tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238868502020-04-08T12:32:40.468-07:00The Serendipitous ChefThere was no difference between the behavior of a god and the operations of pure chance. Thomas Pynchonsurfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.comBlogger219125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-83611718173513326152007-02-11T12:51:00.000-08:002007-02-11T13:09:37.771-08:00Healthy as a Horse - WHBMaybe this is something familiar to many. As a food stuff for people, I mean.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5030384517103456242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_u9JftroGZp4/Rc-EEPGTj_I/AAAAAAAAAAM/8TSOSqVcXp4/s400/alfalfa4_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />It was not to me. At least, when I saw this stuff, I am sure I had never eaten any before.<br /><br />Although that is surprising, it being the third on the list of most important crops in the US, as well as the rest of the world. Right behind corn and soybeans.<br /><br />And healthy.<br /><br />Bursting with vitamins, fiber, all sorts of useful things.<br /><br />But it is mostly fed to the horses. As fodder. Being known to most as hay.<br /><br />But the tender sprouts of this hay – alfalfa sprouts – are surprisingly tender.<br /><br />So, as I was buying my weekly supply of sage, thyme, rosemary, arugula, and what all, I asked about the unfamiliar herb next to the thyme.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5030384645952475138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_u9JftroGZp4/Rc-ELvGTkAI/AAAAAAAAAAU/m6cQFTCgEeY/s400/alfalfa1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Alfalfa. Said the farmer’s market herb guy. What do you do with that, asked both TeenGirl and myself, in unison. She having been mildly infected with my fascination with all things new disease.<br /><br />No idea, replied the herb guy. Some lady keeps asking if we have alfalfa, so I finally brought some. No idea what to do with it.<br /><br />Well, that was already more than enough. If someone else was already in on the secret, we had to find out about this as well. So we grabbed a small bundle.<br /><br />Turns out, of course, that this is nothing new or unusual. Maybe not high profile like other sprouts, and uncommon in mainstream markets, but not unheard of.<br /><br />So off I went on the internet, looking for ways to take best advantage of my newly found alfalfa.<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfalfa<br /><br />Fresh in flavor, a bit grassy, as you might expect from a sprout. A tad more in the direction of eating your fresh lawn clippings than a bean sprout. In fact, if you close your eyes while munching on a few alfalfa sprouts, the images of humid summer days with giant clouds floating in a painfully blue sky over the endless fields of my youth come rushing back. A few aspirin and a cup of strong coffee eventually took care of this problem.<br /><br />But not a bad flavor. Different, for sure. But, maybe in the right combination, a pleasant flavor.<br /><br />I found several recipes that combined the alfalfa sprouts with carrots. With the naturally sweet carrots complementing the alfalfa flavor somehow, and decided to base things on that.<br /><br />A simple salad, based on grated carrots and alfalfa sprouts, napped around a somewhat overripe Haas avocado combined the carrot sweetness, the avocado creaminess, and the alfalfa freshness and crunch nicely.<br /><br />Sticking with the low-fat theme, I made a dressing out of pureed almonds, olive oil, lemon juice, tamari, and wasabi powder. Which I whipped in the food processor with some warm water until a sort of almond mayonnaise resulted. Despite its super thick and creamy texture, this stuff is very low fat, has no cholesterol, and packs a wonderful punch with the wasabi and soy flavors layered o top of the lemon.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5030385384686850082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_u9JftroGZp4/Rc-E2vGTkCI/AAAAAAAAAAk/XwsTPin4E1E/s400/alfalfa3_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />This week, we created Alfalfa and Carrot Salad with Avocado and Almond Wasabi Mayonnaise. For <a href="http://kalynskitchenlinks.blogspot.com/2005/12/weekend-herb-blogging-weekly-recap.html" rel="tag">Weekend Herb Blogging</a>, sponsored this week by Kalyn herself, of <a href="http://http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com//" rel="tag">Kalyn's Kitchen</a>.<br /><br />A sprinkle of sliced almonds and wasabi powder on top, and a delicious appetizer was on the way to the table.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5030384779096461330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_u9JftroGZp4/Rc-ETfGTkBI/AAAAAAAAAAc/Avk3_kZKaKQ/s400/alfalfa2_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><a href="javascript:void(printSpecial('printRecipe20'))">Print Recipe</a><br /><div id="printRecipe20"><br /><strong>Alfalfa and Carrot Salad with Avocado and Almond Wasabi Mayonnaise</strong><br />Recipe by surfindaave<br />Serves 2 as an appetizer<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />1 ripe avocado, cut in half, peel and pit removed, drizzled in lemon juice<br />1 large carrot<br />a bunch alfalfa sprouts<br />Almond Wasabi Mayonnaise (recipe follows)<br />almond slivers, for garnish<br />wasabi powder, for garnish<br /><br />Slice the avocado halves into slices lengthwise. Reserve.<br /><br />Grate the carrot as finely as possible, and pat with paper towels to dry.<br /><br />Roughly chop the alfalfa sprouts.<br /><br />Toss the grated carrots and alfalfa sprouts together, and arrange on a small salad plate. Place the avocado slices decoratively on the plate. Thin the almond wasabi mayonnaise with some warm water as necessary, whisking to combine, and spoon some of the dressing over the salad. Sprinkle with a few almond slivers, and a sprinkle of wasabi powder. Serve. Enjoy!<br /><br /><br /><strong>Almond Wasabi Mayonnaise</strong><br />Recipe by surfindaave<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />110 grams (4 ounces) raw almonds (I used slivered, and left the skins on)<br />1 lemon, juiced<br />4 tbsp olive oil<br />1-2 tbsp rice vinegar<br />2 tbsp tamari or shoyu soy sauce<br />1-2 tsp wasabi powder, to taste<br />warm water as necessary<br /><br />In a food processor, grind the almonds to a powder. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, rice vinegar, wasabi powder, and soy sauce, and puree, scraping down the sides, and. adding just enough warm water to create a mayonnaise-like consistency to the sauce. Let the sauce sit for 10 minutes. Add additional wasabi powder if desired, and add additional warm water, whisking to combine, if the dressing gets too thick (the almonds will continue to absorb water for a while). </div><br /><div></div><br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Alfalfa" rel="tag">Alfalfa</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Almond" rel="tag">Almond</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Wasabi" rel="tag">Wasabi</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Weekend+Herb+Blogging" rel="tag">Weekend Herb Blogging</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/WHB" rel="tag">WHB</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1170021669959804142007-01-28T13:53:00.000-08:002007-01-28T14:06:54.103-08:00Those Lusty Fruits - WHBBigger than a kumquat.<br /><br />Smaller than an orange.<br /><br />And pretty sour.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/689878/orangquat2_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />But with lots of flavor. Not quite an orange flavor. Maybe more in the Kumquat direction.<br /><br />We were just standing around at our farmer’s market. They have a raffle. Which we have never participated in before. But the idea seems to be that everyone who takes a free raffle ticket will absolutely win something. Maybe a small bag of oranges. Or a few select herbs from the herb stand. Or a cinnamon bun. We won a loaf of fresh organic bread – a $4 value. Pretty sweet. Very good bread, too.<br /><br />And, while standing there waiting for the raffle to work its way through the tickets until ours was called, I noticed these fruits. Bright orange. Sitting in the same crate as the kumquats. Which are also back in season.<br /><br />Naturally, sucker that I am for new things, I was instantly enamored to them soon as the guy manning the stand told me a little about them.<br /><br />Orangquats. Had to try some.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/223331/orangquat3_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Apparently, unlike kumquats, the skin of the orangquats edible but not really intended to be eaten. And they seem to be more sour than a kumquat. But that could just be this batch of them. The kumquats we got from the same stand were more sour than I expected as well.<br /><br />While we were talking about orangquats, it seemed to me that there is a lot of promiscuous fruit out there now days. Spreading their pollen around like no one’s business. Maybe from watching too many of those explicit food porn shows on the FoodNetwork. Resulting in a lot of unusual cross-breeds. Apparently it was only a matter of time before some kumquat took a stroll through the orange orchard looking to hook up for a booty call.<br /><br />Well, what to do with all this lusty fruit.<br /><br />The bold orange flavor, sour though it was, seemed destined to be matched with something hot. Maybe a salsa of sorts, based on the orangquats, with some hot chili pepper, and cilantro. A little red onion. Something like that.<br /><br />The result was delicious. Somehow, the sour of the orange was mellowed by the fire of the chili pepper and the addition of a little salt. Everything meshed into a very nicely nuanced, balanced flavor that really let this unique orange flavored fruit shine through.<br /><br />Ideal to set on top of the salmon filet we had bought earlier that day.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/341409/salmon1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />The other thing I love together are roasted beets and oranges. We frequently make a stack of roasted beets, orange slices, fennel slices and maybe goat cheese, with an orange thyme vinaigrette on top. Wonderful.<br /><br />So, with this in mind, we roasted up some baby beets we had on hand. Till they were tender and caramelized. Peeled them, sliced them into sticks, and tossed them in a light dressing of orange, thyme, red wine vinegar and olive oil. Ideally, I would have liked to use the orangquat juice for this dressing as well, but we had used them all up on the salsa, so we used navel oranges here.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/207567/salmon5_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />For the plate – a bottom layer of some mixed baby greens with the same orange thyme vinaigrette, the roasted beet sticks as a base for the salmon, a piece of the roasted salmon, and then the orangquat salsa spooned on top.<br /><br />And we ended up with Salmon on Roasted Baby Beets with Orangquat Salsa. For <a href="http://kalynskitchenlinks.blogspot.com/2005/12/weekend-herb-blogging-weekly-recap.html" rel="tag">Weekend Herb Blogging</a>, sponsored this week by Ed, of <a href="http://www.tomatom.com/" rel="tag">Tomato</a>.<br /><br />Sounds like a lot, but each element in and of itself was fairly easy. And it made for a wonderfully elegant dinner that was the very essence of orange. A wonderfully subtle aroma, a delicate flavor, a visual delight.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/768146/salmon3_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><a href="javascript:void(printSpecial('printRecipe19'))">Print Recipe</a><br /><div id="printRecipe19"><br /><strong>Orangquat Salsa</strong><br />Recipe by surfindaave<br />Makes enough for 6 servings as a condiment<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />14 orangquats, peel removed (we cut the skin off, as they are hard to peel)<br />1 bunch cilantro, chopped fine<br />1 serano chili pepper, minced very fine<br />1 small red onion – or half of a large one – minced<br />salt, pepper<br />¼ cup red wine vinegar<br />Additional fresh squeezed orange juice, if necessary<br /><br />Cut the orangquats into pieces, reserving as much of the juice as possible, and discarding all the seeds.<br /><br />Place the orangquat pieces, chopped cilantro, minced chili pepper, minced onion and red wine vinegar into a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Toss well. Let sit for an hour to allow flavors to combine. Toss again, taste and season as necessary. Add a few table spoons of additional fresh squeezed orange juice if necessary to achieve a chunky salsa consistency.<br /><br />Serve as on top of grilled fish or chicken. Enjoy!<br /></div><br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Orangquat" rel="tag">Orangquat</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Salsa" rel="tag">Salsa</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Weekend+Herb+Blogging" rel="tag">Weekend Herb Blogging</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/WHB" rel="tag">WHB</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1168203691308146342007-01-07T12:59:00.000-08:002007-01-07T13:30:34.476-08:00Only the Criticism Stung - WHBSome sleep in. Warm and cozy in a pile of blankets and pillows.<br /><br />Some sip steaming hot coffee, wrapped in warm robes and slippers, reading about the latest movies, books or sports in the Sunday paper.<br /><br />Some may even go out for an invigorating walk in the warm, early morning sun. Maybe to the nearby café for a Latte, before strolling home.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/153960/nettles4_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Others fight slings of barbs. Sharp, poisoned arrows of criticism, from all sides.<br /><br />Yesterday, when we saw the first nettles of the season, I snapped them up. They look just like spring, even if it is only January. Super deep green. Bushy and full. I didn’t even have to touch them, as they were placed in a plastic sack by the Farmer’s Market guy.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/970598/nettles2_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Safely wrapped up, they went right into the fridge without anyone seeing them.<br /><br />But the next morning, as I was working on blanching them, and stripping all the tender green leaves off the woody stalks, the comments came furious and stinging.<br /><br />“Bitter!”<br /><br />“What else is there to eat?”<br /><br />“Why would you eat something like that?”<br /><br />“How can you eat something you can’t even touch?”<br /><br />“Bitter, bitter, bitter!!!”<br /><br />This is what I have to put up with when I venture to try something new.<br /><br />I had, however, been reading up on nettles. That despite their seemingly impenetrable coating of tiny little needles, each of which was loaded with some toxic acid that has been known to be able to kill a horse, I was assured that a quick blanching in boiling water would disarm the plant completely.<br /><br />And would thereby make accessible to me all the unbelievable health benefits ascribed to this plant. Which seemingly can clear the skin, clean the liver, thicken hair, cure hay fever, eliminate asthma, control dandruff, and act as a sort of natural steroid for body builders. Among other things. More complete information can be found in the links below:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.econetwork.net/~wildmansteve/Plants.Folder/Nettle.html">http://www.econetwork.net/~wildmansteve/Plants.Folder/Nettle.html</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nettle">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nettle</a><br /><br />Most seem to make tea from this stuff. Or soup. But I had been warned that this could, in fact, be bitter. The Farmer’s market guy suggested that sautéing the leaves in olive oil and garlic was best. And, several online sources indicated that this was indeed a pretty tasty way to go.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/435533/nettles5_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />The real dilemma was how best to disarm the plant. You have to separate the leaves from the stalks, which are woody. After donning my thickest plastic gloves, I blanched the entire plant, leaves, stalk and all, first in a huge pot of boiling water for maybe 30 to 60 seconds first, plunged it into cold water, and then carefully pulled the now wilted, and very mushy, leaves from the stems. The nettles were completely disarmed by this procedure, and could be handled with bare hands. I think, with very thick gloves, you could also pluck the leaves first and blanch them separately, or even sauté them unblanched, but this will have to wait for the next trial.<br /><br />I removed as much water as possible from the blanched leaves with paper towels, sautéed them in olive oil with some onion and garlic, and turned them into a frittata. Stinging Nettle Frittata with Garlic and Parmesan. For <a href="http://kalynskitchenlinks.blogspot.com/2005/12/weekend-herb-blogging-weekly-recap.html" rel="tag">Weekend Herb Blogging</a>, sponsored this week by Kalyn herself, of <a href="http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/" rel="tag">Kalyn's Kitchen</a>.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/464771/frittata4_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />The frittata, once out of the oven, looked delicious. Sort of like a spinach frittata. Puffed, golden brown, with lots of bright green.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/79951/frittata1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />But no one was willing to take that first bite. Afraid the nettles were still there and would sting the tongue. Or maybe that the nettled leaves would themselves stick to the tongue. Embedding the leaves there forever by the little spikes. It makes me wonder who the first one was who decided these things could be eaten at all.<br /><br />To my surprise, the flavor was the opposite of bitter. Almost sweet. With a floral sort of note to it. Clearly the blanching and cold water rinse had purged any trace of bitterness. The sweet flavor was not at all like spinach. Much fresher. With some wonderful garlic and parmesan flavors to add depth.<br /><br />A lot of work, mainly because of the necessary blanching and leaf plucking steps. Especially for a Sunday morning. But the flavor was great. And, as of this writing, no one has succumbed to the effects of the plant, everyone still healthy, although not visibly more healthy than before eating the frittata.<br /><br />So while everyone agreed the flavor was a winner, the jury is still out on the health aspects. As to the mental health aspects, well, all I can say is, if you are going to work with nettles, it helps to have a very thick skin!<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/457380/frittata3_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><a href="javascript:void(printSpecial('printRecipe18'))">Print Recipe</a><br /><div id="printRecipe18"><br /><strong>Stinging Nettle Frittata</strong><br />Recipe by surfindaave<br />Serves 4<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />2 large bunches of young stinging nettle<br />Olive oil<br />1 onion, minced<br />3 cloves garlic, minced<br />9 eggs<br />1 cup milk<br />salt, pepper<br />2 cups parmesan cheese, grated<br /><br />In a very large pot of boiling salted water, blanch the nettles for 1 minute. Remove to a cold water bath. Remove from the cold water and drain well. Carefully strip the leaves from the stalks. Discard the stalks.<br /><br />In a bowl, beat the eggs, milk, salt pepper and about 2/3s of the cheese.<br /><br />Heat olive oil in a large, ovenproof skillet. Sautee the onion over medium heat till softened. Add the garlic, and sauté, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the blanched nettle leaves, and sauté, stirring, for a few minutes. Pour the egg mixture over the top. Cover the skillet, and cook until bubbles form across the top of the egg mixture.<br /><br />Sprinkle the frittata with the remaining grated cheese, and place under broiler until the top is puffed and well browned in places. Remove from broiler and serve immediately. Enjoy!<br /></div><br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Stinging+Nettle" rel="tag">Stinging Nettle</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Frittata" rel="tag">Frittata</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Weekend+Herb+Blogging" rel="tag">Weekend Herb Blogging</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/WHB" rel="tag">WHB</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1168159389113783112007-01-07T00:37:00.000-08:002007-01-07T23:27:27.230-08:00Happy MealSometimes, eating dinner, maybe something I’ve prepared quickly, or something that had to be made because something was in danger of going bad, or maybe something I made primarily for someone else, I can think of a thousand things I would really rather be eating.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/90543/mousse3_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Truffles, maybe. Black, earthy, smoky slivers. On some super rich and creamy risotto. Or used as the base for some sauce napping some wonderful fish.<br /><br />Or fresh oysters. On large trays packed with ice. Sitting in a tablespoon of their own juice, on the half shell, waiting for me to slurp them down, one after the other.<br /><br />Or a nice pate. Sinfully rich, buttery, thick. Where you can just taste the herbs, a touch of pepper, and maybe a hint of champagne beneath the liver-y wonderfulness.<br /><br />Or some painfully, squeaky fresh sushi, sliced to exact geometric perfection, combined with some fish roe, and a quail egg, and tied together with some crisp seaweed.<br /><br />It seems like the list is endless.<br /><br />Of course, mainly because all the things I am imagining are impossible to have at that moment. Forbidden, in a sense. The more impossible it all is, the more forbidden, the more things I can think of that I would rather be eating.<br /><br />That’s the easy one.<br /><br />Much harder is the question – suppose nothing is impossible. What one thing would you pick. Only one. If you could have anything.<br /><br />The possibilities expand out to infinity. So quickly that they seem to suck all the concrete ideas out of your head. Since everything’s possible to consider, the proposition of selecting just one thing from such a sea of possibilities is almost too difficult to comprehend. So the mind goes blank. And you sit there wondering where all those great ideas from the other day have vaporized away to.<br /><br />Well, at least, that was how I felt. Fortunately, the problem was not mine.<br /><br />I had been thinking about this as I was going to make a special birthday dinner for TeenBoy. And I was at a loss as to what to make. My mind had expanded to the infinite, and was useless.<br /><br />He, however, answered in one second.<br /><br />“Those giant meatballs you made that time, the sage ones, in marinara sauce, piled high on a sub roll, with lettuce, onion, melted cheese, those Italian peppers, and some tomatoes”.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/995488/sub2_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />“Oh yeah, and chocolate mousse. Not with dark chocolate (yuck!), with the sweet chocolate. And some raspberries mixed in.”