices. I did already have a couple of limes in the refrigerator, though, so I decided to just use those.

I don't know how much different that made. I found these cookies to be . . . odd. Not bad, just odd. The dough itself was tasty - more crisp than tender, and not too sweet. But I didn't taste the lime until the very end, just before swallowing. Usually that's a good thing, that extra rush of something new that brings everything together, but in this case it didn't really bring things together for me so much as jumped up and took over. Limes have that sourness to them that makes a unique contrast to the sweetness of the cookie dough. There was cookie and then lime, not cookie with lime slowly adding to the overall flavor.

They were different, and that is always good in a cookie given how many similar kinds are out there. I would definitely try them again using key limes to see what kind of difference that made. And I would make them again with regular limes because they were so unusual and a refreshing break from the flavors with which I am most familiar.

But I will especially make them again so I can give some to Bob, who said they were the best cookies I've made so far.

Home Cookin Chapter: Cookies
KEY LIME COOKIES

Makes 54 cookies
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup confectiners' sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp grated lime zest
1/2 tsp ground ginger
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
2 Tbsp bottled key lime or freshly-squeezed regular lime juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
Coarse sugar for sprinkling

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, confectioners' sugar, baking powder, salt, lme zest, and ginger and pulse a few times until combined. Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture and process for 25 to 30 seconds, until the butter is in small pieces.

In a small cup, combine the lime juice and vanilla extract. With the machine running, add the lime juice mixture through the feed tube and process for a few seconds, until the dough starts to come together.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Knead it a few times, until it comes together. Divide the dough in half and roll each piece into an 8-inch log. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until firm (or up to 3 days).

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 deg. F.

Unwrap the dough. Slice each log into rounds about 1/4-inch thick and place the cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Sprinkle the cookies lightly with coarse sugar. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 14 to 18 minutes, until very lightly golden around the edges; do not overbake. Transfer the cookies to wire racks and cool completely.

from The Good Cookie, by Tish Boyle (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2002

Exported from Home Cookin 5.9 (www.mountain-software.com)

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

2009-11-02T08:00:00.004-06:00

A sure sign of fall is the appearance of winter squash. I know it's finally here when I get my first craving to make soup, and I finally succumb to the impulse to grab a pomegranate in the produce section. I never have specific plans for the pomegranate. I just want one.

We did not eat a lot of squash in our house when I was a child. We had yellow crookneck, zucchini (which was most exotic to us the first time my mother brought some home), and acorn squash baked with margarine and brown sugar, and that was about it. I liked squash, but I didn't know how to cook it outside of the few methods I learned at home.

Since I started this blog, I have become much more fearless in using ingredients with which I am not familiar. For the past few years, I have given myself the challenge to come back from every green market excursion with something I have never before prepared. Once I get it home, I do some research and figure out how to cook it. A few years ago, the unfamiliar ingredient was butternut squash. I really loved how the butternut squash saute turned out, and made a note to myself that I wanted to work with butternut squash again.

And forgot about it for three years. I don't know how that happened, but I was determined not to let it turn into four. I grabbed the first one I saw this season and brought it home with me.

I looked through my spreadsheet of untried recipes and found one I had taken from Cooking Light Magazine last fall. I loved the idea of roasting the squash with shallots and then making the soup. I pulled out the recipe and took a look at it.

Along with the squash and shallots, the recipe also called for a half-inch piece of ginger in the roasting pan. Having perfected my ginger carrot soup, I wanted to bring a different flavor profile to this soup. So I decided to leave the ginger out of this recipe.

I thought sherry might add a nice woody depth of flavor, and it did indeed provide a rich, nutty counterpoint to the sweet nutty taste of the squash. Soft as velvet, this soup will slide down your throat.

Home Cookin Chapter: Soups and Stews

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND SHALLOT SOUP

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1" cubes
6 shallots, peeled and sliced lengthwise in half
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp sweet sherry or marsala wine
salt and pepper to taste
cream for garnish
pomegranate seeds for garnish
nutmeg for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375 deg. F.

Place the cubed squash and halved shallots in a roasting pan and toss with the olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper and roast in the 375-degree oven for about 45 minutes, or until tender. Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes.

Put the roasted vegetables into a large soup pot and add the chicken broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer over medium low heat. As soon as it has started to simmer, remove from the heat and, using a stick blender, blend the mixture until it is smooth. Return the pan to the stove and bring back to a simmer.

Add the milk and stir well. At this point, you can either add more milk if it is too thick, or you can start adding water. Taste and adjust seasoning. Add sherry and mix it in.

Remove from heat. Serve immediately, garnished with a tablespoon of
cream and pomegranate seeds. Sprinkle with a slight dusting of nutmeg, if desired.

Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine, November 2008

Exported from Home Cookin 5.9 (www.mountain-software.com)

Baking Class: Chocolate Chess Pie

2009-10-29T08:00:00.002-05:00

I'm still playing with pie crust. I didn't feel like putting too much effort into the filling, and I didn't want to go to the grocery store, so I was trying to make do with what I already had on hand. Chess pie is one of the easiest pies to make, and the ingredients are simple and I almost always have them on hand. But I still wanted to do something different, even if it was just one tiny little thing.

I've seen references to a chocolate chess pie, but hard as it is to believe, I've never had one before. I decided it was time to rectify the situation and started looking around for recipes. I mainly wanted to know how much chocolate I should add, and whether or not I had to adjust any of the other ingredients to accommodate it. Since there are as many different recipes for chess pie as there are people making it, I mainly just looked to see if there was a discernible difference between those that had chocolate and those that didn't. I didn't see anything to indicate that I should change any other ingredients, so I simply added 3 tablespoons of cocoa to the mix.

The result was even more spectacular than I had imagined it could be. Not long after I put the pie in the oven the rich, heavy aroma of baking chocolate filled the apartment so I was pretty sure it would have enough of a chocolate flavor, which was one of my concerns. I must admit to peeking into the oven about halfway through. If it was going to be a total disaster I wanted a little warning.

But it looked fine. The only difference I could see was that it was forming a much thicker top crust than I am used to seeing with the regular chess pie. But that seemed like a good thing to me; at least it looked like it would be good. After I looked, it was hard to wait until the pie was done.

And then I had to let it cool before I could taste it. That was some agony, let me tell you. It did fall in the center while it was cooling - that whole round center piece dropped a ways down, but I could see the lovely chocolate-y filling just below it so I was sure it would be just fine.

When it had finally cooled, I cut a piece and grabbed a fork. The top crust was rich and had some of that consistency that a well-baked brownie top will have. The custard was thicker than a regular chess pie, and less sweet with the cocoa, which is not a bad thing in my book. And it was definitely chocolate. And then there was just that little bitty hint of super-sweet chess-pie goodness right at the end.

The crust was not as successful. It was really tough on the bottom. Too tough to cut with a fork. I think that's because I didn't roll it out quite enough the first time so I took it out of the pie pan and rolled it out a little more. They really don't like to be overworked, that's for sure.

But it tasted fine, and there's nothing wrong with picking up a piece of pie and eating it right out of your hand, right?

For the recipe, go here and just add 3 tablespoons of cocoa to the filling.

Cooking on a Budget: Navy Bean and Bacon Soup

2009-10-26T08:00:00.006-05:00

It's been a while since I broke down a meal for my Cooking on a Budget series. It's not that I haven't been watching my food expenditures. It's more that I've been too lazy to break out the costs. It also occurs to me that I should offer some kind of clarification for how I calculate the costs of my dishes.

I don't factor in the energy costs of my cooking - how much electricity I use on any appliances, or how much gas for the stove and oven. In general, I will use the actual cost of my ingredients, so if I find something on sale I will account for that in my calculations. I do not count spices. I do count oil, butter, and other fats.

So my calculations are casual at best, but I think they are valid enough to give you a general idea of how much it would cost to prepare any of these meals.

Several years ago I made the Navy Bean and Bacon soup from a recipe in the 1980 edition of The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook. I have mentioned many times that this is my go-to cookbook, and judging from the reviews there are many people who agree with me. However, if you decide to get yourself a copy make sure it's the 1980 edition. They updated it a few years ago and the newer edition isn't nearly as good as the earlier one.

The soup was excellent, and I always meant to make it again but I never got around to it. But after I found those wonderful Dreymiller and Kray bacon ends I remembered how good this was, and couldn't stop thinking about how good it would be with this bacon.

So I pulled out the recipe and took a look. You cook the beans in 9 cups of water and add chicken bouillon cubes for flavoring. I no longer use such tings, so I thought using some of my home-made vegetable stock might add to the flavor without adding any of the chemicals. And then, when I was at the grocery store, I got the crazy idea of using some apple juice as well. Actually, it wasn't so crazy. I kept thinking of the applewood smoked bacon and it was just a step away to the apple juice when I was trying to think of ways to add flavor to the soup without using the chicken bouillon. The minute I thought of it, I knew it would be a good idea. So I went down the juice aisle and found a decent-looking bottle for a decent price.

And then saw this big old gallon of organic unfiltered apple juice for $4.99 up at the checkout stands. I've never heard of World Pure, and the low price made me a little skeptical, especially since it's certified organic by Oregon Tilth, of whom I had never heard. But the price was right and I figured it wouldn't hurt to take a chance. I turned in my little bottle and grabbed one of the jugs.

I ended up using a mixture of 3 cups of vegetable broth, 4 cups of water, and 2 cups of apple juice. It was a nice balance, but I forgot that apples are acidic, so the skins on the beans stayed a little tough. Next time, I will cook the beans in the water and vegetable stock and then add the apple juice after the beans have cooked and are already tender.

