A Closed Mouth Gathers No Food

Stuffin' Things

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:34:00 +0000

*** HAPPY 38TH ANNIVERSARY TO MY WONDERFUL PARENTS!!! ***

Note: We're posting this several days after it was written - we've been busy!


Pomegranates make you work for their yummy goodness, but they are worth the work.

Hethyr: I have been so busy with clients over the last few weeks that I’ve barely had time to cook for Jon and myself at home. He’s made grilled cheese or quesadillas a few times this week, which is great, but we’ve run out of some of our basics and I think we’ve both been craving something a little more “classy.” So, from Friday night until now, I’ve been cooking up a storm. Sometimes, that’s just the way it goes at our house. I have to catch up whenever I can and that often means on the weekends. Last weekend was grocery shopping and this weekend has been cooking. I picked up a couple of special Fall items from Whole Foods last weekend, including a couple of pomegranates and some clementines, to use in the recipe for this blog post.

After cooking for a client on Friday, I made barbecue chicken and smoked mozzarella pizza for dinner. It was so loaded with goodies, we could each only eat one piece, so we had the rest for lunch the next day. Saturday, starting around the ass-crack of dawn, I made yogurt starter (so I can keep making new batches of yogurt without having to buy new cultures), yogurt (from an entire gallon of milk!), four loaves of whole-wheat sandwich bread (using the whey drained off of a previous batch of yogurt) and stuffed winter squash for dinner (see recipe below!). This morning I started a huge batch of chicken and andouille sausage gumbo (which took most of the day to cook and about which we’ll blog in the near future), then moved on to a batch of chicken stock (from the leftover chicken bones and scraps), a couple of dozen hard-boiled eggs (to serve with the gumbo) and eight loaves of artisan bread (which Jon calls “nipple bread” due to the shape and which I’m still in the process of baking). Man, I’m a masochist. But what else are a couple of busy foodies to do?

It made me laugh out loud yesterday when my dad responded to the picture of the sandwich bread that I posted on Facebook (see picture at left) with “I expect this for Christmas now.” He’ll probably get it, too. For now, we’ll freeze most of our bread, gumbo and stock since I only get occasional chances to cook for us, but we’ll eat some of the gumbo and fresh bread for dinner tonight. Yum!

Between cooking for clients and cooking for us, I’ve been in the kitchen nearly non-stop since last Monday. So tomorrow, I’m taking the day off from cooking. I’m going to balance out with some a.m. yoga, volunteer in Jon’s classroom in the afternoon and, to treat him for his birthday later this week (and to treat myself for all of the hard work that I’ve put in this weekend!), we’re going out for sushi tomorrow night.

POM-a-POM-a-POM-a-POM-a-POM-a-POM-eleon Stuffed Squash

Serves 3 to 6 (depending on the size of your appetite!)

6 small winter squash (I used Gold Nugget), halved and seeded
¾ cup honey
¼ cup pomegranate juice
2 tablespoons butter
2 small cippolini onions (or shallots), sliced
2 tablespoons mixed herbs (I used thyme, rosemary and sage), minced
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 cup cooked, shredded chicken
¾ cup toasted walnuts, chopped, divided use
¾ cup pomegranate arils (from 1 pomegranate), divided use
2 small clementines, peeled and pieces separated and halved
1/2 cup Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
Salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375°F; place squash halves cut-side-down in a 13- x 9-inch baking dish and add about 1-inch of water to the pan. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove from oven.

2. Meanwhile, combine honey and pomegranate juice in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until slightly thickened. Set aside.

3. Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add sliced cippolini onions and chopped herbs and cook until onions are translucent, about 4 to 5 minutes.

4. In a large bowl, combine onion-herb mixture with cooked rice, cooked and shredded chicken, ½ cup chopped walnuts, ½ cup pomegranate arils, clementine pieces, Gorgonzola cheese and ¼ cup pomegranate honey. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Stuff squash halves with equal amounts of filling and place back in the baking dish (stuffed-side-up). With about 1-inch of water in the bottom of the dish, place it back in the oven and bake at 375°F for another 30 minutes.

6. Place squash on plates, drizzle with remaining pomegranate honey and top with remaining walnuts and pomegranate arils.

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Instead of a snowman, we built a squashman.

Jon: We swim in a deep sea of squash this time of year. All different sizes, various shapes, random colors, miscellaneous degrees of lumpiness... I rarely even know what kind of squash any of them are. Currently our squash inventory includes Yugoslavian Finger, Jarrahdale, pumpkin, Chirimen, Gold Nugget, and Hubbard. I don't even understand what most of those words mean. We have so many and we eat them often enough that even I have cooked more of them than I can count. Although admittedly I deal with them slightly less frequently since inadvertently blowing one up in the microwave.

I love eating things stuffed inside of other things, and squash is no exception. When Hethyr told me her plan for putting pomegranate, honey, rice, onions, nuts, clementines, chicken, and cheese inside of a squash, I gave her a resounding "huh?" I can't even begin to understand the intricacies of concocting such a dish. I can, however, understand the process of eating it, and I ate the hell out of this one. It was sweet and savory and sour all at the same time. The pomegranate seeds and walnuts gave it a nice crunch. This was one seriously intense dish. Did I mention I ate the hell out of it? It was delicious.

The pomegranate is a common symbol of prosperity and fertility in many ancient cultures and religions. If you have the skills to do it, I highly recommend making this recipe. May it bring you infinite wealth and piles of babies.

Man with One Chopstick Go Hungry

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 18:27:00 +0000

Pretty sure this is NOT
the name of the place
where we ate!
Pic from everfunny.com.

Hethyr: As I mentioned in the last post, my mom and dad were pretty adventurous eaters when I was a kid and my sisters and I were exposed to a variety of different cuisines. Our family frequented this one particular Chinese restaurant a couple of blocks away from our house and the food was always good, but the house dessert left a lot to be desired. The server would bring each of us a deep-fried banana and all six of us would giggle uncontrollably as soon as he or she left the table. I don’t know what it was about those bananas, but they were absolutely disgusting. I think maybe it was because the batter was really bitter-tasting and not at all sweet. It somehow became our “thing” to try to hide the bananas in our uneaten food (which we usually didn’t take home for some reason) without the staff finding them. It never worked. They always found the bananas and put them in take-home containers for us. I guess they had their own little joke.

Although I don’t torture Jon with deep-fried bananas (maybe I'll start), I often subject him to Asian food, which I love. Luckily he loves it, too. We still have a lot of great produce on hand, so last night I made a stir-fry to use up some of the veggies. The “recipe” was so easy that it actually took longer to prep the veggies than it did to cook the food. The whole meal took less time than it would have to run out for Asian take-out. Honestly. It really wasn’t a recipe, though... it was just me throwing a bunch of stuff in a pan at a fairly high temperature, adding a super-simple sauce and throwing it all on top of some brown rice. That’s actually my usual stir-fry “recipe” and no two stir-fries have ever been the same.

I'm wokkin' broccol-ay-ay!

As usual with my recipes, don’t let the ingredients list scare you. I always find ways to make things more difficult on myself, so I used every vegetable we had. You can use just two or three and it will still be delicious. You can add meat, seafood, tofu, beans, etc. for protein. The sauce is so amazingly easy, but it is my absolute favorite stir-fry sauce. Sweet, spicy and salty all at the same time. A damn party in my mouth. For a splash of brightness at the end, I garnish it with cilantro and for a nutty crunch, sesame seeds top it all off. Hope you enjoy this as much as we did. I ate a super-sized serving and thought about going back for seconds, but decided I'd let Jon eat lunch today.

Love You Long Time Stir-Fry

Serves 6

-1/4 cup soy sauce

-1/4 cup honey

-1/4 cup sweet chili sauce (such as Mae Ploy)

-2 tablespoons oil (I used coconut oil)

-1 teaspoon sesame oil

-2-inch piece ginger root, peeled and minced

-1 teaspoon garlic, minced

-2 scallions, sliced

-Approximately 6 cups fresh vegetables:

1 pound broccoli florets, cut small

1 pound cauliflower florets, cut small

1 medium kohlrabi, peeled and diced

1 medium turnip, peeled and julienned

2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced

1/2 small red cabbage, coarsely chopped

1 medium zucchini, quartered and sliced

-1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish

-3 tablespoons sesame seeds (toasted if desired)

1. In a glass measuring cup or small bowl, combine soy sauce, honey and sweet chili sauce. Set aside.

2. Heat oils in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add ginger, garlic and scallions and stir-fry for 30 seconds or until fragrant.