<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/830576/mousse2_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />How can you know something like this? And so quickly?<br /><br />Fortunately, I didn’t have to have the ingredients for all this overnighted from some exotic location. As in my mental wanderings.<br /><br />So we made the gigantic meatballs with sage and rosemary. And simmered them in marinara sauce. And put them on gigantic rolls. And melted some cheese on top. And lettuce, and pepperocino. The tomatoes didn’t fit anymore.<br /><br />And made mousse. With milk chocolate, not dark. Which everyone seems to like better than a cake anyways. And the mousse, as always, is almost painfully delicious. It is amazing how the addition of beaten egg whites and cream takes the chocolate to a whole new dimension.<br /><br />The mousse is pretty basic, with two tricks that always makes chocolate mousse easier. I beat the egg whites with cream of tartar first, then beat the cream, and then I melt the chocolate last. So the chocolate is still as warm as possible as I fold it into the beaten items. The second trick is, Chocolate mousse always involves whisking egg yolks into the melted chocolate. Which causes the chocolate to seize up immediately and get very thick. I always reserve a few tablespoons of the cream to whisk into the chocolate egg yolk mixture, and it immediately reverts back to a smooth, creamy texture that can then be easily folded into the egg whites and whipped cream. Resulting in a luscious dessert.<br /><br />And the mousse was even firm enough to hold the birthday candles.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/860418/mousse1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><a href="javascript:void(printSpecial('printRecipe16'))">Print Recipe</a><br /><div id="printRecipe16"><br /><strong>Basic Milk Chocolate Mousse with Raspberries</strong><br />Recipe by surfindaave<br />Serves 4<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />½ pound fine milk chocolate, chopped into small pieces no larger than ¼ inch<br />2 cups heavy cream, ¼ cup reserved for the chocolate mixture<br />4 eggs, separated, and at room temperature<br />a pinch of cream of tartar<br />Frozen raspberries, defrosted on a paper towel, for garnish<br /><br />Bring the water of a double boiler or Bain Marie to a boil, and turn down the heat, keeping the water just below a simmer. Make sure the hot water does will not touch the container holding the chopped chocolate.<br /><br />Beat the egg whites until frothy. Add a pinch of cream of tartar, and beat until they hold still peaks. Reserve.<br /><br />With clean, chilled beaters, and in a chilled, tall container, beat the cream (except the reserved ¼ cup) until it just holds stiff peaks. Reserve<br /><br />Place the chopped chocolate over the simmering water, stirring. Continue to stir until all the chocolate pieces are melted, and the mixture is smooth. Remove the chocolate from the heat. Whisk in one egg yolk at a time, incorporating the yolks as much as possible. Add the reserved ¼ cup of heavy cream, and whisk the mixture smooth.<br /><br />Add a heaping tablespoon or two of both the beaten cream and the egg whites to the chocolate mixture, and combine completely. Add ½ of the remaining beated cream, and carefully fold into the chocolate. Add ½ of the remaining beaten egg whites to the chocolate mixture, and carefully fold in. Add the remaining beaten cream and egg whites to the chocolate mixture, and fold carefully. Chill the mousse, covered with plastic wrap, for at least one hour. Spoon onto serving dishes, decorate with the raspverries. Seve immediately. Enjoy!<br /></div><br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/285093/sub1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><a href="javascript:void(printSpecial('printRecipe17'))">Print Recipe</a><br /><div id="printRecipe17"><br /><strong>Big Meatball Subs</strong><br />Recipe by surfindaave<br />Serves 4 as a main course<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />4 pounds ground turkey<br />1 onion, chopped fine<br />1 cup parsley, chopped fine<br />1-2 cups panko bread crumbs – depending on if you like your meatballs meatier or breadier<br />3-4 eggs – use 4 if you added more bread crumbs<br />salt, pepper<br />2-3 tbsp fresh sage leaves, chopped fine<br />2-3 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped<br />2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves<br />olive oil<br />4 cups marinara sauce<br />1 cup red wine<br />4 foot long sub rolls<br />1 cup grated parmesan cheese<br />2 cups lettuce, shredded<br />½ cup pepperocino, chopped<br />2 roma tomatoes, sliced thin<br /><br />In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey, onion, parsley, bread crumbs, eggs, salt, pepper, sage, rosemary and thyme well. Form into 20 large balls.<br /><br />Heat olive oil in 2 large skillets. Brown the meatballs over medium high heat, turning (with tongs is easiest), until browned on all sides. Pour ½ of the marinara sauce and ½ of the wine over the meatballs in each pan. Turn the meatballs to coat. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes or so, covered, turning the meatballs occasionally.<br />While the meatballs are simmering, heat the rolls in the oven for 15 minutes at 350ºF.<br /><br />Slice the rolls in half – or more clever – slice down on both sides of the top at an angle so the top comes off as a sort of shallow ‘V’. This keeps the meatballs in the roll better. Place 4-5 meatballs on each roll. Spoon sauce over the meatballs. Sprinkle each sandwich with the grated parmesan cheese. Place the sandwiches under the broiler until the cheese melts. Top the sandwiches with the shredded lettuce, pepperocino, and tomato slices. Serve immediately. Open very, very wide and enjoy!<br /></div><br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Chocolate+Mousse" rel="tag">Chocolate Mousse</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Meatball+Subs" rel="tag">Meatball Subs</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1167948042412915822007-01-04T13:59:00.000-08:002007-01-04T14:03:37.316-08:00Banana! Happy 2007!Yes, yes, late as usual. But better late …<br /><br />Hopefully a tasty 2007. Seems to be starting out that way.<br /><br />I was thinking about some of the things we found people doing on New Year’s Eve, and Day, that were somewhat food related.<br /><br />Lately, we’ve opt for fish. Supposed to bring luck. Despite the mercury and other toxins. Maybe because you have to be lucky to catch one?<br /><br />We used to go in for lentils. Which are considered good luck bringers for the New Year in parts of Italy. For example, pasta with a lentil–based sauce. Which we had one year. While clinging precariously to the top of a mountain (Monte Pori) a few thousand feet up in the Dolomites, in what I call Süd Tirol (southern Tyrolia), and others call Alto Adagio. In a tiny apartment with way too many people. Who all spoke Italian but me. With bottles of Grappa, champagne, and lots of pasta with lentils. Running up and down the halls, stairs, and around the apartment grounds, yelling BANANA!! At the top of our lungs. Fireworks going off everywhere.<br /><br />Well, I yelled “BANANA!” till I could no longer make an audible noise.<br /><br />Everyone else apparently yelled “Bon Anno”. Which, after lots of grappa, champagne, et al, sounded a lot liked banana. It was years and years before I found out that Italy, New Years and bananas are not somehow connected.<br /><br />At other times, we ate noodles. For example, in Chinatown in San Francisco. But, naturally, not around the beginning of January. This year, the Chinese New Year will occur on February 18th, coinciding with a full moon. With a traditional 15 day long party. And will be year 4703 of their calendar. When we will transition from the year of the dog (2006) to the year of the pig. Lots of people trying to squeeze their newborns into the current year (good luck with all that!). The pig babies ( David Letterman, Elton John) being modest, shy, honest, trustworthy (hmm!). As opposed to the dog types (Bill Clinton, me), who are supposed to be loyal (of course), intelligent (not based on my dog!), unselfish and idealistic (double hmm!!). Well, so much for the zodiac!<br /><br />In Munich, it seems to me that we also aimed for fish. Carp, to be exact. Again, for the luck factor.<br /><br />In Florence, it was a super elegant dinner, with wonderful food and wine, packed with Florentinians (?), who spent the entire evening trying to talk to us, them speaking no English, us speaking no Italian. By midnight, we were somehow best of friends, we knew each others entire life story. And eventually exited the now wildly raucous restaurant to the totally chaotic streets of old city Florence, where crowds thronged around shooting off fireworks, yelling, singing, drinking, and generally having a pretty good time. While ancient statues watched on in a sort of detached bemusement, draped with streamers of confetti. <br /><br />In Alsace, it was their classic Choucroute, made with that wonderful sauerkraut steeped in Champagne for the holiday, and not at all sour, but instead sweet with apples and juniper berries, and layered with sausages, roasted goose, liver dumplings, and so on. That took the chill off quickly.<br /><br />Hamburg was all about the herring. Which I like. Either Matjes style, or Bismark style. Matjes are a little sweeter, being cured in sugar as well as brine, and Bismark are just sour, having a vinegar and brine curing bath. Or even better, Rollmops, which are Bismark style herring wrapped around a pickle and held together with a toothpick. Great for a hangover!<br /><br />I mentioned yesterday the Mussels steamed in garlic and red wine that we had for New Year’s Eve dinner. Delicious. Everyone still healthy. We complemented that with some chocolate mousse, and lots of champagne.<br /><br />For the last few years, I’ve forged my own way on New Year’s Day, though. Yes, we always seem to catch a few minutes of the Tournament of Roses Parade on TV. As it’s gentle pace and relatively quiet tone goes well with a headache and a cup of hot coffee. And no, it has never occurred to me to be a good idea to sit out on the street for a few days to get a curbside view of the parade live. Although thousands do, bringing the entire kitchen along so as not to miss out on a New Year’s Eve feast.<br /><br />And of course we watch USC kick butt in the Rose bowl (football, American style). <br /><br />But after that, it’s on to serious cooking. Very serious. French. From Provence. Ok, classic French food snobs, it’s not from Lyon, but still damn tasty!<br /><br />Bourride. That king of dishes from Provence (at least in my mind).<br /><br />Basically, a fish soup, perfumed with fennel and orange, thickened with a garlicky and lemony Aioli. Served over fresh toasted baguettes.<br /><br />Again with the fish. I know. But the thing that intrigues me with Bourride is not just the fish, but also the clever use of the aioli as a thickener. As the aioli is made with raw egg yolks. And gentle heating in the fish broth results in a sort of very loose custard, or thickened soup, depending on your perspective. If you’re careful. Otherwise, as has happened some years, you get scrambled eggs with your fish soup.<br /><br />In any event, a fun dish, with wonderful flavors, and a bit of a showcase for aspiring home chefs.<br /><br />To me, there are two tricks to the dish. One is to procure a variety of very fresh, whole fish. One sort of fish will not do. The brilliant flavor comes in part from variety. The second trick is slow gentle cooking, both of the fish bones to keep the broth clear, as well as the egg yolks while thickening the broth. <br /><br />Traditionally, Bourride is made with a Loup de Mer (sea bass), a Bauroue (monkfish) and a Merlan (whiting). I found the sea bass, and the monkfish, but used a catfish instead of the merlan. Probably a cod or an ocean perch would have been better. But it all worked out. I generally use one whole fish per person.<br /><br />The fish are filleted, and the bones and head used to make a broth. Being careful to simmer, but not boil the bones. Using a classic bouquet garni, champagne, and a sautéed onion for additional flavor.<br /><br />The aioli is just the classic garlic, egg yolk, lemon juice, salt and olive oil mixture. Using two cloves of garlic and one egg yolk per person. Adding the lemon juice and olive oil to match.<br /><br />Once the broth and the aioli are ready, the fish filets are gently poached – not boiled – in the broth, further flavored with fennel, thyme, bay, and orange peel. This makes a delicate but wonderfully flavorful aroma while cooking. <br /><br />The filets are removed from the poaching liquid, the aioli tempered with some of the poaching liquid, then the tempered aioli whisked into the broth. Just like a custard, the mixture is cooked over low heat just until it coats the back of a wooded spoon. <br /><br />Some toasted baguette slices are placed in flat soup bowls, the fish fillets distributed on top, and the wonderfully fragrant, hopefully thickened and not lumpy broth ladled over everything. A sprinkle of chopped parsley, and then as quickly as possible served while still hot. With a glass of the same champagne used to make the broth.<br /><br />A real treat, if you can pull it off!<br /><br />Cheers! Prost! Salute! Health! Banana!!!<br /><br /><a href="javascript:void(printSpecial('printRecipe15'))">Print Recipe</a><br /><div id="printRecipe15"><br /><strong>Bourride</strong><br />From the book ‘La Cuisiniere Provencale’, Noevelle Edition, J.B.Reboul<br />Translated painstakingly from French by surfindaave<br />Serves 4<br /><br />3 whole, very fresh fish, preferable one Loup de Mer (sea bass), one bauroue (monkfish, or substitute a red snapper, some shark, or even some lobster tail) and one merlan (whiting, ocean perch or cod), fillets removed and reserved, bones and head chopped roughly<br />1 onion, chopped<br />1 carrot, chopped<br />1 shallot, chopped<br />some fresh thyme<br />several springs parsley<br />a piece of celery<br />a bay leaf<br />olive oil<br />1-2 cups champagne or white wine<br />6-8 cloves garlic, chopped<br />1-2 tsp salt<br />4 egg yolks<br />juice of one lemon, or to taste<br />olive oil – at least one cup<br />1-2 baguettes, sliced<br />olive oil<br />1 onion, minced fine<br />1 small fennel bulb, sliced thinly into juliennes, or chopped<br />the peel from 1-2 oranges (depends on size of orange), sliced into thin juliennes<br />several sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed from stems<br />2 bay leaves<br />Additional parsley, chopped for garnish<br /><br />Make the fish broth:<br />Rinse the fish bones and heads under cold water. In a heavy pot, sauté the onion, carrots and shallot in the olive oil. Deglaze the pan with the champagne or white wine. Add the fish bones and heads. Sautee for a few minutes. Add just enough water to cover the bones after you have packed them down a bit. Add the bouquet gari herbs, tied together or loose, and bring the broth just to the boiling point. Reduce heat, and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, skimming any scum that rises to the surface. Strain the broth through a cheese cloth, pressing on the solids, reserving the broth and discarding the rest.<br /><br />Make the aioli:<br />In a mortar and pedestal, reduce the garlic and some salt to a paste. Place in a small bowl. Whisk in the egg yolks. Add some lemon juice – not all of it – whisking. In a slow stream, whisk in the olive oil. Add some additional lemon juice if the mixture gets too thick. Continue to add olive oil in a stream until you have a mayonnaise consistence. Taste, and add additional salt and/or lemon juice as necessary. Place in refrigerator and reserve. Note that it will increase in garlic flavor while it sits.<br /><br />Make the toasts:<br />Slice the baguettes on a diagonal into 1 inch slices, brush both sides with olive oil, and toast under the broiler until both sides are browned. Reserve.<br /><br />Make the fish:<br />In a large, heavy skillet, add the onion, fennel, thyme, orange peel, bay leaves, and most of the fish broth. Season with lightly with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Gently place the fish fillets into the broth in a single layer. Cover loosely, and poach at a simmer – do not boil – for 12 minutes. Remove the fish fillets to a heated plate, keeping them as intact as possible, spoon a little of the broth over them, cover loosely, keep warm and reserve.<br /><br />Thicken the broth:<br />Turn off the heat on the broth in the pan. Whisk several tablespoons of the hot broth into the aioli. Continue to add broth to the aioli, whisking, until you have added 1-2 cups of liquid. Carefully whisk the tempered aioli mixture back into the hot broth in the pan. Stirring constantly, heat the broth over low heat until the broth begins to thicken. Slow and gentle is the best method to avoid scrambling the egg yolks. When the broth has thickened a bit, and just coats the back of a wooden spoon, remove the pan from the heat.<br /><br />Plate it:<br />Place several slices of the toast in the bottom of each soup bowl. Place a few pieces of each kind of fish fillet onto the pieces of toast. Spoon the hot broth over the fish, sprinkle with chopped parsley, and serve immediately! Enjoy!<br /></div><br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Bourride" rel="tag">Bourride</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1167883710487961932007-01-03T20:04:00.000-08:002007-01-04T14:05:22.906-08:00Living and Eating on the EdgeWho knew that I liked to live so dangerously?<br /><br /><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/395321/mussels2_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Well, besides me, who knew?<br /><br />I consider my most reckless days to be behind me, for the most part. At least I don’t actively look for ways to do myself direct harm – i.e. have fun – quite so often as I used to.<br /><br />For the last few weeks, I have had a growing urge for mussels. Quickly steamed in a hot broth of reeking of garlic, wine and tomatoes. With a crusty baguette to mop up the broth. A sure fire cure for a cold winter evening.<br /><br />But no luck. Mussels could not be found. My Asian market, serving at least 20 varieties of fresh fish every day, plus all manner of fresh clams, oysters, lobsters, crabs and shrimp, said they didn’t carry mussels.<br /><br />That should have been a clue, I suppose.<br /><br />But in my mind were the wonderful dinners I had had in Munich, and Amsterdam, and Paris, in months with an ‘R’ of course, where buckets of mussels were served just as described. In either red wine or white. Sitting in some tight, crowded, noisy little restaurant heated like a furnace against the freezing cold wind blowing outside. With more mussels piled in buckets on the table than any one could, or should, reasonably eat. And wonderfully fresh bread. And lots of wine. And the piles of empty shells left after the feast.<br /><br />So I persevered.<br /><br />And looked harder.<br /><br />At my special fish store, that I go to only occasionally, mainly because it’s somewhat of a drive, I was really surprised that they also had no mussels. I was sure they would stock them. But the owner, who actually mans the ship that does the fishing up around the channel islands off the coast of LA said he would not stock anything he would not personally eat.<br /><br />Fair enough. But why wouldn’t he eat one?<br /><br />He’s afraid of dying. He’s afraid of eating one bad mussel, especially from ones caught around here, and getting PSP (paralytic shellfish poisoning), or something like that.<br /><br />Jeez. All I was looking for was a pot of mussels, steamed in garlic, wine and tomatoes. Dying was not on the menu.<br /><br />Apparently, things are to the point that eating a California mussel, one of the most common sea foods in existence, is basically a lethal proposition.<br /><br />The fish guy told me that farm raised mussels, from New Zealand, the green lipped ones, were probably safe enough to eat. And there were other mussels, also from farms in other parts of the world, what might be edible. But he wouldn’t eat them either.<br /><br />Hell, you only live once! The fish guy told me I could find some of these farm raised mussels nearby, at a different fish store, so I did it. I jumped off the cliff and bough 4 pounds.<br /><br />Everyone in the shop, apparently there for all things other than mussels, turned and looked at me when I made my order. Or so it seemed to me.<br /><br />And I finally made my mussels. As part of a New Years Eve dinner. Because fish is supposed to bring good luck for the new year! Not Death!! I have to admit we all sort of looked at the bowl of steaming mussels for a second or two before tasting the first one.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/173372/mussels1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />But they were fine. Delicious even. And I had lots of crusty baguettes to mop up the broth with. And plenty of wine. And we had a mountain of empty shells when we were done. </p><p>I was only missing an overheated, crowded little restaurant with a fierce, cold wind blowing outside. Someone opened the door, I sipped my wine. I could almost hear the wind howl!<br /><br />(I don't have a picture of the final dish, cause it was New Year's Eve, and we had lots of champagne, which does not go well with driving or photography)<br /><br /><a href="javascript:void(printSpecial('printRecipe14'))">Print Recipe</a><br /><div id="printRecipe14"><br /><strong>Mussels in Garlic and Red Wine over Linguini</strong><br />Serves 4<br />Recipe by surfindaave<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />4 pounds fresh mussels, washed in several changes of cold water, and the shells and beards scrubbed off under cold running water<br />olive oil<br />1 onion, chopped<br />6-8 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped<br />1-2 tsp red pepper flakes<br />2 cups dry red wine<br />1 cup parsley, roughly chopped<br />6 Roma tomatoes, chopped<br />½ cup finely chopped basil<br />2 pounds linguini pasta<br />Fresh baguettes<br /><br />In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil, and cook the pasta according to package instructions. When the pasta is cooked, drain well, but do not rinse. Place in a large heated serving bowl, and toss with some olive oil. Keep warm and reserve.<br /><br />While the pasta is cooking, in a large, heavy pot, heat several tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, and sauté until softened. Add the garlic, stirring, and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Add the red wine and red pepper flakes, and bring the mixture to a boil. Add the mussels, stir quickly, and cover tightly. Reduce the heat to medium high, and steam the mussels, covered, for 5 minutes. Remove the lid, and stir in the tomatoes, basil and parsley. Cook for an additional 3-4 minutes. Scoop the mussels and sauce over the pasta. Discard any unopened shells. Sprinkle with additional chopped parsley if desired, and serve immediately with the baguettes and a green salad. Enjoy! <br /></div><br /></p><br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Mussels" rel="tag">Mussels</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1167769163221174872007-01-02T12:01:00.000-08:002007-01-02T12:20:53.946-08:001000 Cookies – Give or TakeHappy 2007! Some catching up to do ...