But that is my only complaint. The applewood smoked bacon infused a deep smoky flavor that regular bacon just can't provide. The sweetness of the apple juice enhanced that smokiness, and the vegetable broth tempered the sweetness and kept it from cloying. Except for the slightly tough skins, the beans were tender and hearty. Like most soups, it thickened after the first day, and the flavors intensify the longer it stands.

This is an excellent fall dish, and even on the stovetop is not a lot of work. That smoky bacon smell really warms up the house on a chilly day. And this is another one of those soups that freezes well, so you can freeze half right away and have another meal for another day.

I now have an abundance of apple juice and am coming up with all kinds of crazy ideas for how to use it. It's sweet, with just a little hint of cidery tartness kicking in at the end. Ideas welcome.

The rich, smoky heartiness of this soup makes it feel much more luxurious than it costs to make it.

Total cost: $8.93
Cost per serving: $0.74

Home Cookin Chapter: Soups and Stews

NAVY BEAN AND BACON SOUP
Makes 12 servings

1 lb. dry navy beans
4 cups water
3 cups vegetable stock
1 lb. thick-sliced maple or applewood smoked bacon, diced
2 large onions, diced
1/2 cup (about two stalks) celery, with as much leaves as possible
3 bay leaves
1/8 tsp ground cloves
2 cups apple juice
1 14.5-oz. can tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
.
Sort through beans, rinse and cover at least 3 inches over with water. Let soak at least 5 hours, or overnight. Drain the beans and place them in an 8-quart dutch oven or stock pot. Add 4 cups of water and 3 cups of vegetable stock.

Cook the bacon in a heavy skillet over medium heat until it is well browned. Remove all but 1/4 cup of the fat. Add onion and celery and cook until they are just translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir the mixture into the pot of beans. Add the bay leaves and ground cloves. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to a low simmer. Cook for about 1-1/2 hours, until beans are tender.

Add 2 cups of apple juice, tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer for another 30 minutes, until the soup has thickened and the flavors have combined. Remove bay leaves and serve.

Adapted from The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook, Edited by Zoe Coulson (Hearst Books, 1980).

Exported from Home Cookin 5.9 (www.mountain-software.com)

Scalloped Potatoes

2009-10-22T15:15:00.001-05:00

We did not always use recipes when I was growing up. For main dishes, more often than not my mother followed a recipe, but with sides we always pretty much winged it. Most likely, a recipe was used originally, and then the dish was re-created from memory. I do remember a spinach dish for which my mother had found a recipe that involved eggs, sour cream and the oven, which morphed into a stove-top concoction of spinach, eggs, cottage cheese and dried minced onion (a staple in our kitchen).

I had all but forgotten about scalloped potatoes until recently. I don't remember ever having a recipe for those. You just peeled and thinly sliced some potatoes and an onion, layered them out in a shallow baking dish, seasoned with salt (no pepper in our kitchen!), dotted them with margarine (no butter in our kitchen!), sprinkled them with a tablespoon or so of flour, poured in some milk, sprinkled the whole thing with paprika, covered the pan, and baked it in the oven until the potatoes were nice and tender. It was delicious and so easy to prepare.

I don't know why I forgot about them. Or why I remembered them for that matter. Maybe it's because russet potatoes have been on sale for a ridiculously cheap price at the grocery store and I have been buying them frequently, and there are only so many hash browns I can make in a short period of time. Maybe it's the center-cut pork chops I wanted to braise in Shiner Bock beer that were just begging for some potatoes on the side. Maybe it's the cooler weather.

Whatever it was, I'm grateful. These are just as easy to make as I remembered, and they're soft and creamy and go extremely well with any form of meat. I guess I really am just a meat and potatoes gal at heart.

SCALLOPED POTATOES

Preheat the oven to 375 deg. F. Peel and thinly slice 3 to 4 medium-sized russet potatoes. Peel the outer layer off of a medium onion, then cut it in half and thinly slice it. Grease an 8 x 8" baking dish. Layer half of the potatoes and onions on the bottom of the dish. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of flour over the potatoes and onions, and then dot it with about 2 tablespoons of butter. Cover with the remaining potatoes and onions and season with more salt and pepper. Add about a cup of milk (to come up to about half the height of the potatoes). Sprinkle with a teaspoon or so of paprika (sweet smoked Spanish paprika works really well here).

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and cook for another 20 to 30 minutes, until the top is browned and the potatoes are tender.

Let sit for a few minutes before serving.

More about Pizza

2009-10-19T08:00:00.001-05:00

Ok, call me obsessive - I've made pizza at least once a week ever since I found my perfect pizza crust recipe. I've been mastering the crust and playing around with sauces and toppings, and I have more to report.

The main thing I have learned I got from watching Adam Gertler's show "Will Work for Food" on the Food Network. I would provide a link to their site, but they have loud annoying videos that load automatically, and I will not inflict those on anyone, including myself.

It's not a show I normally watch, but when I saw that he was going to be working with champion pizza thrower Tony Gemignani at Pyzano's Pizzeria I decided to check it out. I thought I might learn a tip or two that would be helpful.

And I did. After they made the dough, they started forming it into balls so they could put them in a refrigerated room overnight. At one point, Tony warned Adam that they should move faster because the dough was starting to rise. That made me sit up and take notice. Every recipe I've seen says to cover the dough and let it rise until it's doubled in size, and then either use it right away or put it in the refrigerator or freezer to save for later use. This was the first I had heard that you might not need to let it rise first.

I knew yeast did not die in the cold (or you wouldn't be able to freeze it), but I didn't know that it would still rise. Apparently, refrigerator temperature isn't enough to stop the rising process, just retard it. A quick google search confirmed that many pizza makers, professional and amateur, actually prefer to let their pizza dough rise slowly in the fridge - the longer rise causes more alcohol to develop, which adds to the flavor. It also improves the texture of the dough.

So a few weeks ago I made up a batch of the dough, divided it in half, and put each ball into a plastic bag (after covering it lightly with flour). I put the bags into the refrigerator and went to bed. The next morning, I woke to two beautiful balls of dough that were about twice the size as when I had put them in. I wanted to take them out and play with them right away, but I had to go to work.

The whole time I was at work, all I could think about were those two beautiful balls of pizza dough just waiting to be made into pizza. I rushed home and pulled one of the bags out and put it on the counter to warm while I prepared the sauce and the toppings. When I was ready to form the crust, I found that it was much easier to manipulate into shape than when I let the dough rise right after mixing it. And the texture of the cooked crust? Crispy and chewy at the same time - pretty near perfect. The next day I cooked up the other dough and it was just as good.

So now, at least once a week I will mix up a batch of pizza dough and throw it in the refrigerator until I am ready to make the pizza. Without the rising time, it takes less than half an hour to throw together, which means I can mix up a batch in the morning and let it rise while I am at work, and by the time I get home it's ready to go.

Here are some of my latest samples:

I used fresh mozzarella on this pie, along with what have become my signature green olives and garlic. Thinly sliced zucchini and corn have also become favorites - corn fresh off the cob adds a crunchy sweetness to this pie.

For the sauce, I sauted a little bit of onion and garlic in olive oil. I seasoned it with salt and pepper to taste, then added a can of tomato puree and dried thyme. I let it cook for about 20 minutes, then let it cool down before putting it on the pizza crust.

I called this my "antipasti" pizza. I roasted an eggplant in the oven, then peeled and mashed it with some balsamic vinegar. I spread it over the pizza just after the sauce and cheese, then added green olives, artichoke hearts, red onions and, of course, garlic. It was tart and salty and smooth and tangy, in a word - delicious.

The other thing I have learned is something I read on a cooking newsgroup. It's not necessary to cook the sauce before you put it on the pizza - it cooks in the oven. So for this pizza I seasoned the sauce and spread it pretty much right out of the can, then sprinkled it with the oregano and basil. I have to say it was just as tasty as the precooked sauce, and cut down on the prep time that much more. I've been making it this way since.

This is the closest I have come to a traditional pizza. I had meant to just use sauce, cheese and pepperoni, but I had sliced the green olives and chopped the garlic before I could stop myself.

This has been my least favorite pizza. I remembered too late that I don't really like pepperoni. But it was still pretty good and I had no trouble getting rid of it.

I haven't really experimented that much with meat toppings, but I love all of the vegetables so much that I'm not missing it at all. Given how much of it I'm eating, I want to keep it as healthful as I can.

Oh, and those slices up at the top? Eggplant with a little bit of the artichoke hearts, red onion and garlic, topped off with pomegranate seeds I had bought for another use but seemed like a good idea. It was - they provided a burst of sweetness that complemented the savory eggplant.

Summer's End: Corn, Zucchini and Red Pepper Saute

2009-10-12T13:00:00.002-05:00

Happy Columbus Day to all you Americans out there. It's the first Columbus day I have had as a holiday since I worked for the city and I am enjoying it for all it's worth. I'm feeling lazy on this chilly Monday morning so I am just hanging around the apartment dong nothing.

Summer has ended with a bang and Fall has barely whimpered, and it already feels like winter here in Chicago. The temperature dropped below thirty over the weekend and scarves, mittens and hats were out in full force. It has made for an odd juxtaposition at the grocery store - zucchini, corn and peppers displayed alongside pumpkins, squash and taffy apples. The corn and zucchini are still reasonably priced, so I decided to go one last round with the summer veggies before hunkering down to hearty soups and stews.