3. Add broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, turnip and carrots and stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes or until broccoli is starting to turn bright green. Add cabbage and zucchini and continue to stir-fry until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 2 to 3 more minutes.

4. Remove skillet or wok from heat and stir in sauce.

5. If desired, spoon stir-fry over prepared rice in a serving dish and top with chopped cilantro and sesame seeds.

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Jon: There is something very satisfying about eating Asian food. A rice and veggie meal digests like a champ. Anytime I eat a stir-fry, I feel like I just did my body a favor. It's no random unexplainable occurrence that most Asians are thin and most Americans are fat. Swapping some meat and potatoes for some rice and veggies is good for the body and the soul.

I'm not sure, however, that I've experienced the pleasure of the deep-fried banana. Dunking a banana in a fryer seems to me like a great way to ruin a perfectly good piece of fruit. Actually, most Asians desserts freak me out a bit. But maybe that's another important key to Asian thinness... if we had unappealing desserts in this country, maybe we wouldn't choose to inhale an extra thousand calories and quarter cup of sugar immediately following a full meal. While a fortune cookie might look and taste like thin cardboard, it sure isn't going to add any new layers to your muffin top.

This stir fry felt a little like the grand finale send-off of some of our summer veggies. Broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, kohlrabi, cabbage... see ya again in June. Swimming in a sea of soy sauce, honey, and chili sauce and floating on a bed of rice is a noble way for any vegetable to transition into winter hibernation.

Curry Me to Warmer Climes

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 18:58:00 +0000

Hethyr: Just a couple of days ago, I was in warm, sunny Florida visiting my family. Outdoor festivals, swimming, bike rides, long walks on the beach, baseball/softball games, boating, dinner and drinks on the patio. The weather was about as perfect as it gets… 80s and sunny with low humidity.

Tuesday in Florida

Yesterday, reality slapped me in the face when it snowed in Colorado Springs. Meh. I am not a cold-weather person, to say the very least. I am rendered completely useless by the slightest chill in the air. You may think that I’m a total idiot for living in Colorado since I don’t like the cold. You may be right.

Saturday in Colorado

The freezing temperatures and rain/snow put me in the mood for comfort food. I gave Jon a few options for dinner and we actually had a lot of trouble deciding on what we wanted because everything sounded so good. This time of year is great for produce here. We have the last of summer’s tomatoes, zucchini, green peppers and eggplant and the first of fall’s carrots, onions, potatoes and turnips. This makes for a cornucopia of choices when it comes to planning meals. Yeah, I just said cornucopia. Sometimes we end up with such a variety of produce in our fridge that I like to use a bunch of it up at once. Last night was one of those nights.

We ended up deciding on a curry, which was absolutely delicious. We are going to work our way through the other options over the next couple of days since we really wanted to have all of them. Today’s menu will consist of breakfast burritos with lots of veggies and beef chorizo, leftover curry for lunch and stuffed bell peppers for dinner. Tomorrow we’ll have a veggie frittata for lunch and eggplant parmigiano for dinner. Jon is one lucky man-guy this week!

When people ask me about my favorite things to cook, I always reply “ethnic foods.” I grew up in an Italian family, so Italian food is second-nature to me and I still love it. My parents were pretty adventurous eaters when we were kids, so I grew to love foods from other cultures as well. Although I thoroughly enjoy simply prepared dishes which highlight foods’ natural flavors, I also adore using herbs and spices to complement those same foods.

I have cabinets, drawers and bins full of spices and am constantly adding new and exotic items. My most recent gift from Jon was a collection of 12 salts from around the world. It is one of the best gifts I’ve ever received and I use the salts every single day. Um, I’m starting to get a little off the subject...

Anyway, when I was craving comfort food yesterday, I kept thinking about curry and that’s eventually what we ended up having. To me, the warm spiciness of curry was the perfect antidote to a cold and dreary day. I’ll give you the recipe for the version I made, but feel free to substitute any vegetables that you have on hand. And I realize that my ingredients list is lengthy, but I was just using things from my fridge – you don’t have to make yours this complicated. I served mine over brown basmati rice with saffron.

Mixed Vegetable Curry

Serves 6

2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons curry powder (your favorite blend)
1 tablespoon fresh ginger root, minced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/2 small onion, diced into 1/2-inch pieces
2 small carrots, sliced 1/4-inch
2 small green peppers, seeded, ribbed and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
1 small turnip, quartered, then sliced 1/4-inch
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock or water
1 small kohlrabi, peeled and julienned 1/4-inch
2 small potatoes, cubed 3/4-inch
1 medium zucchini, cubed 3/4-inch
1 medium eggplant, cubed 3/4-inch
1/2 small red cabbage, chopped coarse
Cilantro, chopped for garnish
Crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add curry powder, ginger and garlic and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until fragrant.

2. Add onion, green bell peppers, carrots and turnips and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.

3. Add coconut milk and stock and bring to a boil. Add kohlrabi and potatoes and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Add stock or water a little at a time if sauce becomes too thick.

4. Add zucchini, eggplant and cabbage and cook for 5 more minutes or until vegetables are fork-tender.

5. Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro and red pepper flakes.

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Jon: Fall has always been my favorite time of year. I love the cool weather, the changing leaves, football, and even the start of school. Living in Colorado, the one major thing I miss during fall is the changing leaves. Yes, we have some colorful deciduous trees and tons of Aspens that transform to yellow prior to shedding their canopy, but it is nothing like what we experienced when living in the Midwest, and nothing even close to the visual ecstasy of our autumn in Boston. But one thing that I love about this time of year in Colorado is the unpredictable weather. I love the fact that we've had beautiful, cool, sunny weather for two weeks straight... then woke up to a cold, snowy Saturday morning.

The timing sucked for Hethyr, however. The cold weather hit just as I picked her up at the airport. As she mentioned, she can't handle the cold. Garr, our fat-free fourteen-year-old dog, is the only other creature I've met who shivers when it's 68 degrees. Hethyr and Garr spend most of the non-summer months wrapped up in blankets on the couch. They morph into two big frozen burritos, hibernating until the summer sun heats them back up sometime around June.

Garr-ito

While I'm ready for "comfort food" any time of year, it definitely tastes best when it is cold outside. The curry last night (and the monster burrito this morning) did, in fact, succeed in raising my comfort level. I love meals that can fill you up to the brink of bursting but still allow you to feel satisfied because it is all healthy veggies and grains. It's good food for the body, mind, and soul.

So the real question remains... when Hethyr ate the breakfast burrito this morning, was it cannibalism? Fortunately for her it will be warm again this upcoming week, so maybe she can shed her outer tortilla.

It's Not About Who Wins or Loses, It's All About Who Has the Best Darth Vader Mug

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 02:34:00 +0000

Hethyr: As Jon put it in a prior post, I’ve got mad skills. MAD skills. Like the kind of mad skills it takes to lose a cooking competition to a competitor who didn’t actually cook anything. These are the same kind of mad skills it takes to hit the mat out from under the ball while playing putt-putt. There are just so few people who can actually pull off something like that!

Anyway, at the competition this past weekend, the judges' taste buds were a little too "sensitive" for my flavorful dish. Their spokesman told me it was too sweet. Honey can be a little overwhelming! (Sarcasm thoroughly intended.) If it’s too sweet for you, you’ll probably want to go and put on you big girl panties! The other chef’s raw watermelon gazpacho was good, but a touch too bland for my wild taste buds. Hey, what can I say? I represent the Dark Side. I need a little excitement in my life!

"Perhaps I can find new
ways to motivate them."

Knowing Heather's angelic ways, I figured she would make something ultra-healthy with vegetables and/or fruit. I did want to include some produce, but I wanted to show that there are other great foods available at the farmers’ market as well. We were allowed a few additional items other that what we purchased at the market and I chose raw cream, homemade butter and a couple of spices. I skimmed the cream off of our raw milk and I made the butter from some of the cream. We pick our milk up from the Wednesday farmers’ market, so I figured it was the next best thing to actually purchasing it at the market where the "cook-off" was held.

The competition started, yada, yada, yada...

Chopping peaches

The He*th*rs in action

There was quite the crowd
at the market that day!