<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/358756/packages1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />The week or so before Christmas always a challenge for me when I was a kid. How to deal with the Christmas situation without money of my own to buy some token presents for friends and family. It’s that awkward age between the time when you’re eventually aware that your parents have been lying to you all those years, and the time you are old enough to get an actual money paying job, the first of which I got at 15. But there were plenty of years in between to be challenged.<br /><br />We must have gotten some nominal funds, maybe for doing some odd jobs around the house. Things we probably would have had to do anyways for no reward other times of the year. And some kids surely get allowances. But all this is not really your own independent money, as you still get it from the parents, and again probably for chores you would have to do with or without monetary reward.<br /><br />So it always seemed like a sham somehow. Because whatever money could be appropriated was more of a charity affair than something of mine that I could then share as a present with someone else. And the modest presents that could be bought really didn’t represent a terribly thoughtful present.<br /><br />So, as that problem started appearing in our house, I decided to take action.<br /><br />In the form of cookies.<br /><br />Lots of cookies.<br /><br />Lots and lots of Christmas cookies.<br /><br />Every year, for some years now, we all make a ton of cookies. Wrap them up in cellophane and ribbons. And that constitutes the presents from all of us to the rest of the family and some close friends. Since everyone had a hand in picking the cookies to make, shopping (if not actually paying for the ingredients), making the 1000 plus cookies (no kidding), cleaning up the mess, and, not least of the effort, packaging all the baked cookies for actual giving, everyone has an a feeling of having given something of actual meaning and value. Despite the modest monetary costs for the ingredients. All in all, I guessed we spent about 70 to 80 hours between three people doing all this.<br /><br />Although 5 pounds of butter, one gallon of cream, pounds and pounds of hazelnuts, pistachios, almonds, dried cranberries, dried apricots, and what all still add up to a few bucks.<br /><br />This year, school ended the Thursday before Christmas, leaving only two full days to bake everything. With Sunday reserved for packing everything up.<br /><br />We made a list of possible cookies to make the weekend before. And each choose four different types from the list. With an eye towards having both a diverse final choice, and ensuring everything could actually be made in the short timeframe we had to work with. This is the fun step.<br /><br />Our choices this year were:<br /><br />TeenBoy:<br />Toffee, Almond and Dark Chocolate Bark (Gourmet Magazine Dec 1998) <img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/320/102057/bark1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br />Hazelnut Raspberry Triangles (Gourmet Magazine Dec 1995) <img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/320/843547/raspberry1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br />Black and White Sugar Cookies (Gourmet Magazine Dec 2005) <img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/320/269992/blackwhite1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />TeenGirl:<br />Cranberry Milk Chocolate Truffles (Gourmet Magazine Dec 1998) <br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/320/776132/truffles1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br />Fig and Date Swirls (Gourmet Magazine Dec 2001) <br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/320/991541/fig1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br />Cranberry and Pistachio Biscotti (Gourmet Magazine Dec 2001) <br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/320/293116/biscotti1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />SerendipitousChef:<br />Espresso Dark Chocolate Truffle Kisses (Gourmet Magazine Dec 1998) <br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/320/640195/kisses1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br />Raspberry Jellies (Gourmet Magazine Dec 1985)<br />(no picture as I seem to be hopelessly pectin challanged)<br /><br />Lime Jellies (Gourmet Magazine Dec 1985)<br />(no picture, as they died an ugly death - see below)<br /><br />Polish Apricot Twists (Gourmet Magazine Dec 2004)<br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/320/77710/apricot1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Plus we made a frozen cranberry mousse for the actual Christmas dinner, which my sister hosted this year.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/320/529746/mousse1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />All of these recipes are from various editions of Gourmet Magazine, and most can be found on www.epicurious.com<br /><br />Our target for each was approximately 100 pieces per type. Since we were making 10 gifts. About 100 pieces per gift. About 1000 pieces total.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/179096/cookies1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />And every year, a few of the attempts go awry.<br /><br />For example, we always begin by making a master list al all the ingredients we need, naturally everything multiplied out (some recipes need to be doubled, tripled, or halved), all the instances of butter consolidated to see how much we need to buy. And of course, mistakes are always made here. Too much or too little of something being noted on the list. Which is then discovered at the worst possible moment. Naturally after stores have closed, for example.<br /><br />Plus, some things just go wrong.<br /><br />This year, we lost the lime jellies. Because the pan we made the jellies in gave up some long-baked-on deposits from the bottom of the pan, which floated around in the translucent jelly as it cooked. Little black flecks in the lime green jelly. Really not so Christmas-looking as we intended. Had to be tossed.<br /><br />And, somehow, the first batch of chocolate for the truffles got some moisture in it as the chocolate was melting, turning a pound of chocolate into a sort of grainy, sandy mess. Still tasty, if your not too finicky about the texture. But again, nothing you could use as the basis of a gift. Something to nibble on the rest of the week.<br /><br />So was actually made well over 1000 pieces. Having to toss a couple hundred along the way.<br /><br />But, all things considered, they all turned out beautifully for the most part.<br /><br />Everyone made their batches of treats in the same kitchen at the same time, somehow coordinating oven, stove, counter space, etc. A pretty good trick.<br /><br />The winners were clearly the cranberry truffles, the bark, the apricot twists and the fig swirls. Although the biscotti was the first thing to be eaten.<br /><br />TeenGirl and I then packaged the bounty. Wrapping 1/10th of each type of cookie first in some clear cellophane, tied with ribbons. Then arranging the different packaged cookies on a plastic plate wrapped in tin foil, and wrapping then entire package in clear cellophane, again tied with long ribbons. A 6 hour activity.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/300054/packages2_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />The results are festive, beautiful to look at, and delicious to enjoy over a cup of coffee or tea. Maybe after all the holiday hysteria is over.<br /><br />And when it was all done, everyone had a real sense of having given something of meaning. Not just some cash. Something that was carefully selected, something that took real time and effort to create, something that had a little meaning. A sense of the giving side of the holidays, to balance the overwhelming avalanche of taking that seems to pervade the holiday season.<br /><br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Christmas" rel="tag">Christmas</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cookies" rel="tag">Cookies</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1166389589933010202006-12-17T13:05:00.000-08:002006-12-18T09:07:00.200-08:00The Chef Suffers for Art – WHBThe bright red little bulbs ripen this time of year. Late fall, early winter. Filled with bright magenta fruit. A little sweet. Sort of like a strawberry, maybe, or, some say, like a watermelon. In any event, it is subtle, but very pleasant.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/660979/cactus12_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />But unlike the defenseless strawberry or watermelon, these things come with insidiously clever mechanisms to discourage would-be chefs.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/40330/cactus7_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />They are, after all, the fruit of a cactus. The prickly pear cactus, to be precise. Known in Spanish as ‘La Tuna’, these fruits are easy to find here in SoCal. With some care, I could pick some from the dry, hilly fields near our house. With some care!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.foodsubs.com/Fruittroex.html">http://www.foodsubs.com/Fruittroex.html</a><br /><a href="http://eduscapes.com/nature/cactus/index1.htm">http://eduscapes.com/nature/cactus/index1.htm</a><br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/958259/cactus3_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Coming from a thing called a prickly pear cactus, nominally clever cooks would probably anticipate some painful issues with their use.<br /><br />You can eat them raw, cutting them in half and scooping out the flesh much like you would with a kiwi fruit, spitting out the black seeds as you go. Or, you can scrape out the flesh, strain out the seeds, and use it as a base for a sauce, as we did for today’s recipe.<br /><br />Careful inspection of the outside of these fruits reveled no obvious sharp spines. Even running a finger over the surface seemed to indicate that the fruit had been well cleaned.<br /><br />But in the process of removing the flesh of the fruit from the peel, and the necessary tasting of the fruit in the process, each finger and the tongue eventually caught at least one of the sharp, almost microscopic spines, which had to be extracted carefully with a pair of tweezers.<br /><br />Ah, the suffering of the would-be artist-chef!<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/595223/cactus8_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />And why, you are of course asking yourself, would anyone subject themselves to this culinary torture?<br /><br />Well, obviously, ignorance is high on the list.<br /><br />But in general, the fruit is really beautiful. Bright red, almost festive, this being Christmas time. And the flesh inside is even more brilliant. When I saw the basket of these in the market, I had picked out a half dozen before I had even given much thought to what to do with them.<br /><br />Frequently the fruit is turned into jelly. Or syrup. But the best idea for using the fruit, after some searching, seems to be a wonderful sounding Margarita. The cactus fruit flesh pureed, and mixed up with tequila, a squeeze of lime, and some other things, and served over crushed ice. That’s on file for next summer, for sure.<br /><br />I chose to make a sort of sauce out of the fruit. Reducing the flesh with some lime juice, and a touch of sweetener (agava nectar, of course).<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/969898/cactus10_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />The trick to a subtle flavored fruit like this is to reduce about 2/3s to 3/4s of the fruit, boiling out the excess water and thickening the mixture up, but also destroying some of the delicate flavors. To restore the lost flavor, the remaining ¼ to 1/3 of the fruit is added at the end, uncooked. The mixture, when pureed, is both fairly thick, as well as full-flavored.<br /><br />I added some pomegranate seeds to the sauce just to make it that more festive.<br /><br />I put this sauce over some shrimp I had marinated in cayenne, cumin and cinnamon. Lately, I have been putting cinnamon in almost everything spicy that I make. Just a hint. In chili, in soups, etc. It adds an interesting dimension.<br /><br />In any event, the shrimp were fiery hot. Quick sautéed. And placed over linguini that had been tossed with a little olive oil and cilantro.<br /><br />The cactus pear sauce with the pomegranate seeds was drizzled on top.<br /><br />So, Linguini with Cayenne Shrimp in Cactus Pear Sauce for <a href="http://kalynskitchenlinks.blogspot.com/2005/12/weekend-herb-blogging-weekly-recap.html" rel="tag">Weekend Herb Blogging</a>. I guess since Kalyn is doing a special holiday WHB series, this doesn't really so much fit into that concept, but it was fun to make, and more than a little bit festive to look at!<br /><br />You got a blast of the spicy with the shrimp, and a soothing taste of the sweet with the sauce.<br /><br />Altogether a deliciously balanced flavor. And a beautiful presentation.<br /><br />Worth suffering for any day!<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/417822/cactus9_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><a href="javascript:void(printSpecial('printRecipe13'))">Print Recipe</a><br /><div id="printRecipe13"><br /><strong>Linguini with Cayenne Shrimp in Cactus Pear Sauce</strong><br />Recipe by surfindaave<br />Serves 6<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />6 cactus pears, cut in half, flesh scooped out<br />1-2 limes, juiced<br />2-3 tbsp sweetener (sugar, agava nectar)<br />1 pomegranate, seeds removed<br />1 bunch cilantro, chopped<br />3 pounds large shrimp, peeled, deveined<br />1-2 tsp cayenne pepper<br />2-3 tsp cumin<br />good pinch of cinnamon, to taste<br />1-2 tsp salt<br />olive oil<br />1 ½ pounds dried linguini pasta<br /><br />Place about 2/3 of the cactus fruit flesh in a small pot with the lime juice and sweetener. Bring to a rapid boil, reduce heat somewhat, and reduce the mixture to about ½ of its volume, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and let cool. Add remaining cactus flesh. Puree mixture. Strain pureed mixture back into cleaned pot, discarding cactus seeds. Add the pomegranate seeds to the mixture, and reheat over low heat, without boiling.<br /><br />In a small bowl, mix the cayenne pepper, cumin, cinnamon and salt well. Toss the shrimp with olive oil, and then with the spice mixture.<br /><br />Heat a large pot of water. When it boils, add some salt, and cook the linguini per package directions until al dente.<br /><br />While the pasta is cooking, heat a large sauté skillet till very hot. Add olive oil. Quickly sauté the shrimp over high heat, tossing frequently, until they are just cooked through and no longer pink. Remove from heat, and keep warm.<br /><br />When pasta is al dente, drain well. Toss pasta with some olive oil and chopped cilantro.<br /><br />Place some herbed pasta in warmed pasta bowls, place several shrimp on top of each bowl, and spoon some of the hot cactus sauce over the top. Serve immediately. Enjoy!<br /></div><br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cactus+Fruit" rel="tag">Cactus Fruit</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Shrimp" rel="tag">Shrimp</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Weekend+Herb+Blogging" rel="tag">Weekend Herb Blogging</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/WHB" rel="tag">WHB</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1165938868034579912006-12-12T07:34:00.000-08:002006-12-18T09:06:49.620-08:00Anti-Social BehaviorFirst you have to stop a moment and consider your short term schedule.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/100671/PICT0023.jpg" border="0" /> <br /><br />Tea with the queen? No, that’s not tomorrow (didn’t we just suffer through that last week?).<br /><br />Lunch with Barack? No, no, he’s still in New Hampshire signing books and pretending not to run for president. I think we're doing lunch next week.<br /><br />Bono dropping by later for a jam session? Nope, he’s on tour in Japan with his buds.<br /><br />Nicole was just picked up (again) for DUI, so we won’t be hitting the clubs tonight. And Lindsay is drying out in rehab, so morning breath won’t be an issue there either.<br /><br />Then a quick look around the house.<br /><br />Dog chewing on dirty socks. He’ll notice, but might actually enjoy the odor.<br /><br />Kids arguing over TV / bathroom / phone / music / etc. An odor-enforced buffer zone seems like a perfect solution. Too bad the odor is not thick enough to create a sound barrier as well.<br /><br />Cool breeze blowing, windows open, the odor should dilute sufficiently in the open air such that the neighbors are not permanently affected. The lawsuits should be nominal.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/210989/PICT0011.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />OK – roasted garlic is now on the menu!<br /><br />Actually, roasting garlic mellows the flavor out a bit from just plain raw garlic. Roasting transforms the crunchy little garlic toes (toes, right, or cloves? hmm) into a soft tan mush. And transforms the flavors from a sharp bite to a deep, rich, enveloping earthiness. The roasted mush is then squeezed out from the papery skin. And subsequently mashed into anything that needs a sublime, earthy, powerful kick in its culinary butt.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/171480/PICT0014.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Along with the garlic, I roasted some leeks. Till they were soft, wrinkly, somewhat caramelized as well.<br /><br />I know this seems like it might kill the delicate flavor of the leeks, but somehow it transforms them as well, and the leek essence shines through.<br /><br />And these two things then became the basis of a very flavorful risotto. Certainly nothing necessarily new, but this is my version.<br /><br />Added to my basic risotto concept, we got a creamy, earthy dish with a very deep, satisfying flavor. A lot of flavor for really not that much work. A little fresh ground pepper on top helps bring out the flavors, and a splash of your best extra virgin olive oil only adds to the creamy texture of the final presentation.<br /><br />It’s true that my breath can probably still peel paint a day later, but roasted garlic is a real treat and worth an antisocial day every now and then!!<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/50848/PICT0005.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><a href="javascript:void(printSpecial('printRecipe12'))">Print Recipe</a><br /><div id="printRecipe12"><br /><strong>Roasted Garlic and Leek Risotto</strong><br />Recipe by surfindaave<br />Serves 6 as main course<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />6-8 cloves garlic, unpeeled<br />2 large leeks, root end and green end trimmed, white part cut in half lengthwise, washed well and dried<br />olive oil<br />8 cups chicken broth<br />700 grams arbiato rice<br />¼ cup dry white wine, or 2-3 tbsp rice vinegar<br />1-2 cups grated parmesan (I like more, some like less)<br />1 cup chopped parsley<br />Fresh ground black pepper<br />A splash of extra virgin olive oil<br /><br />Preheat oven to 450ºF.<br /><br />Place garlic and leeks on parchment paper on a backing pan. Drizzle with olive oil, and turn a few times to ensure even coating. Place leeks cut side down. Roast in oven for 20 minutes, until garlic cloves are soft, but not burned, and leeks are browned and softened. Remove from oven. Remove outer layers of leeks, if they are too rough to cut. Let cool till they can be handled. Chop leeks fine. Cut tops off garlic cloves, and squeeze roasted garlic out into a small bowl. Mash with a fork. Reserve.<br /><br />Heat the chicken broth to a boil in a pan, and reduce heat, keeping broth at a bare simmer.<br /><br />In a large, heavy pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add leeks, and sautee for 2-3 minutes. Increase heat to high and add rice. Cook rice, stirring, until it just turns translucent, about 3-4 minutes (don’t let it burn!). Reduce heat to medium high. Add wine or rice vinegar, stirring. Add 2 ladlefuls of broth, stirring, and roasted garlic. As broth is absorbed, continue adding broth one ladleful at a time, stirring. Reduce heat as necessary to keep risotto just at a bare boil. When most of the broth has been added, stir in the grated parmesan. Continue to add broth, a little at a time, until the rice has reached an al dente stage. The risotto should be creamy and moist, if it gets too dry, stir in additional liquid. Just before serving, stir in parsley. Serve with a light grind of fresh black pepper, and a splash of the ol’ extra virgin olive oil. Enjoy!<br /></div><br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Roasted+Garlic" rel="tag">Roasted Garlic</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Leeks" rel="tag">Leeks</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Risotto" rel="tag">Risotto</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1165784328834825902006-12-10T12:43:00.000-08:002006-12-10T18:57:58.033-08:00Same Time Next Year - WHBIt’s because we sort of missed it at Thanksgiving. And, like white after Labor Day, once the season’s oven, it’s over. So time was running out fast.<br /><br />Which is too bad.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/557684/pumpkin6_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Because a lot of traditionally seasonal foods are very healthy, as well as tasty.<br /><br />Fresh cranberries, for instance. Wonderful flavor. Lots of health benefits. But, traditionally, only available for purchase for a few weeks of the year.<br /><br />And fresh pumpkins. Same thing. Lots of health benefits. Lots of flavor. Versatile, too.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/969025/pumpkin5_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />It's not that you couldn't cook with these things in June if the notion struck you. It's not so much that it is against the law, or prohibited by the food police. It's just that things like fresh cranberries and pumpkins are simply not offered for sale except a few weeks of the year. So you gotta make while the makins' good!<br /><br />Soups, ravioli, brulee, pancakes, bread, all made from pumpkin. Today’s brunch treat as well.<br /><br />When we saw this latest foodie fad start popping up at our Farmer’s Market, having already blogged on both pumpkin soup and pumpkin ravioli, and having missed out on the pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving (too much dark meat turkey), the thought of turning these interestingly shaped things into muffins with that familiar cinnamon / nutmeg / clove / allspice aroma was just waiting for a chilly day to happen.<br /><br />I suppose the reason these pumpkins, or squashes, or whatever they are, have begin popping up is their unusual shape. The one shameless stand at the Farmer’s Market wanted $10 for one. And they sold some, mainly due to the novelty.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/156464/pumpkin2_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />But we eventually found them at our bulk vegetable store. Maybe not quite as picture perfect as the $10 version, but just as flavorful inside.<br /><br />Well, being the first rainy day since last year, pretty much, this was the day. I was thinking for just a moment about pumpkin pancakes, but the thought of the oven warming up the kitchen was too much to resist. So today, we get Roasted Pumpkin Pecan Raisin Muffins for breakfast. For <a href="http://kalynskitchenlinks.blogspot.com/2005/12/weekend-herb-blogging-weekly-recap.html" rel="tag">Weekend Herb Blogging</a>, sponsored this week by Pookah of <a href="http://swankcatering.blogspot.com/" rel="tag">What's Cooking in Carolina?