I didn't want to go to a lot of trouble, and I wanted to highlight the vegetables themselves so I opted for a simple saute. I diced the zucchini and peppers so they were roughly the same size as the corn. A base of red onion brought together the sweet crisp of corn, the earthy crunch of the zucchini, and the smoky note of red pepper. A little pancetta crisped up and sprinkled on top gives it a little burst of protein and makes for a light, satisfying meal while you are contemplating what kind of stew to make for that first fall meal.

CORN, ZUCCHINI AND RED PEPPER SAUTE

1/4 lb. thinly-sliced pancetta, diced
1/4 red onion, diced
1/3 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 medium zucchini, diced
2 ears fresh corn, removed from the cob (can used cooked fresh, or frozen)
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
2 Tbsp freshly chopped herbs, if desired

Cook pancetta over medium heat until crispy. Remove to a paper-towel lined plate and set aside.

Drain all but 1 to 2 tablespoons of the fat from the pancetta. Add the onions, salt and pepper and saute until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add red pepper and saute for another 2 minutes. Add zucchini and corn and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, until all of the vegetables are just soft. (If using cooked or frozen corn, add it last and cook until it's heated through.)

Remove from the heat and add the lime juice. If you are using fresh herbs, add them now. Taste and adjust the seasonings as necessary.

Dish out the servings. Sprinkle the crisp pancetta over the saute just before serving.

Gourmet Gone?

2009-10-05T12:02:00.007-05:00

I just read that Conde Nast is closing down Gourmet Magazine in November. I'm in a little bit of shock. I just wrote out my subscription check yesterday. I'm glad I didn't mail it, but still . . .

You can read more about it here.

Kind of seems like the end of an era. I wonder why they decided to keep Bon Appetit and close Gourmet? Gourmet is clearly the better magazine but Bon Appetit is more accessible. Guess I just answered my own question. Maybe Ruth Reichl should have whored herself out more to the Fox and FoodTV reality cooking shows.

Sunday Morning Decadence: Biscuits and Gravy

2009-10-05T08:00:00.005-05:00

It's hard to think about buying good quality items when you are on a tight budget. And for me, especially these days, I would rather go without something than compromise on an inferior product.

Bacon is one of those items. I love thick, country-style, maple or applewood smoked bacon. I like it so much better than the commercial brands that I would rather not have it at all than make do with something that I know I will not like half as much. If I am going to eat something that is bad for me, I like to make it as good a quality as I can so I can fully savor the experience, since I rarely let myself indulge in it.

There was a thread that got started in the cooking newsgroup that I will periodically read on biscuits and gravy. This was of great interest to me since I have been making so many biscuits lately and I am a huge fan of biscuits and gravy, although I will not let myself have them very often, and I have never made them. Reading the thread made me decide it was time to rectify that situation, so I started looking for a good pork sausage.

But all I found at the grocery store was a tube of Bob Evans' sausage or fancier brands that offered chicken and apple sausages, or apricot ginger breakfast links, all of which sounded good but were more than I was looking for in a biscuit and gravy breakfast, and I didn't want it badly enough to make an extra trip to a meat market.

I had just about given up on the idea when I noticed some misshapen packages next to the Dreymiller & Kray Maple Smoked extra thickly-sliced bacon last Saturday. I looked closer, and this is what I found:

I had heard of it, but never before seen it. After bacon producers trim the bacon slabs to get all of those nice even slices that they package and sell, there are all kinds of odds and ends left over, which they will put together and sell for a much lower price than those nice attractive evenly sliced packages. This package of ends was about half the price of the regular slices.

I decided to go for biscuits and bacon gravy and threw the package into my shopping cart. When I got home, I opened it up and examined what I had. Most of what was in the package were little bits and pieces, some mostly fat and some mostly meat, that looked like they would be good for flavoring (fat) and topping (meat). The mostly meat pieces also were what I chose to use for making my gravy. There were also a couple of larger, decent-sized pieces that could actually be used as bacon.

I made a fresh batch of biscuits, and then got started on the gravy.

I used the bigger of the mostly-meat pieces. I chopped them into smaller pieces and put them in the skillet to render the fat. They cooked up beautifully, and gave off the most wondrous aroma of smoky maple bacon-y goodness. There is no other smell in the world like it, as I'm sure you know.

I was going to drain off all but about two tablespoons of the bacon fat when the bacon was cooked, but there wasn't that much fat there, I guess because I used the pieces that were mostly meat. There was only about two tablespoons in all, so I just added two tablespoons of flour and cooked it for a minute or two to get rid of the raw flour taste.

I slowly added a cup of cold milk, stirring constantly so as to avoid lumps. I must confess that I did get a lump or two, but after stirring it vigorously I managed to get rid of them. What I have heard is that you should add a cold liquid to a hot roux, and hot liquid to a cold roux. I have had good and bad results with any method I've used, however.

I cooked the gravy, stirring frequently, until it started to thicken and was almost to the consistency I wanted. I turned the heat as low as it would go and let the gravy simmer while I fried my eggs. I would occasionally check the gravy, and if it was starting to get too thick I would add a little bit of milk to thin it out. I think I had to add milk three times in all before I was ready to use it.

I split two biscuits and put them on a plate, and then I spooned the gravy over them. I laid the fried eggs over that, and served them with hash browns. It was one of the best breakfasts I have had in just about forever - actually as good as if not better than any I've ordered in a restaurant. And really not that much trouble. Perfect for a lazy Sunday morning when making breakfast is the most labor-intensive thing you have to do for the day. And I had enough left over for Monday morning's breakfast. The gravy will thicken into a solid blob in the refrigerator; just add more milk, a little at a time, and reheat it back to the desired consistency.

I put the rest of the ends and pieces into several freezer bags and put them in the freezer for later use. I have enough of the meaty bits for another batch of biscuits and gravy, and it is really hard to concentrate on anything else around here for the enticing lure of their siren call.

BACON/SAUSAGE GRAVY
NOTE: Can be made with bacon or sausage

1/4 to 1/3 lb. bacon pieces, or sausage
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup milk, plus more as needed
salt and pepper to taste*

Heat bacon in skillet over medium heat. Cook until well browned and most of the fat has been rendered out of the meat. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of the fat. Add the flour and stir constantly for a minute or two. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook, still stirring frequently, until the gravy starts to thicken. Once it has reached the desired thickness, serve immediately. If you are not ready to use it immediately, turn the heat as low as it will go and let it simmer, checking frequently and adding a small amount of milk (a tablespoon or so) at a time as needed to thin it out.

The gravy can be stored in the refrigerator but it will get thick and gluey. To reuse, simply reheat it, adding milk in small amounts until it gets back to the desired consistency.

*taste before adding the salt - the bacon or sausage will already be salty.

Baking Class: Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits

2009-10-01T08:00:00.007-05:00

Since I wrote this post on flaky biscuits. I have learned a thing or two along the way which I think are worth sharing with you. I thought it would also be helpful if I took you through the process one step at a time, so if you had any reservations at all about tackling them you could see how easy they really are. I hope the pictures below will convince you that these are worth making, and making often.

So what have I learned? The most important thing I learned is from when I had some buttermilk in the refrigerator and no idea of how I wanted to use it. I started to wonder what would happen if I simply substituted the buttermilk for the milk in the Tassajara Bread Book recipe.

The result was spectacular. While the recipe is delicious as is, the buttermilk elevated it to something sublime. The minute I tasted it I knew it was how these beauties were meant to be made. The light tang from the buttermilk acts as a flavor enhancer for the rest of the ingredients and takes the flavor to another level. While I would make biscuits with milk again if I did not have any buttermilk around, I plan to never be out of buttermilk again so I don't have to make that sacrifice. It's amazing how that one ingredient can make such a big difference.

What else have I learned? I'm a little chagrined to say that I've learned to cut the biscuits into rounds, rather than just slicing the dough. It is certainly faster to just roll them out and slice them, but as I've been mastering the technique, I've realized that when you slice the knife through the dough rather than cutting straight down with a cutter, it seals the edges so they don't rise, and I ended up with pieces that were higher on one end than the other. Using a cutter, and cutting straight down without twisting, helps the biscuits rise evenly, and higher than they would otherwise.

I did not have a biscuit cutter, but I did have a recycling box that had an empty can of coconut milk in it. Looking at it, I realized it was just about the size I wanted my biscuits to be. I cut out the bottom side with a can opener and voila! - the perfect biscuit cutter. You can see it in the next-to-the-last photo. It works perfectly.

I've also learned to handle the dough as little as possible, to keep the biscuits as tender as possible. It's not like they'll be as tough as shoe leather, but there is definitely a difference if they've been handled too much.

But those things are all easy to accomplish, and the photos below should give you an idea how, if you've never tackled them before. I hope they will encourage you to get busy with the biscuits, because they are a fast, easy, delicious way to start the day.

Full disclosure: You might notice that some of the biscuits shown below seem to be missing the thyme. That's because they don't have any. The photos were taken over two different baking session in order to get the best samples

For the actual recipe, go to this post.

Turn on the oven and set it to 450 deg. F. You want to make sure that the oven is fully heated by the time the biscuits are ready. Next, combine the dry ingredients. What we have in this bowl is flour, baking powder and salt. There is also a teaspoon of dried thyme in there - I was experimenting with herbs, but you don't have to.

After measuring out the ingredients, I took a whisk and mixed them all together, to make sure the baking powder and salt were fully incorporated into the flour.

Next you are ready to add the butter. Actually, I cut the butter into 1/2-inch pieces before I do anything else and put them in the refrigerator while I am getting the rest of the ingredients together. You want the butter to be cold, and cutting it warms it up a little. This is not critical, but I've gotten into the habit of starting there and it ensures that the butter is nice and cold by the time I am ready to add it to the flour mixture. Here, as you can see, I've just put it into the bowl. Before I start to cut it into the flour, I will gently coat the pieces with the flour to split them up a little.