Plating my creation

Handing over my masterpiece for judgement

...she won.

After the judges tasted my creation and moved onto Heather’s, the crowd became a flock of vultures, devouring what was left, so at least I know their taste buds were working!

The vultures moving in

Teresa Farney from the Gazette asks
questions as we clean up our messes

Without further ado, here is the recipe for my not-so-award-winning…

Cardamom French Toast with Lavender-Peach Honey

Serves 4

Photo by Kathya Ethington

2 large ripe peaches, pitted
1 cup raw unfiltered honey, local if possible
1 1/2 teaspoons dried lavender
4 large farm-fresh eggs
1/4 cup cream, raw if possible *
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
8 to 12 slices of sturdy bread (I used ciabatta), cut 3/4-inch thick
2 tablespoons butter plus additional for buttering toast (homemade is best but not required)
Whipped cream, homemade from raw cream if possible *

* Note: Raw milk is not legal in all states... don't even get me started.

1. Cut one peach into large chunks and thinly slice the other; set aside the slices.

2. Purée the peach chunks in a food processor and combine with the honey and lavender in a medium saucepan. Place over medium-low to medium heat and simmer while preparing the toast.

3. Combine the eggs, cream and cardamom in a flat shallow dish and whisk until well mixed.

4. Working in batches if necessary, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Dip bread slices into egg mixture and coat well on both sides. Place into the skillet and cook until first side is golden-brown.

5. While toast is cooking, strain the honey mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Discard the remaining solids, add reserved peach slices to the honey and stir to coat.

6. Flip bread and cook until second side is golden brown. Remove from skillet and plate.

7. Butter French toast slices, then top with honey and peaches. Finish with a dollop of whipped cream.

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Jon: Ahhhhh, big fat pieces of French toast with a peachy topping and fresh whipped cream on a cool September morning at the farmer’s market. What could be more satisfying? For the audience of the chef challenge, apparently nothing. You should have seen the crowd swarm like vultures on those breakfast plates. The toast never stood a chance.

The best thing about this whole deal for me was the practice round. A few days before the contest, Hethyr tried out the recipe on me. As I stuffed my gullet with a mountain of French toast with that luscious peach sauce, I knew that it was a recipe that would beat the crap out of anything the opponent was making. And it sure did. This stuff was amazing, and even more incredible that it was made with fresh, local ingredients.

So don’t worry, it always appears at first as if the Dark Side has been defeated… but I think we’ve all seen enough Star Wars movies and Futurama episodes to know better. The mug knows best…

Dueling Chef Challenge and Local Food Week

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:07:00 +0000

It's Local Food Week from September 17th through September 25th and I'm helping to kick off events by participating in a farmers' market shopping and cooking challenge this coming Saturday (9/17/11) beginning at 9:30am at the Colorado Farm and Art Market which takes place at The Margarita at Pine Creek. I'll be taking on Chef Heather from Change Personal Chef Service... Hethyr vs. Heather! Jon and I get a kick out of this for several reasons. The similarities/differences don't end with our profession and names. We're both pretty tiny and around the same age. I have dark curly hair and she has blond curly hair. I have a black chef coat, she has a white chef coat. Sort of reminds me of the concept of yin yang. Or the movie Black Swan... MWAHAHAHA! ;)

Chef Hethyr Pletsch of
Everyday Gourmet Colorado

Chef Heather Mitchell of
Change Personal Chef Service

VS.

I'm sure we'd both appreciate all of the support we can get, but since you're a reader of my blog, please come out and cheer on the Dark Side!!!

What: Dueling Chef Challenge with Chef Hethyr of Everyday Gourmet Colorado and Chef Heather of Change Personal Chef Service
When: Saturday, September 17th at 9:30am
Where: Colorado Farm and Art Market at The Margarita at Pine Creek, 7350 Pine Creek Rd., Colorado Springs (map)

And don't forget to check out the other Local Food Week events taking place in Colorado Springs!

Local Food Week Events Calendar

Hanging in Boulder, Another Year Older

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 03:49:00 +0000

Hethyr: If you’ve read the last couple of posts, you’ll know that I’m currently on an elimination diet to heal my gut. I had another appointment with Dr. Restricto last week and was told that I need to be on this diet for at least another month and then we’ll reassess to see if I’m ready to add certain foods back. I was pretty bummed to hear that but I know it’s all for a good reason and if it makes me feel better in the long run, then it’s worth it. HOWEVER, I have a birthday coming up this week… How old am I going to be, you ask? Don’t you know it’s not polite to ask a lady (or young girl, in my case) her age? As some country song by someone I’ve never heard of says “I’m old enough to know better but I’m still too young to care.”

Since my birthday is right around Labor Day (and sometimes actually falls on Labor Day), I often get the three day weekend to celebrate. This year, Jon has a school function on my actual birthday, so we decided to celebrate early this weekend. I made sure to ask Dr. Restricto if I could do a little cheating and she said “Yes! Eat whatever you want – it’s your birthday.” I knew that I didn’t want to go completely overboard or I’d feel like crap, but there are a couple of things that I’ve been missing terribly. So…

I decided on my perfect day. We got up without an alarm, I did yoga and then we headed up to Boulder to hang out for the day. We started with a trip to the famous Saturday farmers’ market.

It's the biggest one I've ever seen!

I was pretty much set on a good loaf of bread, some kind of savory jam or spread (we ended up with two different types of olive tapenade), some good cheese and some heirloom tomatoes for lunch, so we set out with intention. We found everything we needed and some extra items for good measure. We brought home some extra cheese, sweet corn and olive tapenade.

Searching for the perfect
organic produce

Where we eventually bought
our tomatoes

A plethora of pretty, pretty produce

With our market booty, we headed to Boulder Creek for a picnic. We found a nice little spot by the creek’s edge and laid out our feast. The weather could not have been more perfect – mid-70s and sunny with a tiny bit of a breeze. Some people were floating down the crystal clear creek in tubes, some were wading around and many (like us) were just lazing near the water’s edge soaking up rays and enjoying the beautiful day.

Boulder Creek on a perfect day

Crusty bread with Camembert, olive and red pepper
tapenade and a gorgeous heirloom tomato

Me with my mouth full

The ducks wanted in on the feast

Drinking wine out of plastic cups
by Boulder Creek - that's class.

After lunch, we headed to Pearl Street for a little vintage shopping before dinner. Although the vintage shops seem to carry mostly 80s clothing and nothing we were really into (are we seriously THAT old?!?!), we had fun poking around and laughing at some of the tackier items.

At around 5pm, we walked to the restaurant where we wanted to have dinner to check it out and see if we could get reservations (we were told on the phone that they only took reservations for parties of six or more). Apparently, they do take reservations but they were full for the whole night. The hostess said for the best chance of getting a table, we should probably come back in about 20 minutes - yep, 5:20pm. Well, we really, really wanted to eat at Salt the Bistro so we made a quick trip to one more vintage store and then headed back. We were able to get a table outside and decided to have a drink before ordering anything so we might be a little hungrier when we actually made our order. Jon had one of our favorite local milk stouts from Left Hand Brewing Company and I had a local gluten-free beer from New Planet. See? I tried to be a little bit good.

Finally we decided on an appetizer of crusty bread topped with shiitake and matsutake mushrooms from local Hazel Dell Mushrooms and some kind of buttery white sauce, drizzled with truffle oil. Of course we never remember to take pictures before digging in, so you’ll probably notice some bites missing…

We knew we wanted to order dessert, so decided against salad/soup and first course and went straight for the entrées. Jon had a beautiful salmon dish and I opted for the local grilled pork chop with crispy polenta, local green beans and a grilled Colorado peach. The pork chop was one of the tastiest I’ve ever eaten in my life (it was brined before cooking) and unlike most gourmet restaurants, the portion was so large that I brought home half for lunch today. Amazingly, this is the dish that I really wanted above anything else on the menu and everything was within my dietary guidelines. See? I was good without intention, even!

But then there was dessert. >=) Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Cake. Oh yeah. The description per Salt’s website is “black onyx chocolate cake with hazelnut butter & housemade Earl Grey ice cream.” It was devilishly good.