</a>.<br /><br />I’ve blogged previously about pumpkins, mentioning that the anti-oxidant content of these bright orange bulbs is especially high. Plus an abundance of vitamin A. Both of which are now thought to provide some protection against some types of cancer and heart disease. Plus potassium, very good for the men! Health, beauty and flavor!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/pumpkins/nutrition.html">http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/pumpkins/nutrition.html</a><br /><a href="http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=53573">http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=53573</a><br /><br />To convert this to a muffin, I first cut it into sections, cleaned it, peeled it, and roasted it. 20 minutes later, we were ready to start.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/33496/pumpkin3_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />When I looked at pumpkin muffin and pancake recipes, most warned against overloading the batter with too much pumpkin, for fear the result would be too heavy. Also, although many recipes call for oil, this seems to be a culprit in heavy muffins as well, so we opted for butter. Hey – an occasionally butter binge can’t be sooo bad, we rationalized as our arteries silently hardened.<br /><br />We countered the butter with whole wheat flour, raisins, and the anti-oxydent pumpkin.<br /><br />We actually doubled the recipe below, making 24 muffins, with some extra batter left for another 6 or so.<br /><br />And achieved the desired result. The kitchen heated up, both from the roasting of the pumpkin as well as the baking of the muffins. Everything toasty warm for a late breakfast. House full of that spice aroma. And very nice, light muffins, more than we could possibly eat in one setting, still giving off a little steam as they were savored, one after the other.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/313839/pumpkin8_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />After trying one plain, no butter or jam, just to get the full taste of the pumpkin and spice, I opted to go naked on the rest of my share of the bounty. The muffins were moist and light, perfect with a very strong cup of coffee. Some fruit on the side, maybe a little yogurt, and breakfast was perfect!<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/276904/pumpkin4_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><a href="javascript:void(printSpecial('printRecipe11'))">Print Recipe</a><br /><div id="printRecipe11"><br /><strong>Roasted Pumpkin Pecan Raisin Muffins</strong><br />Recipe by surfindaave<br />Makes 12 muffins<br /><br />1 small pumpkin (3 pounds or less), cut into sections, peeled, cleaned, and cut into 1 inch cubes<br />olive oil<br />1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter<br />¾ cup fresh roasted pumpkin, pureed<br />¼ cup milk<br />2 large eggs<br />3 tablespoons unsulfured molasses<br />1 teaspoon vanilla<br />½ cup all-purpose flour<br />1 ½ cup white whole-wheat flour<br />1 ½ teaspoons baking powder<br />1 teaspoon ground cinnamon<br />½ teaspoon ground ginger<br />¼ teaspoon ground cloves<br />good pinch of allspice<br />1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg<br />½ teaspoon salt<br />¼ teaspoon baking soda<br />½ cup packed brown sugar<br />¾ cup seedless raisins<br />12 pecan halves<br /><br />Preheat oven to 450° F. and butter twelve 1/2-cup muffin cups.<br /><br />Place pumpkin pieces in a roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil and toss well. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes, until tender and lightly browned in places. Remove from oven and let cool somewhat. Puree in food processor. You will have more than is necessary for this recipe, reserve extra for soup, pancakes, etc.<br /><br />Melt butter and cool slightly. In a bowl whisk together butter, pumpkin, milk, eggs, molasses, and vanilla. Into a large bowl sift together flours, baking powder, spices, salt, and baking soda and whisk in brown sugar. Make a well in center of flour mixture and add pumpkin mixture, stirring just until combined. Stir in dates and divide batter among cups. Sprinkle walnuts evenly over batter in each cup and bake muffins in middle of oven 20 to 25 minutes, or until puffed and a tester comes out clean. Cool muffins in cups 5 minutes and turn out onto a rack. Serve. Enjoy!<br /></div><br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Pumpkin" rel="tag">Pumpkin</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Muffins" rel="tag">Muffins</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Weekend+Herb+Blogging" rel="tag">Weekend Herb Blogging</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/WHB" rel="tag">WHB</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1165614486440997512006-12-08T13:32:00.000-08:002006-12-08T13:56:58.376-08:00White FlagIt was a combination of unanticipated events. It took The Serendipitous Chef down like a bag of cement.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/135169/chestnut4_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />What pushed it over the top was the already mentioned high school sports. While running achieved unanticipated success, and demanded commensurate time from me, soccer was just revving up. One recent Friday evening, I received an e-mail requiring me to be at the school a 6 am the next morning, a Saturday, for an all day soccer tournament. Just when I thought I could sleep in for once.<br /><br />Prior to that was the usual holiday stuff. In addition to Thanksgiving, and the looming Christmas and New Years, it seems everyone in my family was born in November and December. Which is too bad really, because much as everyone denies it, you get screwed your whole life on presents, parties and recognition when your birthday is too close to Christmas. Life can be soo harsh!<br /><br />But the thing that probably did the most damage was the power outages.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/838577/chestnut3_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Over the last few weeks, the power in the entire neighborhood has gone out quite a few times. Sometimes for a few hours, sometimes for 15 minutes. Sometimes it went out, came back on for half an hour, then went out again. Plus, at other times, the Internet cable went out.<br /><br />It is not weather related, unless the wires melted from the dry heat. It’s most likely tree roots attacking the underground cables. Which the power company is in the process of repairing.<br /><br />I know a power outage seems fairly mild. I did in fact loose the text I was intending to post more than once as the power died suddenly, crashing my computer. A little frustrating.<br /><br />And, of course, all the clocks have to be reset. Over and over. Certainly one of the more idiotic activities of modern life. Everything has a clock in it now. Coffee makers, ovens, microwaves, VCRs, you name it. And of course, if you don’t reset them all, someone will eventually look at just exactly that one that you were too lazy to set, and blame you for the consequences. Despite the 10 correctly set clocks within a few feet of that one.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/766754/polenta4_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Worst is when the power goes off, comes back on for 15 or 20 minutes – just long enough for you to conclude your tirade and set all the clocks – before going out again.<br /><br />The insidious part of this is that while the power is out, you can not really do much of anything. Even the gas stove has an electric ignition. I’m sure we could fire it up with a match as well, but I was not that desperate yet. But cooking is out, homework – forget it. Being winter, it’s dark inside the house from mid-afternoon on, so life is put on hold.<br /><br />Gong outside is like being in a sci-fi film. No lights, no streetlights, few cars (people don’t seem to want to drive during a blackout for some reason). Everything dark.<br /><br />And no noise. All the TVs, radios, stereos, fans, air conditioners, heaters, pool motors, whatever, are suddenly quiet. All the noise you never really notice anymore suddenly seems like a roar now that it is gone. It gets a little weird after a while.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/306456/polenta3_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Of course, we get no actual benefits of the blackouts, as nearby LA showers the heavens with light despite our darkness, blocking out most of the stars.<br /><br />And when it’s over, you have all the things you couldn’t do still waiting to be done. The insidious part of it all. Suddenly the day is oven, and things just have to be left undone.<br /><br />Between the sports, the holidays and birthdays, and the power outages, the Chef threw up the white flag for a week or so.<br /><br />We did eat however, but in the stress, the quality and presentation of the food suffered.<br /><br />But back to business.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/119513/chestnut1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Today, we made a wonderful chestnut soup, flavored with cayenne and cinnamon roasted pecans. Easy, if not directly quick. And wonderful fall flavors. Chestnuts make a fantastic base for a soup.<br /><br />I coupled this with some roasted salmon and baked polenta with a thyme tomato coulis.<br /><br />The salmon was simply broiled with some olive oil. This is the current preferred everyday cooking method, being low fat. I like the low-temp cooking (i.e. roasting the salmon at 165ºF for 20 minutes), which results in a super buttery texture, but everyone else is only willing to try that on rare occasions.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/183001/polenta1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />The tomato coulis was just two cans of tomatoes, drained, and cooked together with some garlic and thyme. We chose thyme to complement the thyme in the polenta, but of course any herb would be fine.<br /><br />Somehow, roasted polenta evokes a sense of winter for me. Maybe because of its origin in the cold and snowy mountains of northern Italy. Kind of fun to make, too, as you can cut the polenta into any necessary shape to complement the meal. The polenta starts out just like any other, as a sort of mush, which is then cooled, cut and baked. It brings a wonderful balance to the salmon and tomatoes.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/900977/chestnut2_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><a href="javascript:void(printSpecial('printRecipe10'))">Print Recipe</a><br /><div id="printRecipe10"><br /><strong>Chestnut Soup with Cayenne and Cinnamon Roasted Pecans</strong><br />Recipe by surfindaave<br />Serves 4-6 as appetizer<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />2 pounds fresh chestnuts<br />1 onion, chopped<br />2 stalks celery, chopped<br />2 carrots, chopped<br />10 sage leaves, chopped<br />4 cups chicken broth<br />1 cup pecan halves<br />cayenne pepper<br />cinnamon<br />olive oil<br />Additional sage leaves for garnish, if desired<br /><br />Preheat the oven to 450ºF.<br /><br />Cut an X in the flat side of each chestnut. Place on a roasting pan, cut side up, and roast in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove and wrap in a towel for 10 minutes. Peel off outer shell and inner membrane. Reserve.<br /><br />Reduce oven temperature to 350ºF.<br /><br />In a heavy soup pot, sauté onion, celery and carrot in olive oil over medium heat until softened, 6-7 minutes. Add chestnuts (reserve a few whole ones if you want to use them as garnish). Add chicken broth, sage, and a little salt and pepper. Bring broth just to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.<br /><br />While soup is simmering, toss pecan halves with olive oil. Sprinkle with a pinch of cayenne pepper (or to taste), and a teaspoon or so of cinnamon. Toss well. Place on a baking sheet in a single layer, and put in 350ºF oven for 10 minutes or so, until they have browned, but are not burned. Remove from oven to a plate or board to stop cooking, and reserve.<br /><br />When soup has cooked, puree soup in a food processor. Add additional water to thin to desired constancy. Reheat over low heat in pot.<br /><br />Serve soup steaming hot with a sprinkle of the roasted pecan halves, and a sage leaf or two for garnish. Enjoy!<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/867598/polenta2_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><a href="javascript:void(printSpecial('printRecipe11'))">Print Recipe</a><br /><div id="printRecipe11"><br /><strong>Roasted Polenta Squares</strong><br />Based on a recipe from www.foodnetwork.com<br />Adapted by surfindaave<br />Serves 4-6 as a side dish<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />4 cups chicken broth<br />4 cups milk<br />2 cups polenta<br />Dash of salt<br />Fresh thyme, if desired<br />1 cup parmesan cheese, grated<br />salt, pepper<br />Additional grated parmesan, optional<br /><br />In a heavy pot, bring broth and milk just to a boil. Be careful not to let mixture boil over. Turn off heat, and slowly whisk in the polenta. Return to medium heat, and cook so that it just bubbles a little, whisking, for 10 minutes, until it thickens somewhat. Change to a wooden spoon, continuing to stir constantly, for a total of about 25 minutes. The polenta should be thick and very smooth. Stir in the parmesan cheese and thyme.<br /><br />Cover two baking pans with parchment paper. Pour half of the polenta mixture onto each baking pan, and tilt the pan a little to make a uniform thin layer of polenta across the entire bottom of the pan. Place the pans in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour – the longer the better. The polenta should be firm to the touch, and able to be cut.<br /><br />Preheat oven to 350ºF.<br /><br />Remove the polenta from the refrigerator. Cut into shapes, such as triangles, with a sharp knife. Carefully peel shapes off parchment paper into a new sheet of parchment paper, leaving a space between each piece (you will need to do each chilled sheet in two batches). (Optional – you can sprinkle the pieces with additional parmesan cheese at this point, if desired). Bake the pieces for 15 minutes. When baked, broil the pieces a few inches from the broiler until puffed and browned, 3-4 minutes. Remove from broiler and keep warm. Bake and broil remaining pieces as described. Serve immediately. Enjoy!<br /></div><br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Chestnut+Soup" rel="tag">Chestnut Soup</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Polenta" rel="tag">Polenta</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1164825352482652052006-11-29T10:34:00.000-08:002006-11-29T10:46:05.826-08:00Prison BluesWe really are prisoners of our own desires. Even if the desires diverge significantly.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/806267/lentils3_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />One revels in all things known. The familiar. Reliving things that have already happened. Over and over.<br /><br />Driving down the street, or taking a walk, names of known people who live in the houses being passed are recited, events that took place at some location are recalled in a sort of short hand code, the first time a restaurant was visited is recounted in the key details such as year and wine and main course and clothing worn. Favorite restaurants are visited over and over, with the identical dish being ordered each time. The same comments being offered. Like a religious ceremony, whose well worn rituals are caressed over and over. The routine providing comfort and maybe a sense of security, or possibly a sense of everlasting longevity, projecting the ritual into the infinite future.<br /><br />Then there are the relentless experimenters. Always something new. New location, new people, new gadgets, new tastes. As soon as something is tried, it’s done, crossed off. Time to move on. Push the envelope. Never the same thing twice. Always on the search for the next thing. Always noting the new restaurant, the menu changes. Interest in the past exists only in that it indicates where not to go in the future.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/192514/lentils7_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Either road can be a tough grind.<br /><br />One leading to a certain stagnation, and, anyways, certain to eventually deliver disappointment, as nothing remains the same forever, least of all memories. Seems like a dreary sort of prison to me.<br /><br />The other leading to certain mental burnout in the attempt to find all things new, let alone new things actually worth trying. This prison might be worse, barring the familiar, holding the prisoner like a rat on a treadmill, always running but never arriving.<br /><br />All this leading up to the lentils dilemma. You know, cooking something for the umpteenth time, because everyone really does like it, and besides, it’s cold out, the first rainy day in nine months around here. So lentil soup. Over rice.<br /><br />While some were relishing the reappearance of the known, others (i.e. me) were dreading another go round with the same old thing.<br /><br />So, despondent due to lack of sun and being stuck in my prison (of my own design, of course), moping about (apparently my creativity is closely tied to the sun), actually moping about on the internet, I stumbled across some ideas. Maybe some keys to escaping both prisons. For a day, anyways.<br /><br />The ideas coming from the <a href="www.emeril.com">www.emeril.com</a> web site, although we didn’t actually follow the recipes there, just the ideas. Improvising as we went.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/495822/lentils6_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Lentil soup with a new hairdo. Of roasted carrots and apples. Not mixed in, but set on top of the soup as a garnish. The carrots and apples caramelizing during the roasting process, adding a component of sweetness to the lentil soup.<br /><br />Plus a simple cayenne crème. Just crème fraîche mixed with cayenne pepper. Drizzled around the edge of the soup for visual interest as well as for a taste punch. Delicious!<br /><br />And a cracker, made from the lentil soup. Just something fun. With the added benefit of a warm oven on a cold day.<br /><br />In the end, something familiar with a new twist. Enough of a twist to unlock all of our prisons.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/847809/lentils2_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><a href="javascript:void(printSpecial('printRecipe9'))">Print Recipe</a><br /><div id="printRecipe9"><br /><strong>Lentil Soup with Roasted Carrots and Apples, Cayenne Crème and Lentil Crackers</strong><br />Based on a recipe from www.emeril.com<br />Adapted by surfindaave<br />Serves 6 to 8 as a main course<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />2 pounds spicy Italian-style chicken sausages<br />1 onion, chopped<br />2 stalks celery, chopped fine<br />1 carrot, chopped fine<br />3-4 cloves garlic, minced<br />1 ½ pounds dry black lentils<br />5-6 cups chicken broth<br />1 bay leaf<br />several sprigs thyme<br />1-2 tbsp cumin<br />salt, pepper<br />2 gala apples, peeled<br />4 carrots, peeled<br />olive oil<br />½ cup crème fraîche<br />1 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste (start with less, add more to taste)<br />Lentil Crackers (recipe follows)<br />Steamed rice as an accompaniment, if desired<br /><br />In a large, heavy soup pot, cook the sausages over high heat until well browned. Remove to a plate, reserving fat in pan.<br /><br />Drain all but 2 tbsp of fat from the pan, and in that, sauté the onions, celery and carrots over medium heat for 5 to 8 minutes. When softened, add the garlic, stirring, and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add 1 cup of the chicken broth, and scrape up any brown bits stuck to the bottom and sides of the pan. Add the lentils, bay leaf, thyme, cumin, salt and pepper to taste, and the remaining chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer. Add the sausages back to the pot. Cover partially, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add additional liquid if necessary to achieve the desired consistency.<br /><br />While the soup is simmering, roast the carrots and apples. Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Grate the carrots and apples on the roughest side of your grater, using long strokes to get as long of strands as possible. Alternatively, if you have time and the tools, use one of those rotating potato peelers to pare the apples and carrots into super longs, thin strands. Toss the grated carrots and apples with a few tbsp olive oil. Place on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper and spread out as much as possible. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The mixture has to give up a lot of water before it will begin to brown, so be patient (and watchful). When the carrots and apples have browned significantly in places, remove from oven and reserve.<br /><br />Stir the cayenne pepper into the crème fraîche, taste, adjust (it should be hot, but not unbearable), and reserve.<br /><br />When the lentils are tender, serve the soup in large, flat soup bowls with a heap of the roasted carrots and apples placed on top (not mixed in), and drizzle some of the cayenne crème around the edges. Place a lentil cracker on the side of the bowl. Enjoy!<br /><br /><br /><strong>Lentil Crackers</strong><br />Based on a recipe from <a href="www.emeril.com">Emeril Lagasse</a><br />Makes 6 large crackers<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />¾ cup of the lentil soup<br />¾ cup flour, plus extra for rolling<br />olive oil<br />kosher salt<br /><br />In a bowl, mix the lentil soup with about ½ cup of the flour, mashing the lentils. Slowly add additional flour, tablespoon by tablespoon, until the mixture forms a ball. Continue to mix with your hand, adding additional tablespoons of flour, until the dough achieves a smooth, non-sticky texture and is firm like modeling clay. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, flatten to a disk, and set in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes.<br /><br />Preheat oven to 350ºF.<br /><br />Divide the dough into six pieces. On a floured board, roll out each piece into a long, thin strip, maybe 14 inches long by 2-3 inches wide. Dust off excess flour. Place the strip on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper (I was able to bake three strips at a time). Brush the top lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Repeat for remaining pieces of dough.<br /><br />Bake the strips for about 20 minutes, until they are lightly browned and crisp. Remove from oven and let cool completely.<br /></div><br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Lentil+Soup" rel="tag">Lentil Soup</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Lentil+Cracker" rel="tag">Lentil Cracker</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1164735282265828202006-11-28T09:25:00.000-08:002006-11-28T09:52:27.403-08:00A Purist DreamsThree groups of people walk into a pizza parlor.