I have had a pastry cutter for most of my adult life, and for most of my adult life I never knew exactly what to do with it. I understood the concept - you use it to cut the butter into the flour mixture. But I always just ended up with massive clumps of butter stuck to the solid sides of the cutter instead of blended into the flour.

What was I doing wrong? I'm not sure, because it's fairly straightforward and simple. I'm a little embarrassed to say that I think the main problem was elbow grease. You do have to work the cutter like you mean it, and before you know it you have the butter cut down to size (sorry - couldn't help it) and well blended with the flour. I know some cooks use their fingers and smush (is that a word?) the flour and butter together, and I'm sure that would work just as well.

After the butter has been cut into the flour mixture, you want to make a well in the bottom of the bowl. I try to get the flour mixture as high up the sides of the bowl as I can.

That is why it is good to use a bowl that is the right size for the amount of ingredients you are using. If you use a bowl that is too big, you can't really get the well deep enough to contain the liquid which you are about to pour into it. I do not use my bread bowl to make biscuits - a medium-size bowl works best - I think this bowl would hold about 6 cups.

First you crack the eggs into the well . . .

. . . and then you add the buttermilk. As you can see, the sides of the mixture are still a few inches higher than the liquid in the well. That's what you want. This helps keep the liquid separated from the dry for as long as possible.

Take the whisk and briskly mix the eggs and buttermilk together. You could do this separately in another bowl and just add them already beaten, but why dirty another bowl? Besides, it's fun to watch it come together right there in the bowl.

After the egg and buttermilk are combined, take a big spoon (wooden is best but not necessary) and, starting with the liquid, start combining it with the dry in concentric circles until the flour mixture is just moistened. This is where you want to start being careful how much you work the dough. Once you combine the liquid with the dry, the more you work with it the tougher the flour will become. Once the ingredients have started to come together, I will start folding the dough rather than stirring it.

Using a scraper, I then turn the dough out of the bowl onto a floured surface, in this case, my countertop.

The dough will be wet at this point, so you want to make sure you have enough floor on the surface, otherwise it will stick when you start to knead it. And you don't want that, believe me. After you have scraped the dough out of the bowl, cover the top part with a good coating of flour as well. With your hands, lightly knead the dough just a few times, enough to just bring it together. It will still be wet inside, but you want the surface area to be floured enough so that you can start to roll it out.

This is what it looks like when it's ready to roll. It doesn't matter that it's not smooth. You're going to roll it out a few times, and those breaks and cracks in the dough are what's going to help it flake when it rises. The most important thing is that it has enough flour on it that you can roll it without it sticking to the rolling pin.

Notice that the dough is oblong. You are going to roll it into a rectangle, so you want to start with a rectangular shape. Take a generous pinch of flour in your hands and brush it onto the rolling pin. Roll gently out from the center first on the bottom, and then on the top, always starting in the center and rolling away, until the dough is about 1/2-inch thick.

And here is the first roll. It's not the prettiest thing in the world, but that doesn't matter. It will get better as you go.

After this first rolling, the dough is still pretty wet inside, so you want to be careful when you fold up the ends. Lift up the top third of the dough, being careful to scoop up anything that is stuck to the counter top, and fold it over toward the center, then do the same with the bottom. If necessary (and it probably will be), throw down some more flour on your surface where the top and bottom were.

Here's how it looks after the first fold. Turn the dough a quarter turn, so that the narrow part of the rectangle is facing up and down. Again starting in the middle and rolling out, roll another 1/2-inch rectangle.

Fold it in thirds and turn another quarter turn. Roll it out into a 1/2-inch rectangle once more. This last time, you can also roll it out a little from side to side so all of the sides are even.

This is how it will look after the third roll-out. All of those rolls and folds will make your biscuits nice and flaky. Take a 2 to 3-inch biscuit cutter, or a can with both ends opened, and dip it into some flour. Position the cutter over the dough and push it straight down until it has cut through. Do not twist the cutter or you will toughen the edges and they will not rise. Cutting the dough with a knife will have the same effect. That's why I don't cut my biscuits with a knife anymore. It really does make a difference when you use a biscuit cutter (or a coconut milk can).

After you have cut as many biscuits as you can from the rolled out dough, combine the scraps, kneading as little as possible, and roll them out to a 1/2-inch width, again folding and turning two times. Keep doing this until you run out of dough.

And here they are all cut out and ready to go. Note the three biscuits on the bottom left of the pan. I got tired of rolling out the dough and decided to just shape them with my hands. I was curious to see how they would fare.

And here is the finished product. See how light and flaky they are. You will have to take my word for it that they are quite tender and almost melt in the mouth.

Except for those three hand-rolled biscuits. In this picture they are on the top right. You can see that they didn't rise at all and look more like dinner rolls than biscuits. But they were just as tender and full of flavor, so it was not exactly a tragedy.

And there you have it. The flakiest, tenderest, most mouth-wateringest biscuits you will ever make.

Gremolata: A Powerful Punch of Flavor

2009-09-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

I first heard the word Gremolata a few years ago when my editor at Fitfare on the Wellfed Network told me she would be writing for an online food magazine out of Canada with that name. Intrigued, I googled it and found this, and this. I don't really see myself ever making Ossobucco alla Milanese and I wasn't sure what else might go with it, so I filed it away for future reference.

It hovered there at the back of my mind, though. I did not use much parsley in my cooking at the time, although it was creeping into more and more of the foods I was cooking, especially as my palate turned toward Italy and the Mediterranean. At first I was only buying it for specific uses, when recipes called for it. Having grown up with the obligatory munching on curly parsley at the Passover seder every year and the ubiquitous garnish on every single plate served to me at restaurants, from the local cafeteria to the rare night out at a "fine dining" restaurant, I could never really look at parsley as a food item. It had the same appeal to me as those green plastic leaves that sometimes grace the plate at sushi restaurants.

Actually, it was my sister who first got me to see parsley as food. I have mentioned before that she was always ahead of the pack in discovering the latest health trend and, believe it or not, parsley was one of those trends. I don't remember all of the details as it was quite some years ago, before I moved to Chicago, but I was at her house for dinner and she made what I can only describe as a parsley pesto, which she served over spaghetti. I don't remember begging her for the recipe or anything, but I do remember being pleasantly surprised that something I had considered as less than a garnish could hold its own as an entree.

I credit that early meal with my willingness to start accepting the use of parsley in my kitchen. I didn't use it often, and I used it more as an accent in my cooking than an ingredient until I discovered flat-leaf parsley. I don't remember when I first noticed that there were now two kinds of parsley available at my local grocery store, but the flat Italian parsley was less bitter and more flavorful than its curly counterpoint, and once I had my first taste of that I was not so reluctant to bring it home with me.

At about the same time, I was discovering Greek and Middle Eastern foods, both of which rely heavily on the use of parsley. But I still mainly saw it as a garnish rather than an ingredient. Until I had my first taste of tabbouleh from a restaurant, which was mostly parsley, accented with bulgur, tomatoes and cucumbers and tart with lemon juice. By that time, I could really taste the parsley and realized that I loved its fresh, grassy flavor, and how it could brighten up almost any dish.

I found myself thinking about gremolata more frequently, but still just as a thought that I should make it some day. Not having any specific uses for it in mind, it was one of those dishes that always came into my head after I had just finished cooking, or when I was planning future meals, but never at that particular moment when the thought will come to fruition and the dish will be made. A few years passed and I rarely gave it more than that passing thought of making it sometime in the future.

Earlier this winter I was walking home from the train on a cold, wet, snowy day. Walking across the parking lot of Treasure Island, I got an incredibly strong craving for leek and potato soup. Which I have never had or made before. I don't know from where the impulse came, but once it was there it became an imperative. So I picked up a leek, some potatoes, and a little bit of hard sausage and went home to improvise.

I was somewhat pleased with the outcome, but it was a little on the dull side. I needed something that could brighten it up. If I hadn't had lemons and parsley in the crisper this probably never would have happened, but I realized I could make gremolata, and leek and potato soup might be a good companion for it.

So I zested a lemon, chopped up some parsley, and mashed a few cloves of garlic and mixed them together with salt and a little olive oil. I spooned the result over a bowl of the soup. And I was amazed at the transformation. It went from being a ho-hum little inoffensive meal to a dish that was singing with flavor. I couldn't believe how good it was, and how much it transformed the soup. Because it uses lemon zest but not lemon juice, you get that concentrated lemon flavor without the tartness - the lemon, parsley, and garlic flavors are separate but equal, unlike the (also delicious, don't get me wrong) more unified flavor you get when you add lemon juice, which brings the flavors together more subtly.

I also had plans for salmon with dill rice and peas, which I cooked the next day. When I added the gremolata to that (you can see it in the picture in that post), the flavors really burst out of the bowl. Bright, fresh, tangy, lemony, grassy, ending with a flash of bite from the garlic, it made me very happy, I can tell you that.

It's best served over a warm or hot dish. The heat causes the ingredients to wilt together and softens the garlic so it has just that little bit of sweetness and loses a bit of its bite.

I also love how economical this recipe makes me feel. Whenever I need fresh lemon juice (which is on a regular basis), I will zest the lemon first and throw together a batch. It's one of few garnishes that I will decide to make, and then decide what to make for it, rather than the other way around.

I challenge you to make this just once. I am convinced that you will fall in love with it just as much as I did.