Half-eaten Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

On the way home, Jon and I laughed about how much my idea of a perfect day has changed in the 14 years we’ve been together and about the fact that we’d probably end up in bed by 10pm. Here’s to getting old! And here’s my recipe for my perfect birthday…

Perfect Birthday

1 hour of yoga

1 cup of coffee for hubby and 1 cup of tea for wifey

1 hour at the enormous and awesome Boulder farmers’ market resulting in:

1 good loaf of crusty bread from local Udi’s bakery

1 wheel of Camembert cheese from local MouCo Cheese Company

1 jar of olive tapenade and 1 jar of olive and red pepper tapenade from

local Loredana’s Pesto

2 ripe organic heirloom tomatoes from local Cure Organic Farm

2 ripe organic peaches for dessert from western slope Ela Family Farms

6 ears of organic peaches & cream sweet corn to take home

1 wedge of raw milk cheddar-style cheese and 1 wedge of Buckhorn cheese

from local Windsor Dairy

2 hours of lounging by Boulder Creek eating lunch and drinking wine

2 hours of vintage shopping and people-watching on Pearl Street

3 hours of fabulousness at Salt the Bistro for dinner and drinks

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Jon: Boulder is such an amazing place. It’s one of those distinctive, uncommon towns where you can have a profoundly entertaining day doing nothing more than walking, sitting and eating. The creekside picnic with fresh, local bread, cheese, fruits and veggies—and red wine to wash it down—was about as fun and relaxing as it gets.

But the thing that makes Boulder Boulder is the people. Sure, there are thousands of college kids with every kind of style (and lack of style) imaginable. But the locals provide the truest entertainment. Whether it’s the dreadlocked African-mask wearing drummer, or the fire juggling clown, or the mysterious guy who walks around town in extremely slow motion, you don’t need to look any further than the streets and sidewalks for amusement. My favorite peculiarity of the day came in front of a music stage where a roller-skating dancer was putting on a performance that would almost certainly make a Las Vegas showgirl blush.

Although there were only eight entrées on the menu at Salt, after thirty minutes I had managed to merely whittle my choices down to six. I decided that I would revert to the “panic order” decision that comes when the server is standing and waiting with pen and paper in hand. Since she had proven to be friendly and helpful, I went ahead and asked our waitress for her input on my dilemma. As she was describing all the potential pros and cons of each option, Hethyr brought up the very astute point that perhaps I should stay away from the Pan Roasted Wild Alaskan Salmon because it was not caught locally. The server mentioned that it wasn’t all that far away—it was just from up there in Alaska. I bit my tongue and refrained from pointing out that Alaska was actually 3000 miles away from our current location. I suppose that both Alaska and Colorado are mountainous, snowy, and a part of North America, so I could see where ~~Sarah Palin~~ one could get confused. Anyway, the point of the story is that I ordered the salmon.

I can see Alaska from here!

Sorry fellow foodies, I promise I’ll eat an extra Colorado peach today as my penance. Don’t forget to wish Hethyr a happy birthday on the 7^th!

Take Another Little Peach of my Heart

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 01:03:00 +0000

Hethyr: What child didn’t, at one time or another, read a book by Roald Dahl? Remember Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Two others that were favorites when I was a kid were Matilda and The Witches. And who could forget about James and the Giant Peach? Although it has been a number of years (to say the least) since I have read it, I remember that James finds a tunnel leading into the peach, where he meets a bunch of insects who befriend him and they take him on a magical journey. Even as an adult, I’d like to climb inside of a giant peach and go on cool adventures… although I could do without the bugs.

Well, if there was ever a chance of something like that happening, it would most likely happen around this time of year in Colorado. Peaches, peaches, everywhere. It’s awesome.

Peaches don’t last very long at all in our house, so it’s a wonder that I actually did something with a peach other than eating it straight. We had this amazing swordfish steak (MSC certified, of course) the other night and I was having trouble coming up with a way to serve it. Jon wanted to grill it, which was perfectly fine with me, but it needed some pizazz. Did I seriously just use the word pizazz? What the hell is wrong with me? Must be lack of dairy, sugar and, as my cousin just mentioned, Nutella. Anyway, I decided to make a peach Pico de Gallo since we had a few peaches on hand.

No large resorts (or other people!) on this beach

I’ve always been a fan of fruit with seafood, so it seemed like a perfect fit. However, before I give you the recipe for the Pico de Gallo, I'm reminded of another fruit/seafood story…

When we were in Costa Rica a few years ago, we decided that we’d spend our last week there in Puerto Viejo, a tiny beach town on the Caribbean coast near the Panama border. There are no large hotels or resorts in this town. It’s one of the few places that had not yet been subjected to globalization. The first day when we arrived, a woman who worked at the small hotel where we stayed asked if she could catch a ride into town with us. We were a few miles outside of the town proper and she didn’t have a car, so we were happy to take her with us since we needed to get some food anyway.

The restaurant where we had
lunch on our first day
in Puerto Viejo

When we got to town, we went our separate ways, but we ended up seeing her again as we were having lunch at a bar table facing the ocean. She was in an animated conversation with a local fisherman who was trying to sell her live lobsters and she was upset because he wouldn’t sell her just one - she had to buy two or he wouldn’t sell her any at all. She obviously didn’t need both, so we chimed in to see if we could help by offering to go in on the lobsters with her. She loved the idea and even suggested that we have dinner together at the hotel. I offered to make a pineapple-mango Pico de Gallo to go with it if I could borrow a cutting board and knife once we got back. We all agreed on the plan and went our separate ways again as she was going to catch a ride back on a friend’s bicycle. Since she didn’t want to take the lobsters back on the bike, she asked if we’d take them back in the car. We said sure. Little did we know that the lobsters had been on ice and were lethargic when we got them. No wonder she wanted us to take them.

I could have been eaten alive by this thing

When we got back in the car, I set the bag containing the crustaceans on the floor by my feet without really thinking about it. As we were riding along and talking, one of the little buggers decided to make a sudden huge leap. Thanks goodness he didn’t decide to latch onto my leg with his giant claws. I completely freaked out and jumped a mile in the air, landing back in my seat, feet and all. For the rest of the ride, I would not put my feet back on the floor or take my eyes off of those sketchy little f@#$ers. Jon laughed so hard, he nearly peed himself.

So, although that had nothing to do with peaches, I thought you’d get a small chuckle out of it. And now that I made you suffer through that stupid story that didn’t have a point, I’ll be nice by giving you the recipe for the pineapple-mango Pico de Gallo as well.

Peach (or Nectarine) Pico de Gallo

Makes about 1 cup

1 large peach (or nectarine), pitted and diced
1 large shallot, minced
1 medium jalapeño, seeded, ribbed and minced (a lot of the heat lies in the ribs and seeds, so keep ‘em if you want it super-spicy)
1-inch gingerroot piece, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 tablespoon lime juice
Salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a medium bowl, mix together all ingredients.

2. Refrigerate for a couple of hours, if desired, to allow flavors to meld. Serve over chicken, pork, seafood, with tortilla chips, as a topping for tacos, etc.

Pineapple-Mango Pico de Gallo

Makes about 3 cups

1 cup pineapple, diced (fresh or canned… if canned, drain first)
1 mango, peeled, pitted and diced
1/2 medium red bell pepper
1/2 medium green bell pepper
1/2 medium red onion, diced
1 teaspoon garlic, finely minced or turned into garlic paste
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 large jalapeño, seed, ribbed and minced
Salt and pepper

1. In a medium bowl, mix together all ingredients.

2. Refrigerate for a couple of hours, if desired, to allow flavors to meld. Serve over chicken, pork, seafood, with tortilla chips, as a topping for tacos, etc.

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Jon: Reading about the days in Costa Rica definitely puts me in a nostalgic mood. There was nothing quite as calming and purifying to the soul as opening the front doors of Casa Mariposa, feeling the cool, humid, jungle air, looking out over the lush green vegetation toward the blue waters of Lago Arenal or toward the smoky, ash-filled burps of Volcán Arenal, relaxing in a rocking chair, sipping a dark-roasted local Costa Rican coffee… and making a daily to-do list that included feeding and watering the dog, cats, and goats, picking the cabbage or whatever other vegetables were ready, trading the cabbage with the neighbors for eggs, milk, or chocolate, and usually some random project like figuring out a way to displace the hundreds of black wasps that had taken up residence in the rancho. Ah, those were the days.