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/pizza9_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />There are the, let’s call them the purists, for whom pepperoni, tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil are the necessary and exclusive components to even consider calling something a pizza. Maybe an olive or an anchovy could appear on occasion. But that’s it.<br /><br />Then there’s the indulgers. Who pile the pies high with long lists of diverse ingredients on top of the poor crust, until the thing is so tall, it is hardly edible in a practical sense. Not satisfied with pepperoni, they add sausage, ham, meatballs, everything they can think of. Along with any number of different vegetables, mushrooms, who knows what all. Better to have some of everything than risk leaving anything out, is the motto.<br /><br />Then there are the ones who dare to put unheard of things on top of a crust and deem it a pizza. The innovators. The dreamers. The crazy ones.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/pizza5_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />This is nothing new. There is an entire chain restaurant dedicated to offering a few dozen non-traditional ingredients on top of a baked crust, and calling it a pizza. Actually, a California pizza, to be more precise.<br /><br />Generally speaking, I tend not to be much of a traditionalist. More a break the rules type. Eyes closed and jump is more in line with my motto. So, you might expect to find me in the innovators camp on this topic. And, for the most part, I am when it comes to most types of foods.<br /><br />Until we get to pizza.<br /><br />For some reason, well, not some reason, but for a very specific reason, that involves wonderful pizzas made by hand in a small pizza parlor after midnight, with the dough stretched to fantastic diameters, heaped high with mozzarella, spicy tomato sauce, pepperoni, and nothing else, said pizza fresh from the oven and surrounded by a dozen or so friends, for that reason, I tend towards the purists side when it comes to pizza. The memories are too strong.<br /><br />Now, don’t get me wrong here. I understand that pesto pizza is fine. And that teriyaki chicken and tofu and whatever can be baked onto a crust. And that it might even taste good. Good and fine in the sense that such things do not have to be directly outlawed, and that the possibility of the death penalty for even suggesting putting such things on a pizza is maybe just a bit too much. But I have never quite gotten to the point where I, deep in my soul, have agreed that such a thing is a pizza.<br /><br />So when TeenGirl suggested pizza for dinner, I, of course, envisioned a somewhat purist style pie. Lots of tomatoes, mozzarella, pepperoni, with a pool of molten grease in the center. You know, pizza!<br /><br />She, however, had an entirely different idea.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/pizza4_upload.2.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Together, we made a very nice whole wheat pizza dough (already a stretch for me to associate anything whole wheat with pizza). Which she baked with just some fresh tomatoes and goat cheese. It actually looked pretty good. Primarily because it very much resembled a purist pizza.<br /><br />She then took a jump off the cliff by then making a spinach and white bean salad, with a powerful lemon juice and garlic dressing, which she proceeded to place on top of the baked pizza. Along with a few shavings of parmesan cheese.<br /><br />The result, if not directly something I would deem pizza in my book, was delicious. And dramatic to look at. And, in a sense, practical. You had your carbs (whole grain of course), your protein in the form of cheese and beans, and your salad, all at once.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/pizza6_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />To balance this novel pizza concept, TeenBoy made a more purist style pie, with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, pepperoni and basil. Albeit on the whole wheat crust. None the less, very good as well.<br /><br />So after a slice or two of a dreamer’s innovation, which I actually enjoyed very much, I reverted back to my purist obsession. And contemplated the oddly disjointed pizza emotions raging inside me as I sipped my glass of Bordeaux.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/pizza8_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><a href="javascript:void(printSpecial('printRecipe8'))">Print Recipe</a><br /><div id="printRecipe8"><br /><strong>The Dreamer’s Salad Pizza with Goat Cheese</strong><br />Recipe by surfindaave<br />Makes 2 large pies<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />500 grams whole wheat flour, plus extra for kneading<br />200 grams white flour<br />2 packets dry yeast<br />pinch of sugar<br />1 tsp salt<br />3-4 tbsp olive oil<br />12 to 16 ounces of goat cheese<br />8 fresh roma tomatoes, cut into slices<br />1 large bunch of baby spinach<br />2 15 ounce cans of white beans, such as cannelloni, drained well<br />2-3 cloves garlic<br />juice of one lemon<br />salt, pepper<br />parmesan curls, for garnish<br /><br />Make the pizza dough:<br />In a large bowl, combine the flours. Mound the flour, and make a depression in the center. Pour the yeast into the depression, add some lukewarm water, a pinch of sugar, and a punch of flour. Stir gently to moisten yeast, and let proof for 10 minutes. When yeast is foamy, sprinkle salt and olive oil around outside of flour mound. Add some lukewarm water to the bowl and begin mixing with a wooden spoon. Continue adding just as much water as necessary and mixing until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and all the flour is incorporated. Move the dough to a floured board and knead briskly for 15 minutes. Place in a warm oven to rise for 1 hour.<br /><br />When the dough has risen, divide into two equal pieces. On a flat surface lined with parchment paper, roll or press dough into the desired pizza shape (round or rectangle), pushing up the edges.<br /><br />Brush the bottom (only!) of the shaped dough with some olive oil.<br /><br />Preheat the oven to the highest temperature it will go – mine goes to 500ºF on a good day. An oven stone is the ideal surface to bake the pizza on, but a baking sheet will do as well.<br /><br />Make the pizzas:<br />Line the bottom of the shaped dough with slices of tomato. Crumble the goat cheese and sprinkle the entire bottom of the shaped dough evenly with cheese.<br /><br />Bake the pizzas for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the crust and cheese are browned. Remove from oven.<br /><br />While the pizzas are baking, whisk the lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Drizzle in the olive oil, whisking, until the dressing is emulsified.<br /><br />In a large bowl, toss the baby spinach leaves with the drained beans. Pour the dressing on top, and toss well. Divide the salad between the two pizzas, heaping the salad directly in the center of the hot pizzas. Garnish with a few parmesan curls. Serve immediately. Enjoy!<br /></div><br /><br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Dreamer's+Pizza" rel="tag">Dreamer's Pizza</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Pizza+Dough" rel="tag">Pizza Dough</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1164601894755401242006-11-26T20:09:00.000-08:002006-11-27T09:42:23.616-08:00Champions WeekendI am just getting to the Thanksgiving wrap-up. <br /><br /><p><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/1600/372735/thanks2_upload.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/981603/thanks2_upload.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />As mentioned, food took a back seat to high school sports for another weekend. TeenGirl proved to be one of the fastest running girls in the state of California on Saturday in an event that gathered all the best high school runners from across the state to Fresno for a 5000 meter (3.11 mile) race across fields, over hills, through gullies, and for some, including TeenGirl, a chance to stand on the winners podium and collect medals. As the one of best high school runners in the Sate of California.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/790652/medals1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />To get to Fresno, other than the 5 hour drive north through LA, across the San Fernando valley, though the Tejon pass (4144 feet up), and then deep into the heart of the San Joaquin valley, past miles and miles of almond trees, millions of rows of grape vines all neatly trimmed and ready for next year, past thousand and thousands of cows, and literal mountains of cow poo, past huge dairy complexes and ramshackle rundown farm houses, all you have to do is run. A lot.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/984917/medals2_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Run twice a day for 6 months. Every single day, never missing one. Over mountains. Through parks. Around streets with motorists who have no intention of yielding right of way to a mere runner. Through blazing afternoon heat. And chilly evenings. Wind, rain, dust, fog, whatever. At 6 am in the morning, and 10 pm at night, if need be. Usually alone, as no one else can keep up anymore, least of all me. Set some school records along the way, win lots of cross country races along the way, gather a satchel full of medals, pose for lots of pictures that eventually appear in local papers, usually just after finishing running, with sweat still dripping, hair and makeup long destroyed by wind and effort. That’s all you have to do.<br /><br />You also have to put up with your overly proud father running all over the parks where the races are held, ‘cheering’ (read screaming his head off like a complete idiot), taking pictures at inopportune moments, bragging shamelessly, etc.<br /><br />So, food took a backseat to a championship running this weekend.<br /><br />But I did want to catch up on Thanksgiving. Of course, there was the turkey, which was great. With tons of dark meat for me. While everyone else fought over the breast meat.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/923792/thanks6_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />As mentioned in the previous post, we made four dishes for the Thanksgiving pot-luck-pourre last Thursday.<br /><br />As could have been predicted, the much anticipated Brussels sprouts with chestnuts and bacon were not the highlight of our offerings. They were very good, and the roasted sprouts could not have gone better with the chestnuts and bacon. Really a great way to combine some traditional fall flavors. And they generated lots of complements. But they were outdone by two other dishes. None the less, the sprouts, chestnuts and bacon were good enough that they were long gone before a reasonable picture could be taken.<br /><br />The roasted root vegetables with caramelized pecans won hands down. Everyone agreed. Once you tried them, you could not stop nibbling away. The roasting brings out a wonderful natural sweetness to the vegetables, which the caramelized pecans complemented perfectly. The tart apples and the red onions pulled the dish back from just plain sweet to nicely balanced. The only thing to watch for is to avoid over-roasting the vegetables. This one has already made the list of Thanksgiving regulars.<br /><br />Unfortunately, I could not get any pictures of the roasted root vegetables before they were gone.<br /><br />Also, the cayenne sweet potato pie with pecan crust was great. Creamy and smooth, with a hint of a cayenne bite. Though not as many tried this one, possibly fearing an instant weight gain just by looking at it, those who did try it raved. So I was pretty happy about that.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/1879/2473/400/730964/thanks4_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br />The final entry, the apple galette, which I have made lots of times, and always had success with, fell victim to an error on my part. I always halve the recipe when I make it, and did so this time as well. I halved everything except the butter. Essentially using twice the butter in the Pâte Brisé dough as called for. Man, what a mess. I knew the whole time something was wrong, too. But I could not figure out what. Until we baked it. The excess butter literally oozed out of the dough. Needless to say, the dough never achieved the desired flaky crispy texture, ending up tough and chewy. So we left that one home. Just an error on my part due to too many things going on at once.</p><p>I didn't take any pictures of the galette, of course. Well, three out of four ain't all that bad!</p><br /><br /><a href="javascript:void(printSpecial('printRecipe7'))">Print Recipe</a><br /><div id="printRecipe7"><br /><strong>Roasted Fall Root Vegetables with Apples and Caramelized Pecans</strong><br />Recipe by surfindaave<br />Serves 6 to 8 as a side dish<br /><br />Ingredients<br />6 large parsnips, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks <br />6 to 8 small beets, peeled, cut into 2 inch pieces<br />6 carrots, peeled, cut into 2 inch lengths<br />2 large tart apples, such as Granny Smith, cored and cut into eighths <br />2 medium red onions, each cut into 8 wedges through the core <br />1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil <br />1 tablespoon thyme leaves <br />2 ½ cups pecan halves<br />6 tbsp unsalted butter<br />6 tbsp sugar (we used agava nectar)<br />Salt and freshly ground pepper <br /><br /><br />Preheat the oven to 450°. <br /><br />In a large roasting pan, toss the parsnips, beets, carrots, apples and red onions with olive oil and thyme leaves. Roast in oven for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring once or twice, until vegetables are tender and well browned. Remove from oven and keep warm.<br /><br />In a small skillet, heat butter until foam subsides. Add sugar, swirling pan, until sugar melts. Continue cooking until the mixture achieves the desired caramel color. Add pecans, stirring, until they are well coated with the caramel. Pour the caramelized pecans over the roasted vegetables, and toss gently. Serve immediately. Enjoy!<br /></div><br /><br /><a href="javascript:void(printSpecial('printRecipe8'))">Print Recipe</a><br /><div id="printRecipe8"><br /><strong>Bacon Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Chestnuts</strong><br />Recipe by surfindaave<br />Based on a recipe by Charlie Palmer <br />Serves 8 to 10 as a side dish<br /><br />Ingredients<br />3 pounds small Brussels sprouts, stems trimmed and outer leaves removed, cut in half<br />1 pound double-smoked slab bacon or other smoked bacon, cut into lardons (1/4-by-3/4-inch rectangles) <br />2 cups onions, chopped<br />2 pounds fresh chestnuts<br />2 to 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth <br />1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves <br />Salt, pepper<br />Additional thyme, for garnish, if desired<br /><br />To roast the chestnuts: cut an X on the flat side of each chestnut. Roast on a flat baking pan in a 400ºF oven for 20 minutes or so, until the edges of the cuts curl back. Remove from oven to a towel, and let cool somewhat. Remove shell and inner membrane. Reserve chestnuts, ideally still as a single piece. <br /><br />In a small skillet, heat bacon over medium heat, stirring, and cook until all fat is rendered out of bacon, and bacon is well browned. Remove bacon pieces to a plate lined with paper towels. Reserve fat.<br /><br />In the same skillet, sauté the onions over medium heat until they are a deep golden color, about 10 minutes.<br /><br />Preheat oven to 450ºF.<br /><br />In a large roasting pan, toss the Brussels sprouts, chestnuts, bacon, and onions with all of the bacon fat. Add thyme leaves, salt and pepper. Toss well. Roast in oven for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the Brussels sprouts are well browned. Remove to a serving dish. Stir in just enough chicken broth to moisten the dish. Season with salt and pepper as necessary, and sprinkle with additional thyme for garnish. Serve immediately. Enjoy!<br /></div><br /><br /><strong>Cayenne Sweet Potato Pie with Pecan Crust</strong><br /><br />This recipe is directly from Gourmet magazine, November 2005, (which you can find on <a href="www.epicurious.com">www.epicurious.com</a>)with the only modifications being that I added 2 tsp of cayenne pepper to the sweet potato mixture in the food processor, and I made a pecan and whole wheat pie crust, as opposed to the pecan and ginger snap cookie crust suggested in the magazine. We decorated the pie with some extra crust pieces cut into leaves, as well as some of the caramelized pecans from the Roasted Fall Root Vegetables with Apples and Caramelized Pecans recipe above.<br /><br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Roasted+Root+Vegetables" rel="tag">Roasted Root Vegetables</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Roasted+Brussels+Sprouts" rel="tag">Roasted Brussels Sprouts</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Chestnuts" rel="tag">Chestnuts</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Sweet+Potato+Pie" rel="tag">Sweet Potato Pie</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1164232428487931082006-11-22T13:52:00.000-08:002006-11-22T14:13:02.973-08:00Pot (Luck) PourriIt’s not really a pot luck Thanksgiving dinner. As the final menu is tuned somewhat. But everyone coming is contributing something. Which, as the dishes are determined by the people coming, are announced to everyone so that a reasonable variety of final dishes can be assembled. For 26 people. Mostly family, some friends. Coming to enjoy this most lucky of pot-luck-pourris.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/veggies1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br />Being a bit in stress, as this is a week of both soccer championships (TeenBoy’s team), and the California State Cross Country Running Championship race, for which TeenGirl has qualified, being one of the fastest high school girls in California (this is also the reason that my postings have been a bit infrequent over the last few weeks - all this sports takes up a lot of time!), I was not the first to pass on a list of proposed dishes that I would be contributing to this event. In fact, looking at the current list, I am probably about the last.<br /><br />It’s being hosted this year at my brother’s new house, as he certainly has by far the most room for so many people. So his family will contribute the turkey, and will be stuck with most of the mess. Been there done that many times. Usually fun until the wine buzz wears off and the mountain of dishes and assorted broken things looms. Of course everyone helps clean after dinner, but it seems there is always another mountain of mess after everyone has finally left.<br /><br />Some day, I am going to just roast a turkey when it’s not a holiday. This will certainly be a shocking event for everyone here. As there seems to be some unwritten food law that roasted turkey happens only twice a year, max. And those occasions must be holidays. But everyone is raving about salting the turkey before roasting, for maximum crisp skin and juicy meat. This being the next logical progression beyond brining. Which is now apparently passé. A salted roast turkey with fig, chestnut and sage dressing? Not to mention turkey soup the next day made from the remnants. Something I want to try soon. Well, we can all dream…<br /><br />So, the infamous green beans baked in the Campbell’s mushroom soup are coming. (First dish announced. Can we cancel this holiday? No? Too late?) Along with the sweet potatoes and marshmallow mixture. Another blast from the past (curse that Betty Crocker!!). At least edible. There will certainly be good things as well. Some killer mashed potatoes. With lots of butter. There are usually interesting desserts. The gravy is always one of the highlights. And, being a dark meat lover, and in the distinct minority on this issue, despite the proven fact that the dark meat is moister and infinitely more flavorful, I will have almost the entire bounty of dark turkey meat all to myself. On a 24 pound turkey, that is a pile!<br /><br />So, the question becomes, what will we contribute?<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/veggies7_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />For some reason, I’ve had Brussels sprouts with bacon and chestnuts on my mind for a while. My idea is to render the bacon, and roast the chestnuts and Brussels sprouts in the bacon drippings in the oven till tender and caramelized. Maple syrup may also become involved somehow, not quite sure yet. Then toss it all with the rendered bacon. Then eat a large pile of it. As vegetables are usually not the big sellers at these events, so there should be lots for me. Is it bad form to bring something you know pretty much only you will like?<br /><br />To this end, I found Italian chestnuts. These being the current foodie rage as the best tasting chestnuts. At least the sign said they were Italian. Maybe the sign is Italian and the nuts are from the tree out behind the vegetable market?<br /><br />Plus some super fresh looking Brussels sprouts. And some apparently high quality thick slab bacon.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/veggies4_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Another dish we are looking to make is a sort of fall root vegetable roast, with beets, parsnips and carrots, all roasted together with some apples for moisture. Sounded good. Again, however, something I fear will have limited appeal to the guests, being basically vegetables.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/veggies3_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br />Even though sweet potatoes, mashed together with marshmallows (really!) are coming, I intend to offer my infamous sweet potato pie with pecan crust. Maybe put some candied pecans on top for decoration. This stuff has a little fire to it (cayenne pepper), and is intended for dinner, not dessert. And is delicious. Smooth and creamy. I figure that since my sweet potatoes are so different from the others, I can get away with this. On the plus side, I would be happy in no one ate any of this, and I could take the entire thing home again (more bad manners?).<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/veggies9_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />On the dessert side, an apple galette, maybe soaking the apples in calvados, which is an apple brandy produced in the Calvados department of Lower Normandy, France. With some sort of flavored Crème Frâiche to go on top.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/veggies10_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Hopefully, this is neither too much nor too little. And I am sure we do not have to worry about duplicate entries for any of these dishes from other guests. As these dishes either contain vegetables, or are a bit of work to prepare.<br /><br />The sweet potato pie and the apple galette will be made today. They will keep overnight. The vegetable dishes will be made tomorrow morning, and heated through just before serving.<br /><br />So here’s our proposed offerings:<br /><br /><strong>Bacon Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Chestnuts (with Maple Syrup?)</strong><br /><br /><strong>Roasted Fall Root Vegetables and Apples</strong><br /><br /><strong>Spicy Sweet Potato Pie with Pecan Crust and Candied Pecans</strong><br /><br /><strong>Calvados Apple Galette with (Whisky?) Crème Frâiche</strong><br /><br />Hopefully some pictures and recipes later today and tomorrow as these things start to appear from our kitchen.