I came up with this recipe from several I found online. The main difference is that about half of them used a small amount of olive oil and half of them didn't. I liked it better with just a bit of oil. Even that small of an amount becomes infused with the other flavors and blends them all together beautifully.

GREMOLATA

2-3 cloves garlic, mashed into a paste or grated (grated will be much stronger)
zest of 1 lemon
1 bunch of parsley, finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tsp olive oil

Mix all of the ingredients well.

Baking Class: Ginger Bites

2009-09-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

Ever since I started shopping at the Spice House when it opened down the street from the bookstore where I worked back in the late '90s, I have been intrigued by the crystallized ginger they always have on display at the counter. I would always take a piece and put it in my mouth, savoring the crunchy sweet exterior that gives way to the warm bite of the ginger itself. But I didn't really have any use for it, so I would always leave it, somewhat regretfully, on the counter.

When I ran into a recipe in Tish Boyle's The Good Cookie that specifically called for the candied ginger, my pulse actually ran a little faster. At last, I had a reason to bring some home with me! As soon as I could arrange it, I took a trip to Old Town and secured a package of the hot sweet treats.

Along with smoked sweet Spanish paprika, French thyme, and dill, none of which were on the agenda but what are you going to do? It's the Spice House. I consider myself lucky to have gotten out with so little, but I am on a budget after all so I couldn't splurge as much as I might have otherwise.

When I was mixing up the batter, I was skeptical about how these would turn out because even with the ginger there didn't seem to be much flavor in the batter. I rolled the batter into two logs and put them in the refrigerator to chill overnight. When I took them out of the refrigerator and started to cut out the cookies, the dough seemed a little dry and crumbled some, which I also took to be a not-so-good sign.

I cut the cookies too thick. I misread the directions, and instead of cutting them 3/8 of an inch wide, I cut them more like 3/4 of an inch. So if they seem a little thick in the photo above, that's because they are. About twice as thick as they should be.

So imagine my pleasant surprise when they turned out to be delicious. A tender, flaky cookie that melted in my mouth, leaving the residual bits of candied ginger to lend a sharp little bite of heat at the end. There wasn't as much heat as I would have liked, but I think that's because I cut the ginger too small, not because there wasn't enough of it. Next time I make them I will be sure to leave the ginger more coarse. I will also be sure to cut them the right size, so there will be twice as many to enjoy.

So far, I haven't been disappointed by the recipes in this book. They aren't fancy, but each one seems crafted to get the maximum flavor and texture from the ingredients, and they are clearly written and easy to follow. I would recommend it to any home baker.

Home Cookin Chapter: Cookies

GINGER BITES
Makes about 32 cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

Sift together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the butters and sugar at medium speed until light in texture and color, about two minutes. Beat in the crystallized ginger and lemon zest until combined. Reduce speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing until just blended.

Scrape the dough out onto a work surface and shape it into an 18-inch log that is 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 inches in diameter. Cut into two 9-inch logs. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours, or up to three days.

Position two racks near the center of the oven and preheat to 325 deg. F.

Cut the logs into 3/8-inch-thick slices and place them on ungreased baking sheets about two inches apart.

Bake for 23 to 25 minutes, turning the sheets about halfway through baking, until the edges are lightly golden.

Cool completely on a wire rack.

from The Good Cookie, by Tish Boyle (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2002

Exported from Home Cookin 5.9 (www.mountain-software.com)

Baba Ghanouj

2009-09-21T08:00:00.001-05:00

It was with a bit of a shock that I realized I haven't yet posted a recipe for Baba Ghanouj. It was even more of a shock to realize that I haven't made it since I started this blog. It's one of the first middle eastern dishes I ever made, even before hummus.

I have had the recipe for so long that I no longer remember from where it came. I think I got it after I moved to Chicago because I'm pretty sure I'd never tasted it until I got here, but I'm not really even sure of that. I know that the first time I tried it I fell in love with that first rush of rich smoky mashed roasted eggplant and tahini followed by the fresh sharp zing of lemon and parsley. It was a regular in my rotation for a while. I don't remember when it fell out of the loop.

Last week Treasure Island had eggplant on sale for 69 cents a pound, fresh-picked and huge. I grabbed one with the thought of more Mediterranean-style Pork and Eggplant sauce, but with the cooler weather we've been having my thoughts turned to the oven, and I decided to roast it instead.

I have been looking at recipes for making pita lately, so it was an easy step from the roasted eggplant to baba ghanouj with pita bread. So yes, the bread you see in the photo above is homemade, by moi. It came out soft and full of flavor and was the perfect dipping vehicle. My only quibble is that it didn't rise enough to separate, but that's partly my fault. I don't think I got the oven hot enough, and I peeked while they were baking, something I found out later you're not supposed to do - it lets the steam escape, and that's what causes the bread to split. I'll work on that and report my progress.

If you don't feel like making your own pita bread, no worries. You can find it in just about any grocery store these days. But you should definitely make this dip. Once you start eating it, it is impossible to stop.

Home Cookin Chapter: Appetizers, Spreads and Dips

BABA GHANOUJ

2 medium-small eggplants, or 1 large eggplant
Juice from 1 good-sized lemon
1/2 cup tahini
3 medium cloves garlic, mashed into a paste or grated
1/2 cup finely-chopped parsley
1 tsp salt (to taste)
1/4 cup. finely minced scallions
1 Tbsp olive oil

Cut stem ends off eggplants, prick with fork, and cook on oven rack in 350' oven 3o to 45 minutes, or until the skin has caved in (check after half an hour). The eggplant tastes better roasted in the oven, but during the hot months of summer you can cut the eggplants in half, place them cut-side down on a plate, partially cover them with plastic wrap and cook them in the microwave at 5-minute intervals, until the insides are completely soft.

Scoop insides out of the eggplants into a large bowl, mash them, and combine with all other ingredients except olive oil. Chill. Drizzle olive oil on top before serving.

Exported from Home Cookin 5.9 (www.mountain-software.com)

Onion and Potato Galette

2009-09-15T08:00:00.005-05:00

I have been playing with pastry. There are certain skills I never got around to developing in my years in the kitchen, and pie crust is one of them. There was a certain level of fear involved, I am ashamed to say. I don't know why I have been so afraid of such a simple thing. I suppose it's partly because so much pride is attached to a tender, flaky crust. The other part has to do with something that is unusual for me. I am usually quite adept at all things physical, so it came as something of a shock to me to discover that I could not perform the simple task of rolling out a pie crust. Or, to be more precise, I could not roll the pie crust out into anything resembling a circle.

Something I have been learning in the kitchen over the past few years is this: If you want to learn a new technique, you simply have to do it. And do it again. And again. And . . . well, you get the picture. I first discovered this simple secret when I was trying to learn how to knit. At first I was all thumbs and tangled yarn, but as I persevered I began to be able to see the structure of the stitches, and once I could see that there was nothing I couldn't do.

It's much the same in the kitchen. Of course your first attempt at something new will be less than stellar (unless you encounter that wonderful occurrence known as beginner's luck, and it does happen). But the next time you make the attempt you will have a little more knowledge than you had before, and you will be able to make adjustments based on that knowledge, and you will get a better result. And each time you try, you get better at making those adjustments until before you know it you are turning out a consistent, nearly-perfect product each and every time.

This is related to my other newly-discovered Law of Three. That applies to a new recipe; when learning a new technique it can take more than three tries, for me at any rate. It took about eight times for me to get comfortable with pizza dough. By now I've made at least ten crusts, and I'm just now beginning to feel like I've got it.

Earlier this summer, my friend Nicole, who had been in Washington state for quite some time, finally came home, and brought me a lovely gift of some bona fide original Walla Walla onions. They were big and round and absolutely beautiful. As I was working on my piecrust, I had already experimented with an onion tart or two, with mild success. None of them had gone anywhere interesting enough for me to share them here, but I felt that I had enough information to make something that would really bring out the sweetness of those beautiful Walla Wallas.

And I was pleased with the outcome. Rather than baking it in a pie pan, I decided it would have more rustic charm as a galette. I was going to link to the Wikipedia definition, but it appears that Wikipedia's definition is either a crumbly cake or a buckwheat crepe. I have seen the term widely-used, at least in this country, to describe a rustic free-form pie cooked on a baking sheet rather than in a pie pan, so I am going with that and am calling this a galette regardless of what Wikipedia says it is.

I wanted the onions and the potatoes to be the stars of this dish, so other than salt and pepper I did not use any other spices. It was a wise decision. The flavor of the sweet onions is subtle, and just manages to hold its own with the toastiness of the browned potatoes. Any other spices or herbs would just have gotten in the way.

And the crust came out beautifully, too. Flaky, buttery, rich and tender. Yum! I really love the free-form style of the galette.

This is not a light dish. It's best saved for special occasions. Or when you are lucky enough to have some Walla Walla onions on hand. Hey - if you happen to find yourself in that neck of the woods, pick some up for me, will you?

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

ONION AND POTATO GALETTE

Makes 6 servings

1 single crust pate brisee
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 large Walla Walla or sweet Spanish onions, halved and thinly sliced
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4" cubes
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp buttermilk or heavy cream

Prepare pate brisee. Dust with flour, form a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator while working on the onions and potatoes.

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add onions and cook, stirring frequently, until they have caramelized and turned a rich, deep brown. This will take about 20 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F.

In same skillet, adding more oil if necessary, leave the heat on medium-high and add the cubed potatoes. Season liberally with the salt and pepper. Cook over the low heat, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are well browned and almost tender. Remove from heat and set aside.