It was actually during our time at Casa Mariposa that we learned a lot about self-sufficiency. I guess that is bound to happen when you live a couple miles outside of a tiny little town with nothing but an ATV to ride. That was also our initial introduction to composting, which we now do at our own house to a ridiculous degree. Even our dog, Garr, seemed to enjoy his time en la jungla, as he had the mother of all bug buffets on which to feast. It was more than a little unnerving to us that some of the bugs were big and mean enough to fight back, but Garr had no such fear.

So I hope you’re somewhere in the world where you can find some fresh peaches or pineapples to make some of Hethyr’s pico de gallo. And in case any of you ever wondered how a pineapple grows, below is a video I took several years ago at Casa Mariposa (yep, there was a pineapple garden, too). I’ll also put a video clip of the regular garden below that. And if you really want to stalk us, check out our blog from when Hethyr, Garr, and I were temporary Ticos…

Link to our Costa Rica Blog

I'm Cocoa for Coconuts!

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 04:28:00 +0000

I think this artwork was made specifically for me!

Hethyr: I have been a royal bitch for the last couple weeks and I’m fully willing to admit it. For the past several years, I’ve had some health issues and until a couple of weeks ago, no one seemed to be able to figure out what is wrong with me. I’ve been through testing for autoimmune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis to no avail. One doctor a few years back actually told me that I was crazy and gave me a prescription for a sleeping pill. I left her office bawling my eyes out. After another negative test with another new doctor (this one for Celiac disease), I finally decided to say “Screw you!” to the regular doctors and see if a naturopath might be able to help me.

After visiting with Jon and me for over an hour, Dr. Restricto told me that she definitely thinks my issues are food related and drew blood for a test that tested for 96 different food allergies. Looking back, I should have enjoyed the waiting time a little bit more than I did because three weeks later the results were back and I was told that my digestive immune system was pretty much non-existent and that I am currently sensitive/allergic to everything but the kitchen sink. She put me on an elimination diet for a month and at the end of that month, I’ll start adding foods back into my diet one at a time to test for reactions.

My new diet

In the meantime, I have realized just how much I love good food and just how much I despise not being able to eat the things I love. For the elimination diet, I am not allowed to have dairy, wheat (or other gluten-containing foods), cane sugar, bakers’ or brewers’ yeast, chocolate (because of the dairy and sugar), rice, quinoa, cranberries, kidney beans and black beans. So what the hell does that leave? Pretty much meat, vegetables, fruits and nuts. Woo freakin’ hoo.

A trip back home to Springfield, IL last week left much to be desired in the way of good food that I could actually eat. Thank goodness I’m a chef and for American Harvest Eatery, a new restaurant that sources fresh ingredients from local farmers. I tried to prepare as much of my own food as possible for the trip, but let me tell you how boring tuna salad on sliced cucumbers gets after eating it for a week straight. :/ Meh.

I'm cuckoo for coconuts!

Enter the amazing coconut. The health benefits of coconuts are extensive, so instead of reinventing the wheel, I’ll just give you this link and you can check it out for yourself. After two weeks of whining and complaining, I’m finally starting to figure this out. Since I can’t have any dairy (including goats’ milk), I’d picked up a carton of coconut milk prior to leaving for Springfield so I could have it instead of my beloved raw cows’ milk. I ate it with sliced bananas and macadamia nuts for breakfast and drank it straight when I was craving milk. Don’t get me wrong – this is not a perfect replacement for cows’ milk but beggars can’t be choosers, right? Unfortunately, this coconut milk costs about $4.99 for one half-gallon. Wow. Funny how cutting certain foods out of your diet can lead to a higher grocery bill! Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

Thanks to Leslie at Crunchy Betty, I learned that making my own coconut milk is only a fraction of the cost. Awesome! And you know how much I love to make my own things from scratch. Also, her super-cool, informative site clued me in to the wonders of coconut butter (I’d never even heard of such a thing) so I made some of that. So! Incredibly! Amazing! Not sure I’ll use peanut or other nut butters very often anymore unless I really need some extra protein. Then I started to get creative on my own…

"Necessity, who is the mother
of invention." ~Plato

I mentioned that I’m not allowed to have dairy, cane sugar or chocolate and personally, I think that is enough to drive anyone to bitchiness. However, I was so giddy when I figured out a loophole that I could hardly stand it. I was in the kitchen making my coconut milk and coconut butter when I started wondering if it would be possible to make “ice cream” using only coconut milk, honey and homemade vanilla extract (vanilla bean soaked in potato vodka). If you don’t know how much I love ice cream by now, I’m pretty sure this is your first time reading our blog. And after two weeks of deprivation, I was ready to give my left arm for a bowl of ice cream. Luckily that didn’t have to happen. I pulled out my trusty ice cream maker, mixed the ingredients and in about 30 minutes, I had a fairly acceptable substitute for dairy-based ice cream.

Then I started wondering about the chocolate stipulation. I looked back at the chart of what I was sensitive to and cocoa bean was not one of the culprits. The doc told me I couldn’t have chocolate because milk and sugar are usually ingredients. It just so happens that I’ve got two pounds of organic, fair-trade Dutch cocoa powder in the pantry and it DOESN’T include dairy or sugar.Ha ha, Dr. Restricto – I found a loophole! So now I can have chocolate “ice cream” and it fits completely within my restrictive diet guidelines. Maybe this isn’t so bad after all. Next I plan on making chocolate-banana. Oh yeah.

Coconut milk on ice - so refreshing!

Coconut Milk

Makes about 4 cups

- 1/2 to 1 cup dried, unsweetened shredded coconut

- 4 cups hot water (not quite boiling)

1. Place coconut and 1 cup of hot water in the food processor.

2. Pulse for about 30 seconds. Let sit for about a minute, then pulse about 10 more times.

3. Strain through a fine mesh sieve (lined with cheesecloth or not) into a large bowl. Press against the solids with a wooden spoon to extract as much liquid as possible.

4. Repeat steps 1 through 3, reusing the same coconut and the additional water.

5. Cool, pour into a quart-size jar and refrigerate.

Notes: If you choose to use the cheesecloth when straining, the natural oils will be soaked up by the cloth. If you choose to just use the sieve, you’ll end up with a bit of coconut oil at the top of your jar of coconut milk after you refrigerate it. Although I haven’t used it yet, I saved the coconut oil to use as I would store-bought. Crunchy Betty also says you can put it on your legs to make ‘em silky smooth. You can dehydrate the leftover pulp and use like you would any dessicated coconut. No waste!

Delicious breakfast - banana with
coconut butter
and toasted coconut

Coconut Butter

Yield varies

- Dried, unsweetened shredded coconut (I used about 2 cups to yield about 3/4 cup coconut butter)

1. Place coconut in food processor and process on high for about 15 minutes. You may need to scrape down the sides occasionally.

2. Store in a jar at room temperature. Due to the stability of the healthy fatty acids, refrigeration is not necessary, even after opening.

Dessert - chocolate coconut milk "ice cream"
topped with coconut butter and macadamia nuts

Chocolate Coconut Milk “Ice Cream”

Makes 1 1/2 quarts

- 3 cups coconut milk (homemade – see recipe above – or store-bought)

- 1/2 cup honey

- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract

- 2/3 cup Dutch cocoa powder

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients with a hand mixer or stick (immersion) blender until smooth.

2. Pour into ice cream maker freezer bowl and follow instructions for your maker. With mine, it usually takes about 25-30 minutes. Once finished, “ripen” in the freezer for a couple of hours before devouring like you’ve never eaten ice cream before.

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Jon: As many of you already know, I usually hang out down here at the end of the blog. I consider myself a bottom-feeder of sorts… the flounder resting on the deep dark floor of the Blog Sea. Up above in the clear blue waters of the respectable part of the blog, Hethyr talks about all sorts of interesting and relevant topics, provides helpful information and advice, and offers delicious recipes for all sorts of incredible edibles. As my nephew J.D. would say, her part of the blog is totally classy. Meanwhile, I lurk down in the mud making smart-ass comments and rambling on about 80’s game shows, bee beards, poultry proctology, dirty hippies, cantaloupe breasts, parachute pants, muffin tops… I’m pretty sure there was even a sexually explicit haiku about mushrooms at some point. The list certainly is long and undistinguished.