<br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Thanksgiving+Ideas" rel="tag">Thanksgiving Ideas</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1164133610749628792006-11-21T10:20:00.000-08:002006-11-21T10:42:11.116-08:00Sourdough Experiment #6 – The Ups and Downs, but mostly UpsIt really can’t be called an experiment any more.<br /><br />We’ve made a different sort of sourdough bread, based on home-made sourdough starter grown right on my kitchen table, every week for a few months now. And, to my endless surprise, they turn out pretty damn good, considering I’ve never been very successful with yeast-based breads in the past. The sourdough starter bacteria really pump out a lot of gas, lifting the dough to great heights.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/oatbread4_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />This is definitely the up side of the sourdough experiment. All it takes is patience. Warm days help, but are not absolutely necessary. Cold days just means more patience is necessary to allow the little bacteria time to multiply so that there are enough little gas passers to raise a dough. Eventually, this happens. And another couple of loaves of sourdough bread are ready for baking.<br /><br />Another up is that the bread rises significantly as baking begins. So far in each of a dozen or so tries, the final bread has at least tripled in size by the time baking is done. Which makes for a nice, light loaf of bread.<br /><br />Plus, I like the taste of the sour bread. A definite up, for me, in any event. Flavor that you cannot get in any bread from a store.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/oatbread2_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />But there are the downs.<br /><br />The main one being that, if you are severely mentally challenged like me, and you forget every time to save some sourdough starter for the next loaf, you really can not plan exactly when the next loaf will be ready to be baked.<br /><br />So I wanted to make some of the rye and whole wheat sourdough bread for Thursday, that being Thanksgiving.<br /><br />And in the weekend rush of high school sports events last Saturday, not only did I forget to save some starter before kneading the entire batch into a new loaf and popping it into the oven, but I forgot for the next two days to start a new batch of sourdough starter.<br /><br />So, unless the little bacteria have a prolific non-stop three day orgy in their little bucket of flour and water, the starter I made yesterday will not be ready in time for Thanksgiving.<br /><br />Maybe it is for the better. I’m not entirely sure the sourdough bread is ready for the ultimate judges panel- the relatives. These guys make Gordon Ramsey look meek. The barbs are always heated till red hot before they are slung across the table. Naturally in the guise of a pseudo-compliment. Laden however with layers of resentment and frustration and who knows what all before they are slid between the ribs and twisted, or jabbed viciously and deep during an apparent pat on the back. Maybe I can sit at the kids table during the turkey dinner. The kids haven’t reached this level of sophistication yet!<br /><br />Anyhoo, last Saturday, we went for a whole wheat and oat bread with lots of molasses. Based on a pure whole wheat sourdough starter.<br /><br />Though I personally prefer the natural sour flavor – i.e. sourdough bread without added honey or molasses, I am but one of many here, and my preferences usually get voted down quickly.<br /><br />So we have experimented a bit with whole wheat flour based breads, which are not as sour as rye in the first place. And we have tried a few combinations of honey, looking to balance the sour flavor a bit and mollify the rest of the people who live here.<br /><br />This time, I wanted to try adding oats. In the form of whole steel cut rolled oats. Supposed to be very healthy!<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/oatbread3_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Plus, some super iron-rich molasses. Also highly recommended from a health perspective.<br /><br />The molasses turned the bread a deep, dark brown color. And added a very striking flavor. Molasses being a more intense flavor than, say, honey. Sweet, salty, a little sulfury, all at once.<br /><br />I think, however, that the addition of the oats made for a less soft crumb. The bread rose well, as the pictures illustrate. But the resultant bread was more crumbly than others. Maybe the oats interrupt the natural formation of the gluten fibers of the whole wheat flour as the bread is kneaded? Maybe I should have done something different with the oats before adding them to the dough?<br /><br />I soaked the raw oats for a while in some boiling water. And then just mixed them into the starter, along with additional flour, prior to kneading. Although the oats sort of dissolved into the dough, I could tell while kneading that the texture would be a little different.<br /><br />The flavor was great, however. Very rich and hearty, mainly from the molasses. Something we will certainly try again.<br /><br />Recipe to follow shortly! <br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/oatbread1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Wheat-Oat+Sourdough" rel="tag">Wheat-Oat Sourdough</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Molasses" rel="tag">Molasses</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1163977780893169602006-11-19T15:07:00.000-08:002006-11-19T23:23:21.006-08:00Quintessential Fall Flavors – WHBFall, crisp cool mornings with steaming cups of hot black coffee, the dog tracking footprints from the lawn thick with glistening dew throughout the house, and depositing piles of beautiful colored leaves caught in his ever-thickening fur on every chair and sofa. What could say fall more than all that? Don’t ya just love it?!<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/chestnuts10_upload.0.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Also in season are chestnuts. One of my favorite nuts. Difficult, yes. Temperamental, I’ll give you that. But bursting with a unique combination of nuttiness and sweetness that you just don’t find in any other nut.<br /><br />The trick to chestnuts is to buy them fresh, refrigerate them immediately, as they spoil very quickly, and learning the subtleties of getting the peel and inner skin off the nut before you lose your sanity.<br /><br />I learned to love chestnuts in Munich, where, as in most European cities in winter, chestnuts are sold in little paper bags by street vendors freshly roasted. All you have to do is find a way to get the peel off with your gloves on. The gloves help in the sense that the chestnuts are usually (not always!) still hot, but hinder in that it is that much harder to get the thin papery inner peel off if the roasting process has not loosened it sufficiently. There was always a certain proportion that had to be tossed.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/chestnuts9_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />At home, the main difficulty is finding a fresh chestnut. They appear around November and December in stores, then are gone. Whether the store has actually kept the chestnut in reasonable condition prior to your purchase of it is another question. The best idea is to get the fresh chestnuts right into the fridge as soon as possible, and use them as quickly as possible. The fresher, the better.<br /><br />Roasting them is not so hard, just 20 minutes at 400ºF will usually roast them sufficiently that the outer and inner peel will come off with relative ease. I have learned that no matter what technique you use to roast them, there will be some that just cannot be peeled. And I have learned to accept this as the price of enjoying fresh chestnuts as opposed to (shudder!) canned.<br /><br />Since chestnuts have a natural sweetness to them, which the roasting process accentuates, I like to build on that. Whether in chestnut soup, maybe chestnuts and Brussels sprouts in bacon and maple syrup, or simply, as today, chestnuts caramelized in butter and sugar.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/chestnuts1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />The chestnuts today are the eye candy to a really tasty pasta sauce based on a kobasha squash and sage mixture. The kobasha squash has a dark green outer peel, which is very tough, hiding a bright orange inner flesh. When cooked down a bit, it is sweeter and more flavorful than most other types of squashes, in my opinion. It harmonizes well with sage and nutmeg.<br /><br />So this week, we made Pasta with Kobacha and Sage Sauce with Caramelized Chestnuts. For <a href="http://kalynskitchenlinks.blogspot.com/2005/12/weekend-herb-blogging-weekly-recap.html" rel="tag">Weekend Herb Blogging</a>, sponsored this week by Nandita of <a href="http://saffrontrail.blogspot.com/" rel="tag">Saffron Trail</a>.<br /><br />With the natural earthy sweetness of the creamy kobacha and sage sauce, the caramelized chestnuts not only complement it wonderfully, but they make for a very dramatic presentation.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/chestnuts5_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />As usual, we put this on top of some whole grain pasta. Which only adds to the earthy and nutty flavors of the dish as a whole.<br /><br />A very flavorful way to incorporate some of the seasonally fresh elements available only at this time of year!<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/chestnuts7_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><a href="javascript:void(printSpecial('printRecipe6'))">Print Recipe</a><br /><div id="printRecipe6"><br /><strong>Pasta with Kobacha and Sage Sauce and Caramelized Chestnuts</strong><br />Recipe by surfindaave<br />Serves 4 as main course<br /><br />1 large kobacha squash, cut into sections, peeled, and flesh cubed<br />3-4 tablespoons olive oil <br />2 leeks, cleaned, white part chopped <br />Salt and pepper <br />1 bay leaf <br />1 tsp fresh ground nutmeg <br />6 fresh sage leaves, cut in thin strips <br />4 cups chicken broth <br />Sage leaves, sliced thin, for garnish <br />1 ½ pounds pasta (we used whole wheat fettuccini)<br />Caramelized chestnuts, for garnish (recipe follows)<br /><br />Place the olive oil and leeks in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. When the leeks begin to color, add the squash and season with salt and pepper. Sauté 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, to lightly caramelize the surface of the cubes. Add the bay leaf, nutmeg, sage, and about 3 cups of the chicken broth. Cover the pan and cook until the squash is tender but still holding its shape, about 10 to 15 minutes. <br />Puree the sauce in a food processor in batches. Reheat the sauce in the skillet, adding additional chicken broth to thin the sauce to the desired pasta sauce consistency.<br />Bring salted water to a boil in a large pot, and cook pasta per package directions. Drain well.<br />Serve the pasta with the kobacha and sage sauce, placing several caramelized chestnuts on top, and sprinkling the pasta sauce with the slivered sage leaves. Enjoy!<br /><br /><strong>Caramelized chestnuts</strong><br /><br />1 pound whole fresh chestnuts in the shell <br />3 tablespoons butter <br />3 tablespoons granulated sugar <br /><br />Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. With a paring knife, score the bottom of each chestnut with an "x". Roast the cut chestnuts on a baking sheet for 20 minutes. Remove chestnuts from oven and wrap in a dishtowel until cool enough to handle. Peel off chestnut shells, including the inner membrane. In a large sauté pan, melt the butter and add the chestnuts. Cook over a low flame for about 5 minutes. Once evenly browned, add the sugar and toss. Allow to caramelize for another 5 to 6 minutes.<br /></div><br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Chestnuts" rel="tag">Chestnuts</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kobacha+Squash" rel="tag">Kobacha Squash</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Weekend+Herb+Blogging" rel="tag">Weekend Herb Blogging</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/WHB" rel="tag">WHB</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1163790351385586202006-11-17T11:04:00.000-08:002006-11-17T15:53:51.283-08:00Anti-Smoked Out FoodNovember 17 is the day targeted by the American Cancer Society to encourage people to quit smoking by staging the so-called Great American Smoke-Out. Originally called Don’t Smoke Day. The idea being that smokers would be encouraged to not smoke for one day, and contribute the money usually spent on cigarettes to some charitable cause. Initially a high school scholarship fund, and eventually things like the American Cancer Society.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/pumpkin3_upload.1.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />When the idea started, more than 30 years ago, it seemed like everyone smoked. On planes, in restaurants, in hospitals, on TV, in movies, everywhere. Back before these anti-smoking campaigns, our high school was so clouded with smoke that they had to establish an outdoor smoking area for the students. Underage students. Who were doing 2 plus packs a day. When the bathroom doors opened at school between periods, smoke would just billow out like the place was on fire.<br /><br />Somehow, smoking had become the sort of way to communicate the concept ‘I know it’s bad, but I still do it, so I must be bad too!’. Bad as in very cool. Which seems odd in those ‘down with the establishment’ days. Smoking being an established habit of everything establishment back then, from the military to movies to business. But the allure was too strong, the advertisements too good, and the nicotine grip too addictive.<br /><br />As the Smoke-Out concept became a real movement in the late 70, kids in my first college would participate in a sort of intentionally misguided concept of their own. That being to smoke as many cigarettes as possible for the 48 hours preceding the Smoke-Out day, thereby making themselves so physically sick that they could not bring themselves to smoke on the actual Smoke-Out day itself. Thus meeting the letter of the concept, if missing the intent of the concept by as wide a margin as possible. Naturally, the long-term effect of this was an even deeper dependence on nicotine, with all its associated health effects.<br /><br />Having survived college, barely, both in grades and health, things have now turned completely from trying to kill ourselves at every opportunity to looking at options to stay alive.<br /><br />Anti-oxidants are now the new drug of choice. As food is metabolized and turned into energy for the body, the unwanted by-products of this process include oxygen molecules and other so-called ‘free radicals’ (subversive elements for sure! Illegal aliens of sorts?! Maybe even terrorists!?!). Smoking also apparently releases these free radicals in the body. As these free radicals rage through the body, they are thought to cause extensive damage to the body, having been identified as keys to heart disease, aging (shudder!!), cancer of various types, cardio-vascular diseases, and on and on. Anti-oxidants counteract these affects by neutralizing the free-radicals and excess oxygen. The body generates anti-oxidants naturally, but diet can play an important role in supplementing the body’s natural defenses with additional anti-oxidants. Can’t have too many, apparently!<br /><br />Since oxidation is the process here, and anti-oxidants prevent oxidation, and oxidation is just another word for rust, I always wondered if we are really just talking about the body becoming, literally, rusty, and tossing in a can of primer in the form of beta carotene to try to prevent that rust from forming? Well, obviously too much time on my hands!!<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/pumpkin6_upload.1.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />In any event, in honor of the Smoke-Out day, and in memory of those odd, misguided college days and friends, an anti-oxidant meal.<br /><br />Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selinium, and Beta Carotene. Those are the anti-oxidant elements that need to be added to the diet.<br /><br />Of course, this time of year, the most orange of vegetables is a great source of a lot of these elements. Namely the pumpkin. Other key sources are whole grains, such as whole wheat pasta. So we constructed a meal around these ingredients. We tossed spinach into the mix as well, as it is also a big contributor to our cause.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/pumpkin5_upload.1.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />The resultant meal is whole wheat pasta with a spicy roasted pumpkin, spinach and amaranth seed sauce, topped with a sprinkle of shredded chicken breast.<br /><br />The pumpkin offers a ton of beta carotene, along with vitamin C. The whole grain pasta contributes selenium. The spinach contributes vitamin E, vitamin C and some additional beta carotene. A sprinkle of parsley on top pumps up the vitamin C some more. And a little chicken in the mix increases the selenium levels. The amaranth contributes lots of iron (which will be quickly absorbed by the body due to all the vitamin C) and protein, along with some vitamin C. So this is a seasonal meal pumped full of all four key anti-oxidants.<br /><br />Now – just to be clear, these ingredients, irregardless of what quantities of them you eat will not reverse 30 years of a 2 pack a day of Camel no-filters habit. It certainly won’t hurt, but more to the point would be to quit first, then help the body clean up as best as possible.<br /><br />Just to be sure my body was staving off rust at full throttle, I tossed down a few glasses of anti-oxidant rich red wine (Bordeaux 2000). And put some of that to work scraping off the internal rust as well. Better safe than sorry!<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/pumpkin2_upload.0.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><a href="javascript:void(printSpecial('printRecipe5'))">Print Recipe</a><br /><div id="printRecipe5"><br /><strong>Whole Wheat Pasta with Spicy Roasted Pumpkin, Spinach and Amaranth Sauce</strong><br />Recipe by surfindaave<br />Serves 6 as a main dish<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />1 small pie pumpkin, 2 ½ to 3 pounds, cut into sections, seeds removed, peeled, and then cut into 1 inch pieces<br />olive oil<br />cinnamon<br />cayenne pepper<br />cumin<br />2-3 pounds chicken breasts<br />4 cups chicken broth<br />1 onion, quartered<br />1 stalk celery, cut into several pieces<br />1 carrot, cut into several pieces<br />8 peppercorns<br />1 bay leaf<br />4-5 tbsp amaranth seeds<br />6-8 sage leaves, chopped<br />1 bunch spinach, washed well, chopped roughly<br />salt, pepper<br />2 pounds whole wheat pasta (we used fettuccini)<br />parsley, chopped, as garnish<br /><br />Preheat oven to 450ºF.<br /><br />Toss the pumpkin pieces with olive oil, and then sprinkle with cinnamon, cayenne pepper and cumin to taste. I like more cinnamon, and note that the cayenne will stay strong through the entire cooking. Roast the pumpkin pieces on a parchment paper lined baking tray for 25 to 30 minutes, until browned and tender. Remove from oven and reserve.<br /><br />In a large pot, combine the chicken breasts, broth, onion quarters, celery, carrot, peppercorns and bay leaf, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a bare simmer, and cook, covered, for 30 minutes. Turn off heat, and let chicken cool in pot. When cooled, remove chicken to a plate and reserve. Strain broth into a bowl, discarding solids, and reserve.<br /><br />Heat a small skillet with a tight fitting lid until very hot. Place 2 tbsp of amaranth seeds on the skillet, quickly cover with lid, and shake skillet over heat until most of the seeds have popped, 30 seconds or so. Transfer popped seeds to a bowl. Repeat procedure with more amaranth seeds until you have about 2 cups of popped amaranth seeds. Reserve popped seeds.<br /><br />Place the roasted pumpkin in a food processor. Add about 1 cup of the reserved chicken broth. Process until smooth, adding additional chicken broth as necessary. When smooth, add about ¾ of the popped amaranth seeds, reserving the rest for garnish. Process the mixture, again adding chicken broth as necessary. The consistency should be that of a thick sauce, not runny.<br /><br />Transfer the sauce to a large, heavy pan. Heat over medium heat, stirring. Add sage leaves, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Thin with additional chicken broth as necessary to achieve the desired pasta sauce consistency. Adjust the seasonings, especially the cinnamon. Simmer until heated through. Add chopped spinach, stirring. Cook over medium heat, covered, until spinach has wilted and is tender.<br /><br />With two forks, shred chicken breasts and reserve shredded meat.<br /><br />Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta, and cook according to package directions. When done, drain.<br /><br />Place drained pasta in a large bowl (or in individual bowls). Top with pumpkin sauce. Sprinkle with shredded chicken. Sprinkle with parsley and popped amaranth seeds. Serve. Enjoy!<br /></div><br /><br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Anti-Oxidant" rel="tag">Anti-Oxidant</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Pumpkin+Pasta" rel="tag">Pumpkin Pasta</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Amaranth" rel="tag">Amaranth</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1163638812283435852006-11-15T16:50:00.000-08:002006-11-15T17:00:12.680-08:00Fixing Things UpI am not a programmer. That is for sure. But there are a few things I want to improve here.<br /><br />A few useful features, for my benefit as well as for others who may want to use the recipes.<br /><br />So I added a 'Print Recipe' capability. <br /><br />And even got it to actually work!<br /><br />The idea is that next to each recipe is a link 'Print Recipe'. Click on it and a new window will open containing only that recipe with a black text / white background format. It also pops up the print dialog box, which you can either close, or select print to get the desired recipe on paper.<br /><br />I intend to go back and add these links to previous posts. And of course they should appear next to all the future posts. <br /><br />Just a little thing, but a lot of work for me!<br /><br />Next will be a recipe index. As I have almost 300 recipes now. Even I can't keep them straight anymore.surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1163490782959899892006-11-13T23:39:00.000-08:002006-11-15T16:37:36.733-08:00Sourdough Experiment Part V – Holiday PrelimsThanksgiving is maybe my second favorite food holiday.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/soup2_upload.7.jpg" border="0" /><br /> <br />It misses first place because, first of all, New Year’s Eve was just made for crazy foodies willing to experiment with flavors and presentations. Guests are usually more receptive to fun ideas on New Year's Eve as well. It also misses first place because at Thanksgiving, someone always seems to bring some supposedly sentimental favorite from the past that everyone really wishes would finally be forgotten, but never seems to be (canned green beans cooked in cream of mushroom soup again?!? Yikes! Or that jiggly pink stuff that still has the can imprints on it from when it was slid right from the can onto the serving plate). That always drags down the overall effect.