Take the pate brisee out of the refrigerator and let it sit for 10 minutes. Roll it out into a 9-to-10-inch circle and lay it on a baking sheet. Place the onions in the middle of the circle, leaving a good two inches of the dough free. Top with the potatoes. Fold the outside of the dough up over the potatoes and onions, crimping as necessary and leaving a good six inches or so of the center uncovered. Using a pastry brush, spread the buttermilk or cream lightly over the pie dough.

Bake for 50 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.

Let sit for ten to fifteen minutes before serving.

8/3/09

Exported from Home Cookin 5.9 (www.mountain-software.com)

Doing the Real Thing

2009-09-14T08:00:00.004-05:00

Mark Bittman has written a piece for Men's Health on the White House Organic Garden. You can find it here.

(Photo from the White House Blog.)

Baking Class: Buttermilk Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup

2009-09-10T08:00:00.005-05:00

What do you do when you have an abundance of blueberries that are about to over-ripen? The answer is easy if it's a lazy Sunday morning, you are craving pancakes, and you are all out of maple syrup.

I've been playing around with fruit reductions over the past year. I made a cherry sauce that I used for some cookies with which I was experimenting (that never saw the light of day - the red mixed with the flour and butter gave the dough an unsightly gray tinge, even though they tasted ok). I had more success with the raspberry syrup I made for my Raspberry Chipotle Sweet Potatoes, which I plan to make often this coming fall.

Blueberry syrup seemed like the next logical step. And I'd been craving buttermilk pancakes for the longest time. And searching for a good recipe, too. I found one on the website joyofbaking.com. There sure are a lot of cooking sites out there in the virtual world. This one seems to have a lovely selection of recipes for all kinds of delicious-looking baked treats. I will have to visit it more often.

I also found a recipe for making blueberry syrup online. It involved cooking the blueberries with lemon juice and then straining the mixture through cheesecloth before cooking it again with sugar. This recipe also involved boiling jars and sterilizing lids, but since I was only going to use a pint of blueberries I decided I didn't need to go to all that extra trouble.

Straining the blueberry mixture through the cheesecloth was trouble enough. It took a long time because the mixture was so thick. I also didn't use a big enough piece of cheesecloth, but that's another story.

The end result was quite delicious, and complemented the pancakes perfectly. But I think it would work just as well if I cooked the blueberries, lemon juice and sugar together and then strained them. Less work, too.

I was especially happy with how the pancakes turned out. Light and fluffy, just a hint of sweetness. If they look a little dark on top up there in the picture, that's because I had the cast iron skillet a little too hot. They were just this side of burned, but definitely still edible. Next time, however, I will know how hot to let the pan get.

Home Cookin Chapter: Breads and Muffins

BUTTERMILK PANCAKES

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup buttermilk
3 Tbsp vegetable oil

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk together to blend thoroughly.

Put the egg, buttermilk and ghee in a separate bowl and whisk together. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Do not overmix.

Place a cast iron skillet or griddle over medium high flame and heat until water sizzles and dries instantly when flicked into the pan. Brush oil over the pan's surface.

Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into the pan. You can cook more than one pancake at a time, but be sure to leave plenty of room around them so you can turn them without splattering any surrounding pancakes.

Let cook without touching for 2-3 minutes, until bubbles form on the top of the batter and the edges are cooked. Flip the pancakes over and cook another minute or so on the second side.

Stack finished pancakes in an oven-proof dish and keep warm in a 250 deg. F. oven until ready to serve.

Serve with favorite topping.

adapted from recipe submitted by Stephanie Joaworski on joyofbaking.com

Exported from Home Cookin 5.9 (www.mountain-software.com)

Braised Chicken with Summer Squash and Apricots

2009-09-08T08:00:00.001-05:00

The idea for this recipe was born from one I found for Vegetables with Apricot Sauce in American Whole Foods Cuisine. I had just bought some of the season's first fresh apricots back in June, and with the zucchini and pattypan squash just starting to come in as well, I decided take the idea of apricots and vegetables and come up with something of my own. Adding chicken seemed like a no-brainer way to cook a complete dinner over the stove so I wouldn't have to heat up the apartment by turning on the oven.

I cooked this up in my recently-acquired Lodge Cast-Iron Dutch Oven. It cost significantly less than Le Creuset or Staub, although it is not quite as pretty, I will admit. It does go well with my perfectly-seasoned cast iron skillet, though, so I'm not complaining. And it gets the job done, which is what the experienced cook cares about most, am I right?

As usual, I cooked the vegetables a little too long. It is a good thing I do not mind mushy squash, but I am getting a little tired of this. The pattypan held up better, but the zucchini was holding it's shape in the picture only because I was holding my breath while taking it.

But it tasted delicious. The cinnamon added a subtle hint of sweetness that matched perfectly with the tart sweetness of the apricots. I used the braising liquid to cook the couscous, which added an extra layer of flavor.

I garnished the chicken with a quick gremolata I made with some green olives. I thought it would contribute to the slightly middle-eastern theme I had going on there, but truth be told it did not blend as well as I thought it would. It was not terrible, but it was a little "Hey, who invited you for dinner?" I am a huge fan of gremolata ever since I discovered it earlier this year, but I guess it doesn't go everywhere.

Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH SUMMER SQUASH AND APRICOTS
Makes 6 servings

1 chicken, cut into 6 pieces
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
salt and pepper
garlic powder
cinnamon
1 Tbsp oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. patty-pan squash, summer squash, or zucchini, any combination, cut into 1-1/2" chunks.
1/2 pint apricots, pitted and sliced
1/2 cup cooked chickpeas

Lay out the chicken pieces skin side up. Liberally sprinkle the salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cinnamon over the chicken.

Heat oil over high heat in a Dutch oven. Place chicken, seasoned-skin side down, in one layer in the dutch oven (do not crowd the pan - do batches if necessary). Let the chicken sear for about 5 minutes, then sprinkle the top side with the salt, pepper, garlic powder and cinnamon. Turn the pieces over so the newly-seasoned side is now down, and let it cook for another 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Lower the heat to medium high and add the onion and garlic to the pan. Add salt and pepper and saute, stirring frequently, until well browned, about 15 minutes. Place all of the chicken back into the pot. Add the broth, then enough water to cover the chicken about two-thirds of the way. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer. Cover the pan and cook for 15 minutes.

Add the squash, the apricots and the chickpeas to the pot and cook another 10 to 15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the juice from the chicken runs clear when it is pricked.

Serve over couscous prepared with the braising liquid.

7/19/09

Exported from Home Cookin 5.9 (www.mountain-software.com)

Labor Day

2009-09-07T08:00:00.004-05:00

Happy Labor Day to you Americans out there. It seems more relevant this year than most others; usually, to me it just means another day off and a telethon that interferes with my usual shows. But this year is different, as evidenced by this U.S. unemployment chart.It looks grim, and we haven't yet hit the 10% level the experts are predicting.

One of my first thoughts when the economy started to tank was, "how long are people going to be willing to pay higher prices for local, sustainable, or higher-quality food?" After I lost my job, my first thought was, "how long am I going to be able to do keep buying the products I am used to buying, at the shops where I have been used to buying them?"

I have tightened my belt, but I have done my best to support my local grocery store, cheese shop, coffee roaster who roasts the fair trade coffee I buy, the green market, and those companies that offer quality products and use sustainable practices to produce their goods. Now that I have even fewer dollars to spend, I want to be sure that they are speaking for me as loudly as possible. I may be eating out less often, but I make sure my entertainment dollars are going to local restaurants instead of national chains.

I have been fortunate to find work again, but I still have to watch my spending to the penny. Even so, I have found a way to stay as true to my food politics as I can. Not everyone has the luxury to do so, but if you do, I hope you will keep in mind that spending less can sometimes cost you more, in the long run.

Corn Chowder: The Law of Three

2009-09-03T08:00:00.002-05:00

Over the years that I have been working on this blog, I have started looking at every aspect of the cooking process: following recipes, learning new techniques and discovering new ingredients and figuring out how to use them. And as I have been looking at all of these things, I have come to a few conclusion about how one learns to cook.

It started out as an awareness, which turned into a theory. Over time, the theory has been tested and, with some exceptions, has turned out to be valid, at least in my kitchen.

I'm calling it the Law of Three. To wit: In order to get comfortable with a new recipe, technique or ingredient, one must use it at least three times.

I took my theory and articulated it into this law while I was working on corn chowder. It took longer than usual for the corn to show up at the green market, and even longer for it to go down in price, but that finally happened a few weeks ago. I bought a lot. And I was looking for new ways to prepare it. Potatoes have also been plentiful at the market, so I had a few of those too, and thought to combine the two.

Since my recent success with vegetable stock, I have been more serious about finding uses for corn cobs once I have removed the corn. I decided to look for some ideas for a corn chowder. And, as usual, found something that looked right up my alley at Elise's Simply Recipes.

I thought any corn chowder recipe would involve a roux, so I was surprised to discover that the version on Elise's blog did not call for one. I liked that, so I decided to use her version as the base for my attempt.

I followed Elise's version fairly closely for my first attempt. The main difference was that I used leeks instead of onions. I have been playing with a leek and potato soup (which I have not perfected yet, so I am not ready to write about it), and I really like that combination. Corn seems like a natural companion, so I decided to stay with that combination. I also had three beautiful leeks I had bought at the green market. You can't argue with that.

All in all it was a success. The main problem, and it was minor, was that I cooked the potatoes too long and they turned into mush. But the flavors were there so I decided it was worth making again.

For my second attempt, I made sure not to cook the potatoes too long. Unfortunately, however, I did not cook them long enough. There were also too many of them, as well as too much corn. I usually do not bother too much with proportions, especially in soups and stews, but the chowder lacked balance between liquid and solid. The slightly underdone potatoes did not help, either. It was edible, but not as good as the first batch.