While I pride myself on my ability to give my beautiful wife epic amounts of childish sarcasm on a daily basis, I feel an overwhelming need to reverse course in this post and talk about what a bad-ass she is in the kitchen. If someone told me I had to give up dairy, sugar and wheat, you’d find me huddled in the corner of the bathroom in the fetal position crying like a hungry baby. Hethyr, on the other hand, has used her skillful creativity to find amazing detours around these dietary roadblocks. The deliciousness of our meals has not diminished one bit despite the fact that she is unable to consume the majority of the items in our kitchen and pantry. I’d throw her in the ring against any of those millionaire television chefs and totally bet on her. Who could possibly find a way to make and eat chocolate ice cream after being told that she couldn’t have dairy or sugar? Seriously? There are only two words to describe that…

Mad Skills.

The Why of the Cutie Pie

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 16:58:00 +0000

Hethyr: A few posts ago, I mentioned several things that I was excited to share with you. I've shared most, but this is, without a doubt, the most sickeningly cute entry of the lot.

Bounty from a recent swap

As you faithful readers know by now, we’ve been attending some community swaps where people show up with handmade/homegrown goods to swap with other like-minded barterers. It is amazing to see the variety of the goods that are brought. I’ve seen farm-fresh eggs, handmade washcloths, homegrown herbs, fresh herbed ricotta, flavored raw butters (mine included), bread still warm from the oven, chocolate-covered bacon, gluten-free peanut butter cookies, strawberry-rhubarb egg rolls, etc, etc, etc. Everything we’ve swapped for has been incredible.

Obviously, there is extensive thought and creativity that goes into each item, so I’m always trying to come up with new and different ideas that will grab folks’ attention. While surfing the internet one day looking for ideas, I came across several blogs that talked about pies baked in glass jars. They were so cute, I almost puked. I knew immediately that I needed to make some to take to a swap, but there are several regular participants who have Celiac disease. As I didn’t want to exclude them from these disgustingly precious pies, I decided to make them gluten-free.

See, I cheat sometimes, too!

I am always a fan of making things from scratch when possible and I fully planned on making my own crust, but I couldn’t find one of the ingredients even at the health food stores in town. I had to settle for using a pre-made gluten-free crust from Whole Foods. Actually it was a great crust – I just usually prefer to make my own everything. I will give you the link to the recipe I was going to use, just in case you’re able to find all of the ingredients and want to try making it on your own (you over-achiever, you). You can also just as easily use a regular homemade or store-bought pie crust – it doesn’t have to be gluten-free.

Those of you who have been reading our blog for a while will probably remember our overabundance of rhubarb and blueberries this spring/early summer. I figured this was the perfect opportunity to use some more of each. We also had a good supply of pie cherries frozen from last year, so I decided to make use of those as well. Good thing since we got more pie cherries in our CSA just a couple of weeks later. Oh, and we received four more pounds of rhubarb a couple of weeks ago, bringing our 2011 total to 25 pounds so far! :/ It’s a really good thing we like rhubarb!

Anyway, I knew these pies would be a hit once I saw how stinking adorable they were. And I was right – they went like hotcakes. I was really glad that I stashed a few away in the freezer at home since I got rid of them all so quickly at the swap. My friend had the great idea to use this same concept to make savory, single-serving pot pies in the colder months. That’s one I’ll definitely be trying!

Nauseatingly Adorable Tiny, Tiny Pies in Jars (Gluten-Free)

Makes 4 tiny, tiny pies

Awwwwww!

Half-pint (8 ounce) mason jars with lids (short and fat instead of tall and skinny)
Gluten-free pie crust (from scratch or store-bought; one 9-inch crust makes about 4 pies)
2 cups fruit, peeled, pitted, diced, etc. (use your imagination – I made Bluebarb and Cherry for the swap and Bluebarb-Cherry for home)
2 to 3 tablespoons brown sugar (depends on the sweetness of your fruit)
2 tablespoons gluten-free all purpose baking flour
Spices and such (nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, extracts like vanilla or almond, citrus zest, etc.)
1 tablespoon butter, plus additional for brushing tops
Sugar for sprinkling tops

1. Roll out a small section of dough for the tops of the pies. Using a lid band from one of the jars, cut out 4 circles. Set aside.

2. Press the rest of the dough evenly against the insides of the ungreased jars. You don’t have to roll out the dough – you can just press, piece by piece, until the dough is up to the top of the jar.

3. Mix together prepared fruit, brown sugar, GF flour and any spices and such you’re going to use. Divide evenly between the jars, then dot with butter.

4. If desired, cut cute shapes in the tops with a cookie cutter (I used a “B” for bluebarb and a “C” for cherry). Position tops on pies, then use a fork to seal the two pieces of dough together. Trim any ragged edges and, if you decided not to cut cute shapes in the top, vent to allow steam to escape.

5. Brush tops with butter and sprinkle with sugar.

6. Position lids and seal tightly. Store in the freezer.

7. To bake: Remove lids and place jars on a foil-lined baking sheet. Place baking sheet in a cold oven and then set the temperature to 375°F. Bake for about 60 to 75 minutes or until the filling is bubbly and hot and the top is golden-brown. If you’re baking from fresh, bake time will be less.

8. Let cool for a few minutes, then eat straight out of the jar. They’re even better topped with ice cream!

* Notes: I've used even smaller jars for this... a 4-ouncer is the perfect size for me. Bake time is a little less than stated above. Also, for a little variety, try using a crumb topping instead of pie crust.

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Jon: There are oodles of things in this world that I don’t understand. In fact, if ignorance were food, I’d be a watermelon. See, that didn’t even make sense. The point is that there are constantly things going on around me that I don’t get. I suppose you could call those the great questions of life. Why are we here? What happens to us when we die? Why do women love things that are shrunk down to a fraction of their normal size?

A pie is a fairly universally-enjoyed food item, right? People look at a nice cherry, rhubarb or apple pie and they think about how tasty it looks. But shrink it down to a tiny size and it immediately enters the adorable zone. When Hethyr and I were at the community swap, I spent some time sitting next to her tiny pies and watched the reaction of the women as they approached. It typically went something like this:

(slight gasp). “What is that????” (brief pause). “Oooooooooohhhhhhhhhh, it’s a tiny pie! Oooooohhhhhh, it’s soooooooo adorably cute!!!”

Somehow the realization that this little jarred dessert was actually a magical miniaturized pie initiated the kind of gushing typically reserved for a basket full of puppies and babies. I don’t get it. All that I see is a delicious pie that I wish was five times the size so that I could eat five times as much. But there is certainly no denying the convenience of the portability and single-serving size of these tiny pies. This is especially true if you have two or fewer people in your household and a full-size pie ends up making you physically ill by the sixth consecutive night of consumption.

I believe it was Socrates who said “I know nothing except the fact of my own ignorance.” But it’s me who said “I know nothing except the fact that all woman love tiny pies.” I just hope you don’t find them too cute to eat.

City Mouse, Country Mouse

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 15:40:00 +0000

Van Gogh's
Woman Churning Butter

Hethyr: If you had asked me in high school or even in college what I thought I’d be doing at 33 years of age, I would not have answered “I’ll be a chef who cooks for others and teaches people to cook.” Ask anyone who knew me back then. I would also never have responded with “I’ll make most of my meals from scratch, never eat fast food, only consume meat from sustainably-raised animals, have a community supported agriculture share, have a share in a herd of local cows so I can drink raw, unpasteurized milk, frequent the farmers’ market every week, and make my own bread, butter, yogurt and ice cream.” I wouldn’t have said “I’d like to have my own large vegetable garden, raise chickens in my backyard and learn to make my own non-toxic beauty and cleaning products.” What a long way I’ve come! I looked at Jon the other day while I was making butter, laughed and said “Never in a million years did I think I’d one day be a farm-girl!”

During college, I worked at a few chain restaurants and would eat at least one meal at work during my scheduled shift because it was free and – I thought at the time – good. I loved fast food and I exercised very little. I was the typical American college kid. These eating habits continued through my mid-twenties until one day, on a 30-minute lunch break, I bought a McDonald's Big Mac to take back to work and finish at my desk (I then worked for a large financial corporation). A few minutes before I was supposed to pack up and head for home, one of my co-workers popped his head up over the shared wall and said “Wow, you don’t look so good.” Five minutes earlier, I had gotten extremely nauseous and my ears were burning up – I felt like crap. Long story short, I had food poisoning from that evil pseudo-burger. It only lasted about five or six hours, but it felt like an eternity and I thought I was dying.