<br /><br />For a few years, we had a sort of Prime Rib for Christmas dinner thing going on. Which made a strong run at beating out Thanksgiving for second place. But that seems to have fallen by the way side as the roast turkey fans are the overwhelming majority. I think if Norman Rockwell had just painted a rib roast instead of a turkey, we would have had a chance there. And besides, Christmas has so many strong traditions that everyone seems to expect, its just plain harder to try new things.<br /><br />On the other hand, for Thanksgiving, it’s really just a matter of deciding to break out of the tried and true and slide one or two new things in every year. Some will fail, of course. But some will become instant hits, talked about for years.<br /><br />Plus, Fall has such wonderful fruits, vegetables, and the weather is usually conducive to some serious cooking and eating. I love the variety of earthy, savory vegetables, like brussels sprouts with chestnuts. Maybe braised with bacon and maple syrup. Or sweet potatoes mashed up with something super spicy in them. Roasted cauliflower. Maybe with some apples as well. All sorts of squashes. Parsnips (yum!). Fennel. Beets. Pears. Nuts. The list goes on and on.<br /><br />So we tried out a few things that might make the list for this year.<br /><br />A new attempt at sourdough bread. This time a sort of honey rye whole wheat mix. Which I am thinking will go well with roasted turkey. Not as sour as a pure rye sourdough. But very good!<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/soup1_upload.8.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />And two soups. One a roasted pumpkin with cayenne and molasses – hot! The other a roasted sweet potato (actually a yam, I guess), with ginger and lime.<br /><br />This was the best rising sourdough bread I have been able to make yet. It was about 50% rye, 40% whole wheat, and 10% white flour. With some honey and some olive oil – maybe a quarter cup of each – tossed in. I think the olive oil helped make a much softer crumb. And the honey took a bit of the edge off the sour flavor. It was still there, but not in an overpowering way. It turns out that not everyone wants a strong sour flavor with every meal. Go figure!<br /><br />The soups are fun ways to turn squashes into something packed with flavor.<br /><br />I tossed the pumpkin in olive oil and cayenne pepper, and roasted it till well browned. I added the roasted pumpkin to a mirepoix mixture, added some chicken broth, and a good dose of dark molasses. The molasses combined with the pumpkin, bringing out some if its natural sweetness. With just a touch of sage. And the cayenne of course dropped a layer of fire on top.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/soup4_upload.0.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />The sweet potatoes were also roasted, but plain. I then combined them also with a mirepoix mixture, some chicken broth, as well as a few teaspoons of powdered ginger and some lime juice and zest. Everyone liked this soup best. Maybe because the pumpkin soup was truly hot hot hot (wimps all!). In the next version, I think I would be a bit more circumspect with the cayenne pepper, just to make sure the ginger and lime flavor of the sweet potato soup came through as well.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/soup5_upload.4.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Placed in the same bowl, the two soups provided an interesting flavor contrast. Similar in foundation, because the sweet potato and the pumpkin have sort of similar textures. But diverse in spice and heat. I put a streak of sage infused olive oil down the middle of the bowls mainly for color, but that also added an element of flavor the meshed nicely. With the fresh bread on the side – a real treat! <br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/soup3_upload.2.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Recipes will be added shortly.<br /><br /><a href="javascript:void(printSpecial('printRecipe1'))">Print Recipe</a><br /><div id="printRecipe1"><br /><strong>Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Cayenne and Molasses</strong><br />Recipe by surfindaave<br />Serves 4 as appetizer<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />1 small pie pumpkin, about 3 pounds, cut into sections, seeds and membranes removed, peeled and flesh cut into 1 inch pieces<br />olive oil<br />1-2 tsp cayenne pepper<br />2 tsp cumin<br />1 onion, chopped<br />1 stalk celery, chopped<br />1 carrot, chopped<br />5-6 cups chicken stock<br />5-6 sage leaves, minced<br />2-3 tbsp dark molasses, or to taste<br /><br />Pre-heat oven to 450ºF.<br /><br />Toss the pumpkin pieces with the olive oil, cayenne pepper and cumin. Spread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes, or until well browned in places and tender. Remove from oven and reserve.<br /><br />In a large soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, celery and carrot, and sauté until softened. <br /><br />Add chicken stock, molasses and sage, stirring to combine. Simmer soup for 30 minutes.<br /><br />Puree soup in batches in a food processor until smooth. Add additional chicken stock to thin to desired consistency. Serve with a sprinkle of sage leaves if desired. Enjoy!<br /></div><br /><br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Sourdough" rel="tag">Sourdough</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Pumpkin+Soup" rel="tag">Pumpkin Soup</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Sweet+Potato+Soup" rel="tag">Sweet Potato Soup</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1163367527083603292006-11-12T13:27:00.000-08:002006-11-14T16:15:30.246-08:00Down and Out in SoCal - No WHB :~(Well, down in any event. For a few hours. Not quite out (football to be watched!).<br /><br />Between all the high school sports events, the celebration yesterday, making the petit fours the previous day, and illness today, I just could not get something together for Weekend Herb Blogging. So, a weekend off. First time in quite a few months. Feeling better now, but too late to make and post something by 3pm.<br /><br />Maybe I can post what we had in mind later this evening, even if it is too late for the WHB round-up.surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1163272338474171252006-11-11T10:59:00.000-08:002006-11-15T16:37:10.490-08:00She’ll only be 50 once!But 29 probably for the next 20 years, just like for the last 20. I won't say who is having the birthday for fear of life-threatening bodily harm.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/fours3_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Seems like 50 is some sort of bad age. People not being cognac or wine. In preparation for the party, everyone wants to focus on the celebration without any mention of the age. I guess it’s not such a challenge any more in this country to make it to 50. A lot of people try to freeze time at 29. As if that is some magical number for an age. Like a numerical fountain of youth. Just keep telling everyone that and you will stay young forever.<br /><br />So she is still panting after the hot young aerobics class ‘spinning’ instructor. Spinning away right next to her now early 20’s daughter panting away at the same instructor. Isn’t it nice when families can enjoy similar passions together? I would say that he’s a lucky guy, but since he is apparently gay (current boyfriend in the class as well), I guess he won’t be taking advantage of that opportunity.<br /><br />Anyhoo, I wanted to make something that I might only make once every 50 years or so for this special occasion.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/fours1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />And I’ll tell you right up front, it was all a lot harder than it looks in these pictures.<br /><br />I got inspired by the last Sugar High Friday – Petit Fours edition. Especially the entry from <a href="http://cake0rdeath.blogspot.com/2006/10/sugar-high-friday-petit-fours.html">Cake or Death’s</a> Liz. She made some really incredible looking stuff called plastic chocolate.<br /><br />So I looked around on the Web, and found a site called <a href="http://www.baking911.com/decorating/chocolate.htm">Baking 911</a>, which lists recipes for making plastic chocolate, as well as the foundational layers for the petit fours that will be covered by the plastic chocolate.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/fours2_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Making plastic chocolate is deceptively easy. It’s just melted chocolate, any sort, kneaded together with light corn syrup. When you mix the two ingredients, you initially get a sort of grainy sand. Continued kneading (like for bread dough) results in a smooth, supple play-dough texture. This can then be rolled out as thin as you fingers will allow you to work with it.<br /><br />I initially made some Genoise cakes, one chocolate, one vanilla, from a basic recipe I found at <a href="http://www.joyofbaking.com/ChocolateGenoise.html">Joy of Baking</a>. I have never made such a cake before. My first attempt looked spectacular. Light. Fluffy. I even got it cut into three layers, and reassembled with raspberry jam between the layers. I was so proud.<br /><br />When TeenBoy opened the fridge, it fell upside down onto the floor from the top shelf of the fridge. And was promptly squished to nothing, and embedded with a layer of dog hairs.<br /><br />I didn’t actually cry. But it took more than a few minutes for me to catch my breath again.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/fpurs6_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Actually it was a stroke of luck. I made two more Genoise cakes the next day, the chocolate one and the vanilla one, and they both turned out better than the first one. Just to be sure, I only cut each one into two layers. So in the final petit fours, there is only one layer of jam or ganache. Three layers I could just barely pull off. I personally do not understand how the cake can be cut into four layers and still be expected to stay together.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/fours5_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Then we made the plastic chocolate. Half with milk chocolate, half with white chocolate. I added some food coloring drops to the white chocolate after kneading to get the colors.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/fours7_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />The two cakes got cut, into 50 pieces of course.<br /><br />And the plastic chocolate got rolled. The milk chocolate got rolled into large sheets, much like a ravioli dough. Using cacao powder instead of flour. I cut them out so they would drape over the top of the cut pieces of cake and down the sides. TeenGirl came up with the idea of folding the corners over on either side, which made the final presentation look a lot like a package wrapped in real paper.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/fours4_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />We then rolled out the different colored white chocolate balls. I could not make a ribbon out of that stuff to save my life. It stuck to my fingers like pine tar, and had no inclination to attach itself to the chocolate wrapped cakes. TeenGirl and TeenBoy both, however, were able to make some very nice ribbon designs on the cakes.<br /><br />In the end, we tried for 50 petit fours, and got about 24 finished and presentable. I think we could have hit 35 if we had to. The rest was destroyed in various ways. The dog was ecstatic. And we have lots of tasty crumbs to enjoy long after the birthday party!<br /><br /><a href="javascript:void(printSpecial('printRecipe2'))">Print Recipe</a><br /><div id="printRecipe2"><br /><strong>Plastic Chocolate – White or Milk Chocolate</strong><br />Based on a recipe found at <a href="http://www.baking911.com/recipes/chocolate/plastic.htm">Baking911.com</a><br />With suggestions added by surfindaave<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />1 pound white or milk chocolate, chopped into small pieces no larger than ¼ inch<br />½ cup light corn syrup<br />Food coloring (for white chocolate)<br />Unsweetened cacao powder (at least one cup)<br />Powdered sugar (at least one cup, probably more)<br /><br />Heat water in a double boiler until it boils. Reduce heat to very low. Place chocolate bits in top of double boiler, and heat, stirring constantly, until most of the chocolate is melted. Remove the chocolate from the double boiler, and continue to stir until all the chocolate is melted, and the chocolate has cooled just a bit.<br /><br />Stir in the corn syrup thoroughly. At first, the mixture will seem like a grainy mess, but with continued stirring, it will smooth out into a sort of modeling clay type texture. It should come easily off the sides of the bowl, and form a non-sticky (or not too sticky) ball. Wrap the ball in plastic wrap, and let sit until completely cooled and firm.<br /><br />When cooled and firm, cut the ball into several pieces (4 to 8) with a sharp knife. For white chocolate, you can now dye each ball separately (see below). For milk chocolate, it’s just easier to knead a smaller ball than everything at once.<br /><br />Knead the plastic chocolate as described below:<br /><br />For milk chocolate:<br />Spread some unsweetened cacao powder on a board, and on a rolling pin. Roll one of the balls in the cacao power. With the rolling pin, begin rolling the chocolate out. It will be very stiff at first, requiring some strong force and short movements. Eventually, it will soften up, and can be rolled flat enough to fold over. Continue to roll the chocolate, turning and folding, until it is soft enough to be kneaded by hand. Continue to knead the chocolate by hand, much like for a bread dough, until it is very smooth and resilient.<br /><br />The chocolate can now be rolled out flat on a cacao powder covered surface to a very thin layer, and cut with a sharp knife into ‘wrapping paper’, ribbons, or other designs. <br /><br />For white chocolate:<br />Spread some powdered sugar on a board, and on a rolling pin. Roll one of the balls in the powered sugar. With the rolling pin, begin rolling the white chocolate out. It will be very stiff at first, requiring some strong force and short movements. Eventually, it will soften up, and can be rolled flat enough to fold over. Continue to roll the white chocolate, turning and folding, until it is soft enough to be kneaded by hand. Continue to knead the white chocolate by hand, much like for bread dough, until it is very smooth and resilient.<br /><br />At this point, food coloring can be added. Wear rubber gloves! Flatten the ball out, dust it with some powdered sugar, and add a few drops (too many and the texture will get too soft to work with!!!), between three and eight drops total, and carefully knead the food coloring into the white chocolate. Colors can be mixed (blue and green to make teal, etc.), as desired. Knead until the color in the white chocolate is uniform. Add additional drops to intensify the color, but do not add too many! Wash the plastic gloves thoroughly between color applications, and be sure to dry them thoroughly as well.<br /><br />The white chocolate can now be rolled out flat on a flat surface lined with max paper to a very thin layer, and cut with a sharp knife into ‘wrapping paper’, ribbons, or other designs. <br /></DIV><br /><br /><a href="javascript:void(printSpecial('printRecipe3'))">Print Recipe</a><br /><div id="printRecipe3"><br /><strong>Chocolate or Vanilla Genoise Cake with filling</strong><br />Recipe from <a href="http://www.joyofbaking.com/ChocolateGenoise.html">Joy of Baking</a><br />Some adaptations by surfindaave<br /><br />Note – since the procedure is identical for chocolate and vanilla genoise cakes, only the ingredients differ, I have listed the ingredients separately, but the procedure just once.<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />Either raspberry jam (not jelly) or chocolate ganache (recipe follows)<br /><br />Chocolate:<br />3 tbsp unsalted butter<br />1 tsp vanilla extract<br />½ cup cake flour (much finer texture than regular white flour, recommended)<br />1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch process cacao powder<br />4 large eggs<br />2/3 cup granulated white sugar<br />additional flour and butter for greasing baking pan<br /><br />Vanilla:<br />3 tbsp unsalted butter<br />1 tsp vanilla extract<br />1 cup cake flour (much finer texture than regular white flour, recommended)<br />4 large eggs<br />2/3 cup granulated white sugar<br />additional flour and butter for greasing baking pan<br /><br />Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Place a wire rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven (important to ensure proper hot air flow over the top of the cake during cooking.<br /><br />Thoroughly butter a 9 inch round cake pan with a removable bottom. Flour the pan, and then flour the pan again with cacao powder. Line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper.<br /><br />In a small bowl, heat the butter and the vanilla extract until very hot in the microwave. Reserve.<br /><br />In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour and cacao powder (or just sift in the flour for the vanilla cake). Reserve.<br /><br />In a large heat-proof bowl, that fits into a pan of simmering water, whisk together the eggs and the sugar. Bring the pan of water to a boil, then reduce the heat to very low. Place the bowl with the eggs and sugar over the simmering water, and whisk until the mixture is heated to lukewarm, about 5 minutes. Do not let the egg mixture sit, or the eggs will cook!<br /><br />Remove the egg mixture from the simmering water, and beat the mixture with an electric mixer at high speed until it triples in volume, about 5 minutes, and becomes thick and fluffy, like whipped cream. It should fall off the beaters in thick ribbons when done. <br /><br />Carefully sift 1/3 of the flour mixture over the beaten eggs. Gently fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Sift ½ of the remaining flour mixture carefully over the egg mixture. Gently fold this into the egg mixture. Repeat for the remaining flour mixture.<br /><br />Reheat the butter mixture until very hot. Stir. Scoop about 1 cup of the egg and flour mixture into the butter, and fold together thoroughly. Gently pour the butter mixture over the egg mixture, and gently but completely fold the butter mixture into the egg mixture. <br /><br />Gently pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Ensure, by tipping just a little, even coverage in the pan. Place the pan in the oven, and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes. When done, the cake will come away from the sides of the baking pan, and will be slightly springy in the center to a gentle touch. <br /><br />Let the cake cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. When the cake is completely cooled, run a knife around the outside and remove the side of the pan. Let the cake cool some more.<br /><br />When cake is completely cooled. Set the cake on a raised surface, like a cutting block. A towel under the cake helps steady the cake and keeps it from turning during the cutting. With a very long serrated knife, and a very steady hand, begin cutting the cake into either thirds (if you're brave!) or in half by cutting in just a little ways, then turning the cake a bit, and cutting in a bit, turning, etc. Until a guide cut has been made around the entire cake. At that point, cut the cake into the desired portions, looking at both sides of the knife as you cut, ensuring both sides are in line with the guide cut.<br /><br />At this point, I slid a piece of very thin but strong cardboard (actually one of those political mailers) into the cut, set a plate on top lined with wax paper, and, using the cardboard to lift, flipped the cake half (or third) onto the plate.<br /><br />If cutting into thirds, repeat the above two paragraphs.<br /><br />For the final piece, place a plate lined with wax paper upside down over the remaining layer. Flip the cake over onto the plate. Very carefully remove the cake pan bottom and the parchment paper round from the bottom of the cake layer.<br /><br />You now have all your layers on separate plates lined with wax paper.<br /><br />Spread the raspberry jelly or chocolate ganache on all except one of the layers. With someone helping, position the layers one by one over each other, and gently slide the layer off the wax paper onto the top of the other layer, ending with the layer that has no jam or ganache on top. <br /><br />You now have a completely reassembled cake with filling between each layer.<br /><br />Using a long sharp serrated knife and a ruler, cut the cake carefully into the desired petit four shapes. Mine were 2 inches long by 1 inch wide.<br /><br />Decorate with the plastic chocolate.<br /></DIV><br /><br /><a href="javascript:void(printSpecial('printRecipe4'))">Print Recipe</a><br /><div id="printRecipe4"><br /><strong>Chocolate Ganache</strong><br />Recipe by surfindaave<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />200 grams of dark chocolate, cut into bits no larger than ¼ inch<br />½ cup heavy cream<br /><br />Place the chocolate bits into a very clean and very dry heat-proof bowl. <br /><br />Bring the cream to a boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate, and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth and well combined.<br /></DIV><br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Plastic+Chocolate" rel="tag">Plastic Chocolate</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Petit+Fours" rel="tag">Petit Fours</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1163029312008923042006-11-08T15:39:00.000-08:002006-11-08T15:57:34.033-08:00Jammin’ with Mugs o’ GuavaSterilize?<br /><br />Sounds too harsh. Like something from Orwell or Kafka. Something that is inflicted on unfortunate people by dark dictatorships. Not something we do in my cheery little kitchen.<br /><br />Besides. Sterilize assumes you actually have something to sterilize. Like those Ma and Pa Kettle style mason jars with the funny two-piece lids.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/jam3_upload.1.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />No jars here. We don’t even have any old pickle or mustard jars that have been recently emptied, as we recycle vigorously. My bad, I guess.<br /><br />But I did find some ancient beer mugs we stole decades ago (!?!) from our old college hang-out. The kind with the false bottom that is actually raised so it looks like you have more beer in the mug than you really do (how dumb could we all have been back then?).<br /><br />So I washed these things of their decades of dust, collected from a half dozen states. No international dust, as they were in storage for those 12 years. But the storage probably added some interesting layers of yuck as well.<br /><br />They do look clear again, not yellow anymore, so I deemed them good enough to hold my freshly concocted pineapple guava honey jam.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/jam2_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />This was something we immediately thought of making as we tasted the pineapple guavas the other week. The taste was nice, but the effort to get the little bit of flesh out of these small fruits was significant in relation to the reward. So it seemed doing it all at once and having it available for the next month or so as a jam would be infinitely more convenient.