So I went at it one more time. Armed with what I knew worked from the first batch, and what didn't work from the second attempt, I knew when to check the potatoes to make sure they had cooked through without turning to mush. I knew how much potato and corn to add. I knew how low to have the burner on to cook the potatoes without scalding the milk.

The end result? Pretty near perfection, I must say. A rich flavorful broth, soft creamy potato and crisp sweet corn. A beautiful way to enjoy the fresh bounty of summer. It's substantial enough for a meal, while at the same time being light enough for the season. Of course, by this time I had run out of leeks so I used an onion. It would be just as good with either.

And there you have it. The first try gives you the base of a recipe. The second time you make adjustments that may or may not work, and compare them against the first. By the third time, you know how you want it, and you have some experience in how to make that happen. The Law of Three.

There's a good chance that you will like this recipe just as it is. But if you think you can improve on it, I bet it will take you two more attempts to get it just where you want it.

Home Cookin Chapter: Soups and Stews
CORN CHOWDER

3-1/2 Tbsp butter
1 large leek, well rinsed and chopped, or 1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 stalk celery, diced
3 ears of blanched corn, cut from the cob, plus the cobs (broken in half)
3 cups milk
3 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
1 medium potato, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 Tbsp fresh thyme, or 1 tsp dried
1/2 tsp sweet smoked Spanish paprika
1/4 lb. ham, cubed

Melt butter in 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook
until translucent, approximately 5 minutes. Add carrots and celery and
cook another 5 minutes.
Nestle the corn cobs in among the vegetables and cover with the milk.
Add the bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to the barest
simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Do not let the milk scald.

Remove the corn cobs and the bay leaf and add the potatoes and bell
pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cook for another 15 to 20
minutes, until the potatoes are just tender.

Add the corn, ham, thyme and paprika and cook another 5 to 10 minutes,
until the corn and ham are warmed through.

Adapted from Elise's recipe on Simply Recipes.

Servings: 4

Exported from Home Cookin 5.9 (www.mountain-software.com)

Two Tuesdays in Bob's Kitchen

2009-08-31T08:00:00.000-05:00

Last month my friend Bob's partner was in Brazil for a month visiting friends and family, so Bob kindly offered me the use of his kitchen. Isn't it beautiful? Look at all that wonderful counter space. My kitchen would fit in there four times over, I think. I got to use it twice and it was so nice being able to spread everything out without having to get creative with stacking dishes to make room for everything.

I had big dreams of making a French dinner using recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking for Julia Child's 97th birthday, but August 15th came and went before I could make a plan, so that never happened. It's interesting to note that this cookbook has sold out since the movie Julie and Julia came out and the publisher has rushed a new printing. I wonder how many people who are buying the book now will actually cook from it?

I didn't cook anything new the two times I made dinner for us. I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to test dishes I had made before, and to make any adjustments or refinements to them.

For our first dinner, I made my Green Peppers Stuffed with Pork and Eggplant. Bob had expressed interest in it and it had been a while since I had made it so I was eager to see if it would taste as good the second time around.

It did. I thought it needed salt; Bob said it was fine the way it was. I realized, as we were eating together, that no matter how delicious I think something is that I have made, I get super-critical of it when I share it with others. Then, all I can taste is what's wrong with it, and how it could have been better. I need to get over that, I think.

On the side, I made fresh-from-my-new-boss's-garden kale, sauteed with pancetta, wholegrain dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar and pancetta. It was a touch more acidic than I like, but it complemented the pepper nicely and each dish lent balance to the other.

The next time I was in Bob's kitchen, he brought out Bamboo (the green one on the left) and Guayaba (on the right), and fed them a snack. They were so cute perched on mugs on the counter that I had to take a picture. Bob and I went to chat in the living room while they snacked. Not long after we left them alone, we heard a large noise coming from the kitchen. We looked over to see poor Guayaba hopping around the counter, his cup twirling on its side. Bamboo just kept eating his seeds, as if he had been there all the time and hadn't deliberately knocked Guayaba off his perch. Too cute.

I just had to make pizza my next time over. I'm so thrilled with the way it turns out that I am now making it on a regular basis, at least once a week.

This pizza has my by now usual green olives and garlic, along with some beautiful peppers I got at the green market. I had some hard sausage on hand from a different use that I also put on the pizza. A sprinkling of Italian Seasoning added a nice rush of flavor as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed my nights in Bob's kitchen. It was a bit of a challenge in some ways, even with all of that space. Different pots, different pans, different equipment, and a different array of knives threw me off of my routine just a bit, but I am pleased with how well I was able to adapt. I don't think I complained too much (although Bob might have a different opinion about that.)

But even with all of the good company and good food, I think the highlight of my times in Bob's kitchen was the beautiful sunset sky that graced our fair city the second night. I don't know that I've ever seen a sky like this in Chicago before. It's the kind of sunset you will see on occasion in Texas, like the one I was lucky enough to capture here on one of my visits home. It was awesome to see it here in Chi-town.

Black Mission Figs Simmered in Sherry with Creme Fraiche

2009-08-27T08:00:00.005-05:00

Even when you are on a tight budget, it is important to splurge every now and then. And that's just what I did the other day when I was wandering through the produce section at Treasure Island. They had the most beautiful fresh black mission figs for a price that, while by no means inexpensive, was something in which I could indulge without spending all of my weekly allowance.

Once I got them home, I had to decide what to do with them. I don't have them often, and the few times I've eaten them I've just eaten them as is. They're such a rare treat for me that I enjoy them just as nature made them.

But this time I wanted to doll them up a bit. I recently learned how to make creme fraiche so I had some in the refrigerator. I thought a dollop would be nice over lightly poached figs, and the sherry I have on hand for Mexican Wine Cookies made the perfect poaching liquid.

These took just a few minutes to prepare, and they make a beautiful presentation. The perfect finish to a light summer meal.

BLACK MISSION FIGS SIMMERED IN SHERRY WITH CREME FRAICHE

Makes 4 servings

1 pint black mission figs
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup sweet sherry
1 Tbsp butter
creme fraiche*

Wash the figs and trim the stems. Place in a three-quart saucepan with sugar and sherry over medium-low heat. Once the sugar has melted and it starts to boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and poach for about 5 minutes. Remove the figs from the pan and add the butter, letting it melt into the sauce. Cook a few minutes longer, until the sauce has thickened.

To serve, place 3 or 4 figs on a plate and cut them into quarters, leaving them whole at the bottom. Open the quarters and drop a dollop of the creme fraiche over each fig. Spoon some of the sauce over the figs.

*To make creme fraiche: Add 2 tablespoons of buttermilk to 1 cup of heavy cream in a glass bowl or measuring cup and mix well. Let stand at room temperature until it thickens to the consistency of sour cream - anywhere from a few hours to overnight. Stir and refrigerate. Will last up to two weeks in the refrigerator.

Baking Class: Pizza Crust

2009-08-24T08:00:00.006-05:00

I'm ready to talk about pizza. I've been playing with it for a while now, but I didn't want to post about it until I was comfortable enough with the process to feel like I knew the subject well enough to discuss it. And that meant waiting until I had a finished product that was photo-worthy as well. And something that tasted good (and tasted like pizza). And while I still have a ways to go, I am quite pleased with one of my more recent creations, the Zucchini Blossom, Zucchini and Garlic Pizza you see above.

For this post, I'm going to start with the crust. What inspired me to make pizza was a recipe I found in the January/February 2009 edition of Tastes of Italia, a modest little magazine that I will pick up every now and then in the checkout aisle at Treasure Island, and in which I have found many ideas and inspirations. While they do have recipes for the kinds of dishes we think of as Italian, what I really like about this magazine is that they more often provide recipes using the ingredients that we think of as being Italian, but in a way that is nothing like the dishes we tend to think of when we think Italian cuisine.

This issue had a recipe for Pizza Margharita (basically tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and fresh basil), that included a recipe for "Basic Pizza Dough." It seemed like a good place to start.

The instructions were simple and fairly straightforward. It tasted good, but it did not have that chewy texture that I like in my pizza. It also made enough for four pizzas, which is at least two more than I can deal with at one time.

I used whole wheat white flour, which may have accounted for the crust being less chewy and not tasting exactly like pizza crust should taste. But it looked pretty, as you can see. At first it was easier for me to roll out a rectangle than to try for the circle.

I had seen Sara Moulton pre-cook her pizza dough for five minutes before putting the toppings on it, so I did the same thing. It helps the crust stay crisp and crunchy under the fillings, so that has become a part of my regular pizza routine.

The topping was my own creation, utilizing whatever ingredients I had on hand that could be considered remotely Italian. I used ripe tomatoes, some ricotta cheese I had left over from an earlier use, a thinly sliced shallot and olive oil. I did not have any fresh basil, so I used dried thyme and basil. It did taste good, but I wanted to see if I could do better.

The next recipe that caught my eye was a foccacia recipe in Mario Batali's cookbook Molto Italiano. I also used white whole wheat flour, and I knew something was wrong the first time I made it. It was thick and dry, and barely rose. Luckily, it tasted ok so I was able to eat it, but it was definitely not foccacia. I thought maybe it was because I used the white whole wheat flour instead of the high-gluten bread flour called for in the recipe, so I moseyed on down to the grocery store and bought a bag of Bob's Red Mill unbleached white flour ("superb for bread baking") and tried again. And while better, it was definitely still too thick and dry. So I googled around and discovered I wasn't the only one having this problem. I changed the half cup of water to one-and-a-half cups, and lo and behold: I got foccacia, as you can see on the left. It was light and yeasty, and especially tasty with the pancetta and herbs, but it was no pizza.