Now, I am so thankful for that short bout with food poisoning! Why, you ask? It changed EVERYTHING about the way I eat and think about food. It’s why I’m such a “farm-girl” today and why I make almost everything from scratch. I have not eaten one bite of fast food since that fateful day and unless someone literally forces it down my throat, I never will again. The more I learn about food, the more I want to make from scratch. Hence my recent attempt at making my own butter.

Butter is amazingly easy to make! As I mentioned, I have a share in a dairy herd so I receive two half gallon jars of raw milk weekly. For some reason, I ended up with five jars in the refrigerator at once recently. That’s an oddity since I usually have no problem finishing off both jars each week. In any case, I decided that since I had so much, I’d use the cream to make butter for one of the community swaps. I skimmed the cream off the top of each jar, which resulted in one-half gallon of cream.

Jon is jealous of how much time
I spend with my new love

I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it or not (damn age!), but I recently traded in an unused commercial ice cream maker for a sweet brand new 7-quart Cuisinart Stand Mixer. According to my friend Allen at Sparrowhawk Gourmet Cookware, this mixer has a lot more power than some of the others of similar size. He raved about this thing, so I happily made my purchase and haven’t regretted it for one second – it’s freakin’ awesome. I decided to make my butter using my stand mixer but you can make this butter by hand also… just in case you’re not as cool as me and don’t own a wicked-cool stand mixer. I didn’t give quantities for the ingredients in the recipe since everything will depend on how much cream you start with. Because I was making a lot, I started with one-half gallon of cream and I ended up with just over a pound of butter. You can make a lot less if you want!

Chipotle-Lime Butter

Cream (I used raw, but you can also use store-bought)
Ice water
Salt (optional)
Chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, minced
Green onions, sliced
Lime juice

Stand mixer instructions: Pour cream into stand mixer and fit with whisk attachment. Turn mixer on and blend.

The cream will go through several stages, first starting out sloshy/frothy, then changing to whipped cream. After changing to whipped cream, the cream will all of a sudden collapse and you’ll see tiny globs of butter separate from the buttermilk (you can save this, too!). A little more time and the small globs will come together and form a ball of butter. At this point, turn off the mixer and drain the buttermilk, reserving it for other uses.

Frothy stage

Whipped Cream

Butter and Buttermilk

With the butter still in the mixer, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup cold water and blend again. Drain the water and repeat this process until the water is clear, maybe 3 to 4 times.

Place the drained butter in a large bowl and mash with a potato masher to squeeze out any excess water; drain. Repeat until most of the water is removed from the butter (remaining liquid in the butter will cause it to spoil more rapidly). If the butter is very firm, let it soften at room temperature.

Fold chipotles, green onions, salt and lime juice (just enough for taste – you don’t want to reintroduce a bunch of liquid back into the butter) into softened butter until well mixed. Form into a log with waxed paper or store in small mason jars.

If you’re not going to use the butter relatively quickly, freeze for later use.

Instructions for making by hand: Although this may take longer than making it in a stand mixer, it works just as well and will give your kids something to do for a while. ;) Pour cream into a mason jar, about one-third of the way full and screw the cap on. Shake.

This butter is also excellent with sautéed veggies,
on corn, in frittatas, etc.

You’ll see the same changes in the cream as described above. Once the butter has separated from the buttermilk, drain the buttermilk, reserving it for other uses (pancakes, smoothies, baking, etc.).

Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of ice water to the jar and shake again. Drain and repeat until the water is clear, maybe 3 or 4 times.

Fold chipotles, green onions, salt and lime juice (just enough for taste – you don’t want to reintroduce a bunch of liquid back into the butter) into butter until well mixed. Form into a log with waxed paper or store in small mason jars.

If you’re not going to use the butter relatively quickly, freeze for later use.

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Jon: I can attest to the miraculous change that Hethyr has made over the years in terms of “naturalizing” herself. Even as I write this, she is rummaging through the closet getting rid of all of our bathroom products that have toxic ingredients in them… which happens to be just about all of them. She’s recently been washing her face with honey instead of face soap, which seems like a dangerous option considering all the bees we have in our backyard. She hasn’t returned from outside with a beard of bees yet, so I guess I’ll just keep my mouth shut about it.

I have many memories of consuming vast amounts of butter on my trips down to visit my Louisiana family. Whether we were eating at their house or at a restaurant, it often seemed as though butter was the main course and everything else was just side dishes. As much as I love grits, I’m convinced that their only real purpose is to transport butter from your bowl to your stomach—a convenient alternative to simply taking a bite straight off a butter stick. I remember thinking how health-conscious we non-Southerners were to use margarine instead of butter on our food. Now I realize that our Country Crock was a disturbing blend of vegetable oils (undoubtedly originating from genetically-modified crops), mono and diglycerides, various artificial flavors and emulsifiers, and a nice heaping dose of trans fat. Basically, the notion that Country Crock margarine is healthier than butter is a crock of shit.

Obviously moderation is important with butter. But how can you argue with a product that comes straight out of a dairy animal and is then simply whipped into a pillow of soft, yellow deliciousness? A friend of mine who is a kindergarten teacher makes butter with her students each year, and I plan on borrowing that idea to do with my first graders this year. Maybe we’ll even make some grits. I wonder if I could line up a field trip for a cow or goat milking? That’d be hilarious. Either way, there certainly won’t be any disgusting, unnatural ingredients consumed in my classroom during our butter party. Country Crock will be left off the guest list.

Battle of the Bulge

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 15:32:00 +0000

Hethyr: So, today – July 21, 2011 - is National Junk Food Day. Yep, that’s right - a day to celebrate by guiltlessly indulging in your favorite junk foods. One website says “When else do you have an excuse to eat all of the unhealthy snacks that you know you shouldn't eat, but really want!” Um… seriously? Last I checked, every day in this country is National Junk Food Day. I was so appalled when I found out that this was an actual day that I immediately decided to do a blog post to boycott National Junk Food Day.

Don’t get me wrong – I am not a diet-Nazi. I love snacks and sweets but, like most other things, I usually like them in moderation. I say usually because I have occasionally been known to overindulge in ice cream – I had to bust myself out on that one since I know Jon and everyone in my family would be rushing to be the first to call me out. ;) I am just not a fan of a national holiday created to celebrate our obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart disease epidemics.

According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) website, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States in the past 20 years and in 2009, only Colorado (whew!) and District of Columbia had obesity rates of less than 20 percent. Sixty-six percent (!) of states had an obesity rate of 25 percent or greater and over one-quarter of those had a prevalence of 30 percent or more. Wow. Check out this link with obesity statistics and a progressive map of U.S. obesity rates from 1985-2009. It’s quite frightening. And a very recent article from the MSNBC website shows that statistics are even worse now. This is one reason why I am a huge advocate of homemade, homegrown and natural foods – you know what’s in them. Back in the olden days when people grew and made their own food (next I'll be telling you damn whippersnappers about how I walked 20 miles to school uphill both ways in the snow!), we didn’t have the problems we do today with Western diet diseases.

So, although I am a fan of snacks and sweets, I am mostly a fan of homemade or natural snack and sweets - not packaged junk full of extra calories, fat, sugar, sodium, etc. Hence my disgust at National Junk Food Day… a day honoring JUNK FOOD – not REAL FOOD. I am going to boycott this junky day by giving you a couple of recipes for good, healthy food…

Ever heard of a garlic scape? Most people I know haven’t, but they are delicious. They’re the stalks of garlic plants, which growers trim so the plants will focus their energy into growing the bulbs. The scapes themselves are bright green and curly with a bright, spicy, garlicky taste. Upon seeing them for the first time at a farmers’ market a few years ago, I had to inquire about them and then, naturally, take some home to experiment with. My favorite recipes to make with the scapes are Garlic Scape Pesto - a nice, spicy-ish substitute for classic basil pesto - and a vinaigrette using the pesto as a base. I make a bunch of the pesto when scapes are in season and freeze it in batches for use throughout the year.

Garlic Scape Pesto

1 cup garlic scapes, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 to 1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted if you want
Approximately 1/2 cup olive oil (you’ll have to judge this as you’re making the pesto)
1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated

1. Place scapes, lemon juice, salt and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse a few times.

2. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil slowly until you reach the consistency you want (maybe a little on the runnier-side since you'll be adding cheese).