<br /><br />We went with jam, jelly being basically jam’s no-fiber cousin. The goal was to have all the fruit, not just the flavor. <br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/guava2_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />We also used honey, as we are now a ‘no sugar’ kitchen. I have mentioned this before. I thought the honey would work well with the pineapple flavor of these guavas anyways.<br /><br />So we cooked the pineapple guavas up. Not pectin needed, apparently. The guava must already contain enough natural pectin to create the desired gel-effect. Well, at least that is what I hoped. As all recipes I could find using guavas left out any mention of pectin.<br /><br />I have to say, that whether the jem gels or not, the wonderfully sweet and fragrant pineapple aroma wafting from the kitchen that enveloped the entire house is reason enough to cook up a batch of this fruit. Wow! Like moths drawn to light, everyone began immediately coming by for a closer whiff. Hoping it was something for immediate consumption, disappointed to find they would have to wait.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/jam5_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />I started with about two cups of pineapple guava fruit, seeds and skin removed. Tossed it with the juice of one lemon, cooked that down a bit till soft, then added one half cup mesquite honey, and one half cup agava nectar.<br /><br />I boiled this mixture for a while, maybe 20 minutes or so, and tried to do the droplet test to see when it was done. Apparently, you drop droplets of the cooking jam onto a damp saucer, and observe whether is gels. If so, done. If not, cook more. The danger being that if you cook the jam too long, the result will be too thick and hard, like toffee rather than jam, to spread on toast. Well, I’m not much of a jam expert. So I dropped droplets for a while until, taking a look at what was cooking in the pan, it was clear to me that the stuff cooking would almost certainly be thick enough when cooled. I think I have to try this droplet test again sometime.<br /><br />The results? Delicious. Simply delicious.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/jam6_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />An ethereal combination of pineapple and honey. I am sure guava is in there too, but since I am not an expert on guava flavor, maybe I’m mixing it in with the pineapple. In any event, very nice.<br /><br />The only disappointment, at least temporarily, is that my next batch of sour dough bread is not ready to go yet. I just started it yesterday, so it’s not even bubbling yet. It will be a rye and whole wheat combination. I guess the jam will have to wait a few days for the real taste test!<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/jam7_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><strong>Pineapple Guava Jam</strong><br />I found the initial recipe on a sort of Hawaiian recipe page, and adapted it<br />Recipe from <a href="http://www.hawaii.edu/oceanic/rotuma/os/recipes.htm">Rotaman Recipes</a>, adapted by surfindaave<br />Makes about 2 cups of jam<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />Ripe guavas (I had about 2 pounds of whole pineapple guavas)<br />Juice from one lemon<br />½ cup honey<br />½ cup agava nectar (or use brown sugar)<br />Water (just enough to cover fruit)<br />Jam jars (sterilized)<br /><br />Cut the pineapple guavas in quarters. With a sharp knife, slice the peel from the flesh. Remove the seeds. When making guava jam the outer yellow skins and the seeds are not used. Put the quartered guavas in a large heavy saucepan. Add the lemon juice, and pour just enough water into the saucepan to just cover guavas. Boil briskly until the fruit is all pulpy or soft. Remove from stove.<br /><br />Measure out this fruit mixture, you should have about two cups. I combined the honey and agava nectar and used about 1 cup of that mixture to the two cups of fruit. Some might want to use more sweetener, but I found this to be plenty sweet. Put the fruit and sweetener into a big heavy saucepan and keep boiling briskly, stirring every now and then until a little dropped onto a wet saucer begins to gel or thicken.<br /><br />Appearances can be deceptive, the jam mixture may look and seem to be runny, while it is boiling away merrily on the stove, but do not be fooled by this. If it is over-cooked it will become hard and almost like toffee when it has cooled down.<br /><br />Remove from stove and while still hot fill all the jars. Make sure they have good tight lids. This jam can keep for months.<br /><br />Enjoy!<br /><br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Pineapple+Guava" rel="tag">Pineapple Guava</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Jam" rel="tag">Jam</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1162885601810025982006-11-06T23:32:00.000-08:002006-11-07T00:00:51.416-08:00Hot and Spicy Temperament<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/1600/vote.0.gif"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/200/vote.png" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/1600/vote.gif"></a><br />I was never much of one for cauliflower. Until two things happened.<br /><br />Some years ago, a friend told me that cauliflower was that person’s favorite vegetable.<br /><br />I had to stop and think about that. This was a person who had exhibited good food judgment and taste in the past. All of the sudden cauliflower. Not tomatoes, or carrots, or corn or some other more expected choice. Was I missing something here? I investigated briefly, and decided not. But it sort of stuck in my mind.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/cauliflower1_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Then I began looking into hot cuisines. Like Indian. And it caught my eye how often cauliflower was paired with something spicy hot. Did they know something I did not? Most likely. In fact, of course they did! Most everyone knows lots of stuff I have no clue about. That’s pretty much a given.<br /><br />So I decided to try cauliflower hot and spicy.<br /><br />My experience with cauliflower till that point had been limited to bland Thanksgiving and Christmas veggie trays with onion soup mix sour cream dip set on one of those plastic trays that looked like a turkey or a Christmas tree or something similarly kitschy.<br /><br />I was not inclined to explore further. But I had not really given the oddly shaped vegetable its due.<br /><br />We eventually made up for this oversight by roasting cauliflower. First just with olive oil, then with ever hotter spices. Cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, cumin, etc. And the true nature of cauliflower began to emerge. Hot and spicy! Delicious.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/cauliflower2_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />It turns out that cauliflower has a hot and spicy temperament! Like the kind our movie star Governor Ah-nold was referring to recently (maybe he was really talking about cauliflower?!). You just would never know it to look at it!<br /><br />We make spicy roasted variations of cauliflower on a regular basis now.<br /><br />But today, a new dilemma was upon us. We had not only an aging cauliflower in the fridge, but also some chicken breasts. On the bone. And I was just not in the mood for some complicated fancy chicken affair. Nor did I have the time.<br /><br />I was leaning towards soup. A chicken soup. Where the breasts on the bone would form the basis of a quick broth.<br /><br />And as we were thinking about the soup, TeenGirl suggested we toss the cauliflower in. But that didn’t sit right with anyone. Too bland. Mushy cauliflower dissolved in some chicken broth?<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/cauliflower4_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />Of course, maybe not so bland if we spice it up first. And roast it first. Can you put spicy roasted cauliflower into a soup? And why not?<br /><br />And spicy chicken soup? That actually sounded pretty good. We had some chipotles in the fridge, left over from something. They’re hot. Chicken soup with chipotles and roasted cauliflower? Hmmm. A few more spices. Some beans (ideally pinto, but we only had cannelloni beans). Maybe some bell peppers to round out the veggies.<br /><br />And roasted cauliflower chili chicken soup was born!<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/cauliflower3_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />It may sound unusual (I am avoiding the word strange). But it was pretty damn good. The roasted cauliflower melded wonderfully with the chipotle chilies. You got the nice toasted flavor, with a nice heat, and a wonderfully fresh chicken broth all in one bite. The soup broth itself was very rich in flavor, but thin in texture, despite the beans, so we put it over a scoop of rice (brown, of course!). Something we almost always do, mainly to feed TeenBoy without going broke. You could certainly serve it without the rice as well. A complete and delicious meal in a bowl!<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/cauliflower5_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Roasted Cauliflower and Chili Chicken Soup</strong><br />Recipe by surfindaave<br />Serves 6 to 8 as a main course<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />1 large cauliflower, core removed, broken or cut onto flowerets<br />Olive oil<br />Cumin<br />Cayenne pepper<br />6 split chicken breasts on the bone<br />1 onion, cut into quarters, not peeled<br />1 stalk celery, chopped roughly<br />1 carrot, chopped roughly<br />thyme<br />8 peppercorns<br />salt<br />2 bay leaves<br />2 to 4 chipotle chilies, chopped<br />chili powder<br />paprika<br />3 16 ounce cans cannelloni beans, rinsed<br />2 bell peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces<br />grated cheddar cheese for garnish, if desired<br />cilantro, chopped, for garnish, if desired<br />steamed rice, if desired<br /><br />Preheat the oven to 450ºF.<br /><br />In a large soup pot, combine chicken breasts, onion pieces, celery, carrot, thyme, peppercorns, salt and bay leaves with water to cover. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Simmer the soup, partially covered, for 1 hour.<br /><br />While the chicken cooks, in a large roasting pan, toss the cauliflower pieces with olive oil, cumin and cayenne pepper. Roast for approximately 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until well browned. Remove from oven and let cool.<br /><br />When the soup has cooked an hour, remove from heat and remove all chicken pieces and all vegetables. Let the chicken pieces cool. Remove the chicken from the bone, and shred it with a fork.<br /><br />If possible, remove any fat that has risen to the top of the broth.<br /><br />Bring the broth to a gentle boil, and add the chipotles, the beans, and the spices to taste. Let cook for 10 minutes. Add the bell pepper pieces and cook for 5 minutes. Add the shredded chicken and the roasted cauliflower pieces, and let heat through, stirring gently.<br /><br />Put a scoop of steamed rice in a soup bowl. Ladle the soup around the rice. Sprinkle with grated cheese and chopped cilantro, if desired. Serve. Enjoy!<br /><br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cauliflower" rel="tag">Cauliflower</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Chicken+Soup" rel="tag">Chicken Soup</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23886850.post-1162765427347550152006-11-05T14:17:00.000-08:002006-11-05T14:34:09.616-08:00Popcorn of the Gods - WHBI know people have written about Amaranth before for WHB. As the greens are used in a number of cuisines. Indian. South American. Asian. Maybe not the most widely known type of green, but common enough, none the less.<br /><br />So I wasn’t really looking to comment on the Amaranth greens.<br /><br />But in my recent dabblings into various types of whole grains, I stumbled across Amaranth the grain. This caught my eye because of reading about amaranth the green in this forum.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/amaranth2_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />And shortly thereafter, I found some recipes that use both the green part and the grain part of Amaranth to make some surprisingly tasty dishes. The grain is used both whole, popped, and ground into a flour.<br /><br />Popped! Like teeny tiny pop corn! You have to read the links to see what the Gods have to do with it, but suffice to say they were Aztec Gods.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/amaranth3_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />It’s sort of been the trend lately to create dishes that use many variations of, or different parts of, a given ingredient in one dish. So here comes my contribution to pop cuisine!<br /><br />The other reason I became more interested in Amaranth the grain is its nutritional value. Offering a much more complete protein than almost any other grain. Putting it on par with Quinoa and Buckwheat. This is of special interest to anyone trying to reduce the amount of animal-derived protein in their diet, whether from health reasons or ethical ones. It’s tough to get sufficient protein from plants alone. So finding one that offers an especially complete array of amino acids and a significantly higher amount of protein per weight is noteworthy.<br /><br />Plus, it is gluten-free. Which is also of interest to many.<br /><br />Plus, to be honest, the Quinoa did not get good reviews here. I’ve made it several times, a couple of different ways, and there is always lots left over (a bad sign), and usually that eventually gets tossed (an even worse sign). Nothing against Quinoa, but there is not a tremendous amount of flavor there. The Amaranth solves that problem.<br /><br />I have included a number of links to Amaranth information below. Since they lay out the history, chemistry and botany of the issue much better than I could, plus a number of interesting sounding recipes, I will leave it at that, and focus on the fun we had with this unique plant.<br /><br />Except for one tiny comment – if you read the history of this fantastically nutritious grain in the links below, used by the Aztecs for thousands (!) of years, until the religiously fanatical Western ‘explorers’ came and forbid them to eat or grow the stuff, things like that make me wonder that these ‘explorers’ have ended up so unquestioningly celebrated in our history books, and also, what other things of potential value they destroyed in these self-centered fanatical pursuits. But, to the victor goes the spoils, I guess, and this is just a food blog.<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaranth">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaranth</a><br /><a href="http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1993/v2-211.html">http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1993/v2-211.html</a><br /><a href="http://dmoz.org/Home/Cooking/Grains/Amaranth/">http://dmoz.org/Home/Cooking/Grains/Amaranth/</a><br /><a href="http://www.nuworldamaranth.com/content/resources/recipes.asp">http://www.nuworldamaranth.com/content/resources/recipes.asp</a><br /><a href="http://www.recipetips.com/kitchen-tips/t-135-1019/SautéingFryingStirFrying-Grains.asp">http://www.recipetips.com/kitchen-tips/t-135-1019/SautéingFryingStirFrying-Grains.asp</a><br /><a href="http://www.globalgourmet.com/ggt/ggt0498/ggt043098.html">http://www.globalgourmet.com/ggt/ggt0498/ggt043098.html</a><br /><br />The Quinoa experiences were the basis of Teenboy’s concerns when he asked me, as I was preparing the Amaranth grain dish for dinner, if this was another of those weird health diet meals. I.e. should he begin a pre-dinner heavy snacking cycle to compensate for the anticipated yucky dinner about to be served? I could offer only vague sympathies, no concrete assurances.<br /><br />But one try of the Amaranth grain, and I am sold. One hundred percent. It’s good. And even better, it’s fun!<br /><br />This stuff pops! Into miniature pop corn like stuff. Millions of tiny white puffs flying all over your kitchen if you’re not careful. And it’s both easy and fun to do!<br /><br />So for fun, I found a few recipes that I combined into one dish that use the Amaranth grain as a whole grain, in its puffed form, and includes the Amaranth greens as well, ending up with Chicken in Amaranth Sauce with Cheesy Amaranth Grits. For <a href="http://kalynskitchenlinks.blogspot.com/2005/12/weekend-herb-blogging-weekly-recap.html" rel="tag">Weekend Herb Blogging</a>, sponsored by <a href="http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/" rel="tag">Kalyn’s Kitchen</a>.<br /><br />When you cook Amaranth grain, it mushes up, sort of like corn meal. And makes a sort of grits. So we made cheesy Amaranth grain grits.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/amaranth8_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />The puffed form of Amaranth grain can act as a thickening agent, a flavoring agent, and a decorative garnish. So me made a unique Mexican dish that combines chicken breasts with a spicy sauce based on puffed Amaranth grain, that has the Amaranth greens in it, and has a sprinkle of puffed Amaranth grains on top for both flavor and decoration.<br /><br />The grits were delicious. The Amaranth grain has a very tasty nutty flavor, not too strong. It eventually cooked into a thick pasty grit. I added a heap of parmesan cheese to it, which thickened it up a bit more, and added a nice complementary flavor. Delicious. We will be making this again.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/amaranth10_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />The chicken dish is based on a sauce that uses the puffed grain as a thickening agent. We first heated a skillet up until it was practically glowing. Then tossed in a tablespoon or so of the tiny grains, and quickly slapped on the lid. The stuffed began popping explosively. And filled the skillet with a layer of white puffy snow. We repeated this procedure a few times to get the two cups of puffed grains we needed. The puffed grains were then combined with chipotle chilies and chicken broth, and processed until smooth. I think you can see in the picture how thick and rich the sauce became.<br /><br />The Amaranth greens were sautéed with some onions, tomatoes and spices. The puffed Amaranth sauce was added, along with the browned chicken breasts, and everything was left to braise a little, combining flavors and getting thick. Delicious. Popcorn for dinner. Easier than it sounds, very unique in flavors, and an all around wonderful dish. Low fat, full of vegetables, and full of this very enjoyably flavored Amaranth grain.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1879/2473/400/amaranth12_upload.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Chicken in Amaranth Sauce on cheesy Amaranth Grits</strong><br />From the Web site <a href="http://www.nuworldamaranth.com/content/resources/Recipes/all/Entrees/1026.asp">NuWorldAmaranth.com</a><br /><br />Recipe Category: Entree (gluten free)<br />This dish, and other similar chicken and Amaranth combinations, are also called mole de amaranto and tinga de pollo con amaranto, depending on the part of the country where they are found. Despite its different regional names, the dish always contains chipotle chilies.<br />Diet Types: gluten free, casein free<br />Makes 4 servings<br /><br />4 boneless chicken breast halves, salted to taste<br />2 tablespoons corn oil<br />2 large white onions, peeled and cut into thin half-moons<br />2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped<br />1 cup Amaranth leaves, or small, young spinach leaves, cut into thin strips<br />1/2 lb. tomatoes, seeded and peeled<br />2 canned chipotle chilies in adobo<br />1 cup puffed Amaranth (recipe follows)<br />1 1/2 cups well-seasoned chicken broth<br />Cheesy Amaranth Grits (recipe follows)<br /><br />Wash the chicken pieces and pat them dry.<br />In a large skillet, heat the oil and sauté the chicken until just golden brown on both sides.<br />Remove to a platter; add the onions, garlic and Amaranth leaves to the skillet, and sauté until the onion slices are transparent.<br />Place the tomatoes, chipotles, puffed Amaranth, and chicken broth in the blender, and purée.<br />Add the purée to the ingredients in the skillet and cook 10 minutes.<br />Return the chicken to the skillet and cook until the chicken is just done.<br />Serve some sauce over each piece of chicken and adorn with a sprinkle of additional puffed Amaranth, if desired.<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>Cheesy Amaranth Grits</strong><br />Recipe adapted from various Internet sources by surfindaave<br />Serves 4 as a side dish<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />1 cup amaranth grain<br />1 small clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped<br />1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped<br />3 cups chicken stock<br />Sea salt or tamari soy sauce to taste<br />1 ½ cups grate parmesan cheese<br />Hot sauce, if desired<br />Chopped tomatoes for garnish, if desired<br /><br />Combine the amaranth, garlic, onion, and stock in a 2 quart saucepan. Boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered until most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 20 to 25 minutes.<br /><br />Add the grated wheeze and stir well. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil while stirring constantly until thickened. Add salt or tamari to taste.<br /><br />Stir in a few drops of hot sauce, if desired, and garnish with chopped tomatoes.<br /><br /><br /><strong>Puffed Amaranth</strong><br />Recipe by surfindaave<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />Several tablespoons of Amaranth grain<br /><br />Heat a small skillet with a lid that fits over high heat until it is very hot. Pour one to two table spoons of Amaranth grain into the skillet, cover immediately with the fitting lid, and begin shaking the pan. The popping should begin within a few seconds. As the popping dies down, and before the popped kernels burn, remove the skillet from the heat and pour the popped grain into a heat proof bowl.<br /><br />Repeat as above to pop as much Amaranth as necessary. Do not crowd the skillet with too much Amaranth each time, or it will steam and not pop. If the Amaranth does not start popping within a few seconds, your skillet was not hot enough (my problem the first time).<br /><br />The popped Amaranth can be used to thicken sauces, as a topping, in shakes, as a sort of popcorn ball, or even eaten with milk as a cereal. All these recipes are floating around on the Internet.<br /><br />Tags : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Recipes" rel="tag">Recipes</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Cooking" rel="tag">Cooking</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Amaranth" rel="tag">Amaranth</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Greens" rel="tag">Greens</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Grains" rel="tag">Grains</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Weekend+Herb+Blogging" rel="tag">Weekend Herb Blogging</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/WHB" rel="tag">WHB</a> : <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Food" rel="tag">Food and Dining</a>surfindaavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064839267257041616noreply@blogger.com7