Emboldened by my foccacia success, I decided to find another recipe to try for pizza crust. As luck would have it, there was a recipe on the side of the Bob's Red Mill flour bag. I thought they were awfully confident to call it "Perfect Pizza Crust," but the ratio of ingredients looked consistent with the other recipes at which I had been looking, so I decided to give it a try. And it worked out beautifully, so beautifully that I don't think I need to look any more. To the left is the first pizza I made (each recipe makes two pizzas). The crust was crunchy, crisp, and chewy all at the same time, which is my preferred pizza crust texture.

I got a little carried away with the toppings, though. I loaded up on the tomato sauce and cheese, so the bottom was just the slightest bit soggy. The red peppers and the beet greens were a good match, though, and I knew I was on the right track.

I took what I learned and maximized the flavor for my next effort, up there on the top. There's a new sustainable farmers' market on Wednesday evenings up in Andersonville and I just started working in the neighborhood so I stopped by on my way home from work and saw the freshest, most beautiful zucchini blossoms I've ever seen, much prettier even than the ones at the green market. I had to buy them and, having bought them, knew they were destined for that night's pizza. It was even more fitting that I had already planned for the zucchini. A liberal sprinkling of chopped garlic over the whole thing has become signature on pretty much all of my pizzas. It takes it from merely delicious to sublime.

I know my pizzas will only get better with practice, but I consider this pizza to be my first real authentic pizza pie. The crust was perfectly browned and there was no hint of soggy. The toppings were perfectly cooked and in perfect unison with each other. I can't wait to play around some more.

If you've never worked with yeast, but have been wanting to try, pizza is a good place to start. There is less rising and kneading time involved, and it doesn't take as much time. You can work up the dough one night and throw it in the refrigerator for as long as two days before you have to use it, or you can even store it in the freezer to have on hand on a night when you're craving a pie but don't have the time or energy to start from scratch. One recipe makes two pies, so you can feed a larger group, offer more choices, or make them at different times.

I used the unbleached white flour all by itself the first few times I made the pizza because I wanted to be sure I understood how the dough should look and feel as I was working with it, so I could be more confident experimenting. I have since substituted white whole wheat at a 30 percent ratio (one-third the total amount of flour), and will continue to increase the amount of whole wheat. I don't know if I can achieve the same crisp, chewy texture with 100 percent whole wheat, but that's my goal.

You don't have to use Bob's Red Mill unbleached white flour, but you want to make sure the flour you do use is high-gluten, or says "bread flour" somewhere on the package.

As far as toppings go, the sky is pretty much the limit. You can go the more traditional route, with a scant cup of your favorite tomato sauce as the base, followed by about one-and-a-half cups of mozzarella cheese and then whatever other ingredients you want, or you can be bold and play with whatever wild and crazy combinations present themselves to your eager, experimental mind. If you find something amazingly good, please let me know.

PIZZA DOUGH

Makes 1 large or 2 small pizzas

1 cup warm water (105 - 115 deg. F.)
1 Tbsp active dry yeast (or two 1/4-oz. packets)
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1-3/4 cups unbleached white flour, plus more for kneading
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp olive oil
Scant tsp of cornmeal, for dusting the baking sheet

Combine the flour, salt and sugar in a small bowl and whisk together to mix well. Place warm water in a large bowl and add the yeast, whisking it together. Add the oil, and then the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together.

Turn the mixture onto a floured surface and set the bowl aside, pouring about 1 teaspoon of olive oil into it. Bring the dough together into a ball and knead, sprinkling more flour over the dough if necessary, until the dough is smooth and elastic and is just at the point where it is not sticking to your hands. Try not to add too much flour. Form into a ball and put it in the bowl with the olive oil, turning it to make sure the entire surface is coated with the oil, adding more oil if necessary. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let rise until it doubles in size (between one and two hours).

Turn the dough out of the bowl and divide it in half. At this point you can either make both pizzas, make one pizza and put the rest of the dough in the refrigerator for two days, put both balls of dough in the refrigerator for up to two days, or freeze one or both balls for future use. If you put the dough in the refrigerator or freezer, let it come up to room temperature and then proceed with your pizza.

If you are making the pizza right away, move the oven rack to the lowest position and preheat the oven to 475 deg. F. and sprinkle some cornmeal on your baking sheet (you can use a round or rectangular sheet). Roll out or pat out the dough until it fits the contours of the baking sheet, pinching out the dough to make it slightly thicker around the edge.

If your crust is ready before the oven has preheated, cover it with a towel while you wait for the oven to reach 475 degrees. You do not want to put the crust into the oven until the oven has reached the proper heat.

Place the empty crust on the rack at the lowest position in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with your ingredients. Bake for an additional 12-18 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the toppings are cooked.

adapted from the recipe on the package of Bob's Red Mill Unbleached White Flour.

Baking Class: Blueberry Buttermilk Cake

2009-08-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

I have been baking with a lot of fruit this summer. It is not something I usually do, but I have been enjoying it immensely. Maybe it's because I'm baking more in general, so it is only natural that fruit would find it's way into the batter, given how bountiful it has been.

I stumbled across this recipe in the June issue of Gourmet magazine. It was the buttermilk that caused me to tear the page out of the magazine and stick it on my big old recipe pile. For some reason I am fascinated with buttermilk. I didn't grow up with it, although I do have at least one memory of my father chugging down a nice cold glass of it. It looked nice and refreshing, but I have since taken a taste of it straight out of the carton and I can tell you that refreshing is not the word I would use. Tart? Yes. Thick? Yes. Refreshing? Not so much.

But I love to cook with it. I have finally found a buttermilk pancake recipe that is within a stone's throw of perfect. I am thinking of making my flaky biscuits flaky buttermilk biscuits. I have used it to moisten my potato and onion galettes (of which more later).

And add two tablespoons of it to a cup of heavy cream, let it sit out for a few hours until it has thickened, and you have creme fraiche, which has certainly made my life a better place.

But in this instance, buttermilk gives you a rich, moist, delicate cake that has a light crumbly texture and almost melts in your mouth. The original recipe calls for raspberries, but blueberries are so abundant and inexpensive around here right now (at least at the grocery store - they're more than twice as much at the green market I am sorry to say), that I have been using them in all kinds of recipes that call for other fruits.

And it works beautifully in this recipe.

I healthied up this recipe by using half white whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour. It stayed light and moist, but there was just the slightest hint of backbone that in my opinion held up quite well against the blueberries.

Home Cookin Chapter: Cakes and Pies

BLUEBERRY BUTTERMILK CAKE

Serves 8

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup fresh blueberries
1-1/2 Tbsp large-crystal decorative sugar (can substitute regular sugar)

Preheat oven to 400 deg. F. with the rack in the middle, then butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.

Whisk together the first five ingredients, then set aside.

Beat together the butter and sugar with the hand beater on medium high. Add the vanilla and mix it in. Next add the egg, making sure to beat it in completely.

With the beater on the lowest setting, add a third of the flour mixture and just beat it in. Add half of the buttermilk and just beat that in. Repeat with another third of the flour, the rest of the buttermkilk, and the rest of the flour, beating just enough to mix it in after each addition.

Spoon the batter into the cake pan. Smooth the top, then spread the blueberries over the batter.

Sprinkle the large-crystal decorative sugar evenly over the top.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the cake is golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Let cool for about 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack and let it cool another 15 minutes or so more.

Invert onto a plate before serving.

Adapted from Gourmet Magazine, June 2009 issue

Exported from Home Cookin 5.9 (www.mountain-software.com)

Dill Rice

2009-08-17T08:00:00.003-05:00

There is a local chain of Middle Eastern/Mediterranean restaurants in Chicago that serves the best dill rice I have ever tasted. Large, individual grains of rice infused with the fresh grassy flavor of the fresh dill, with an occasional lima bean thrown in for that extra bump of texture and earthiness.

The rest of the food at Reza's is quite good, too, but it is the dill rice that stands out. I know I'm not the only one who thinks so, because many people find their way to my little ol' blog in search of the recipe. They end up here because I wrote a post back when this was still a knitting blog, when my friend and I stopped at Reza's for dinner on the way to a knitting guild meeting, and I mentioned the dill rice. I can only imagine their disappointment at getting to my knitting post and finding no recipe. I have felt bad about that, but what could I do?

Ok . . . wait for it . . . why, I could take a stab at making some dill rice of my own, natch. So I bought some fresh dill at the green market and went to work. And hit the jackpot on the first try.

Dill rice adds a fresh dimension to just about any main dish you serve. It's a no-brainer with salmon and peas, but it adds an unexpected dimension to Spicy Indian Channa Dal Curry and other Indian dishes. It's the perfect foil for skirt steak. And it's just as good all by itself.

This is really more of a method than a recipe. It works well with my brown basmati rice, but you could make it with whatever form of rice you are most comfortable using.

DILL RICE
Serves 4

1 cup rice
Water per package instructions
2-3 Tbsp fresh chopped dill
1 - 2 Tbsp olive oil
garlic powder (or 1 clove garlic, mashed into a paste)
salt and pepper to taste

Cook rice according to package directions. When the rice is finished, add the dill and replace the cover, letting it sit for five minutes. Remove the cover, add the olive oil, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir everything together before serving.

Variations:
Add 1/2 cup of frozen peas along with the dill.
1/2 cup of corn along with the dill
Add the zest and juice of 1 lemon
Add the zest and juice of 1 lime
Use your imagination!