3. Fold in the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano to taste.

* Note: This is excellent for snacking! Use it on breads, crackers, meats, veggies, etc. It’s also great to use in the following vinaigrette recipe…

Garlic Scape Pesto Vinaigrette

1/4 cup Garlic Scape Pesto (see above)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Approximately 1 cup olive oil (you’ll need to judge this as you’re making the vinaigrette)

1. In a food processor, combine Garlic Scape Pesto, vinegar, lemon juice, dill, salt and pepper.

2. Slowly drizzle in olive oil through food chute with machine running until desired consistency is reached. Adjust any ingredients to taste if desired.

*Notes:

This is great on salads, as a marinade for chicken or shrimp, as a marinade or dip for grilled vegetable, as a dip for breads, etc.
I usually make dressings with my immersion (stick) blender. You can also use a regular blender or just whisk by hand.

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Jon: I believe I’ll begin my day with some Lucky Charms. I like to eat all the brown pieces first so that my last few bites are nothing but soggy marshmallow pellets. And every tasty breakfast requires a side dish, so I think I’ll opt for a nice donut log with chocolate on top and and a custard center. Whoever first decided to mix high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup and sugar together to create a yellow paste to inject inside of donuts should be awarded a Nobel prize in chemistry!

My lunchtime will definitely be a little earlier than normal… one thing I love about eating food with virtually no nutritional value is that it doesn’t keep you full for more than a couple hours, so it’s usually possible to squeeze in an extra meal or two throughout the day. I don’t like to cook, so I think I’ll just run to McDonald’s. A Big Mac, fries and a super-sized Coke should do the trick. I want to make sure that my early lunch will provide me with an adequate amount of sodium because I know that my body needs lots of salt to live. However, every time I’ve clicked on “nutrition” to find out the stats of McDonald’s burgers on their website, I get a message saying “SRVE0255E: A WebGroup/Virtual Host to handle /nutritionexchange/itemDetailInfo.do has not been defined.” Well, I guess I’ll just have to trust them. After all, why would the largest food chain on Earth not have their customers’ good health and well being as their top priority? They’re on my side!

There’s nothing quite as satisfying as getting some quality couch time in after eating a big-ass meal. Remaining completely sedentary allows digestion to occur naturally without the interference that comes from physical movement. Since it’s such a long time until dinner, I’ll throw in an extra meal that I like to call “grazing” that lasts from about 1 to 5 pm. I love how food manufacturers have made it so convenient with the pre-packaged ready-to-eat snacks that require virtually no time and effort to prepare beyond walking to the kitchen and opening a cabinet, or possibly putting something in the microwave. We all owe them a debt of gratitude! Cheetos, frozen mozzarella sticks and a Hostess fruit pie should do the trick.

It’d be nice to get some exercise prior to dinner, so I think I’ll drive somewhere so I can get in a nice walk out to my car. Fortunately there’s a Taco Bell nearby. I love how the tastiest and quickest food is also the cheapest. What a great country we live in! And if I get a few Big Beef Burrito Supremes, there will be lettuce and tomatoes on there. So I’m getting some vegetables along with meat, cheese and tortillas… that’s like hitting four of the five food groups in one meal! It’s a miracle!

Sometimes I puke after dinner which is totally awesome. I’m not sure why it happens, but I know that it frees up some space for dessert! I’m pretty old school when it comes to the sweets. Much like my donuts, I prefer to consume dessert in log form, such as Twinkies, Choco-diles and ice cream sandwiches. Fortunately I have all three options ready and waiting in the kitchen so I can mix-and-match as I see fit. It’s always a little depressing to finish my final dessert of the night because it’s the last thing I’ll eat all day. But the good news is that tomorrow will be here soon and I’ve got an unopened box of Fruit Loops waiting for me in the cabinet!

Happy National Junk Food Day everybody!!!!! Hooray!!!!!

Married to the Cobb

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 04:14:00 +0000

Hethyr: I’m so giddy at this time of year about all of the wonderful fresh fruits and veggies after the “drought” of the last few months of winter and the first of spring. A little too giddy, maybe… I have too many things about which I want to write! Do I write about the amazing Cobb-style salad with ancho honey mustard vinaigrette that we devoured the other night? Or do I write about my first experience making raw butter (which I then flavored with chipotle chiles in adobo, lime and scallions)? How about the tiny, tiny pies so adorable they almost make me want to puke (in a good way, of course)? Or tangy garlic scape pesto and a salad dressing that uses the pesto as a base? Oh, the agony of having to choose! I want to share it all and I want to share it all NOW because it’s all in season RIGHT NOW. But – boo hoo – I’ll have to decide.

Since lettuce is the most abundant crop in our CSA box right now, I think it makes the most sense to share my recipe for Cobb-ish salad with ancho honey mustard vinaigrette. Don’t despair if another of those recipes caught your eye, though. I think I’ll work my way through all of them. I may need to pick up the pace a little if I’m going to try to keep recipes in season!

BIG salads - like salads, only bigger

Our CSA share started about a month ago and, as with previous years at this time, we’ve gotten a lot of lettuce, spinach, herbs, scallions and rhubarb so far, along with a few other teasers… some radishes, a few small beets, a couple wee heads of broccoli, a handful of garlic scapes, some collard greens and probably a few other random goodies that are escaping my memory at the moment. We love having salads during the summer and we often make a big salad (insert Seinfeld joke here) as our main meal for dinner. We had everything on hand for one helluva salad the other night and I made a killer dressing to top it off.

My best tip for having fresh salads throughout the week is to invest a minimal amount of money in a salad spinner. I can’t imagine how I ever survived without one as it’s one of my most-used kitchen gadgets. Once a week during the season, tear your lettuce into bite-size pieces, wash and spin. Place a couple of paper towels into a resealable bag (I wash and reuse my bags as many times as possible), then place washed and spun lettuce into the bag. Remove as much air as possible, seal and store in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator. Then, when you’re craving a salad (a couple-of-times-a-day occurrence in our house), just pop a few handfuls into a bowl and toss with toppings and dressing of your choice. See our previous post on why you should make your own dressings. It’s also a great idea to prep some toppings ahead to make life that much easier when you’re busy and tired. I store all of the components separately, then add what I want to each individual salad. That keeps the ingredients – and my menu - from becoming soggy.

BIG Cobb-ish Salad with Ancho Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Serves 2

For vinaigrette:

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dried ancho chiles, crushed
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup olive oil

For salad:

4 to 6 cups lettuce (whatever’s in season and looks good), torn into bite-size pieces
1 small head (or 2 tiny, tiny heads) broccoli, blanched if desired
5 to 6 small roasted beets, peeled and thinly sliced or julienned
2 hard-boiled eggs, diced or julienned
1 cup cooked garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained if canned
4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled

1. In a small bowl, whisk together Dijon, honey, vinegar, ancho chiles, salt and pepper. Slowly drizzle in olive oil while whisking until well combined. Alternatively, you can blend all ingredients together in a blender, food processor or using an immersion blender.

2. Place equal amounts of lettuce in each bowl and top with broccoli, beets, eggs, chickpeas and bacon. Drizzle with vinaigrette and serve.

* Note: Add even more protein by adding cooked and cubed chicken, turkey or ham.

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Jon: Since a nice full-bodied breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, I can’t help but be a fan of a salad with bacon and eggs on it. I’m not sure I have ever eaten a lettuce salad to start the day, but this one might be able to handle such a role. Regardless, I’m pretty sure we had this one for dinner, not breakfast, and it was still great. Everything on the salad was local and fresh with the exception of the chickpeas. But like most salads, it’s really the dressing that drives it home. The Dijon-honey-chile vinaigrette was bomb.

Jon's secret ingredient for extra protein

The only bummer on the salad front is that during June and July Hethyr spends more time with the salad spinner than with me (insert perverted comment here). This is one area where I don’t bother helping out. A few years ago, I took a stab at washing, spinning and packaging the lettuce. But as many of you already know, fresh-from-the-farm veggies are home to various little bugs and creepy-crawlies that don’t really want to leave. Well, I’m not really as thorough as Hethyr when it comes to washing, spinning, or pretty much any other activity. The first time she discovered a worm in her lettuce, I was promptly fired from salad spinning.

Anyway, I hope you are all enjoying a green, leafy summer. May all your salads be breakfast-worthy and nematode-free…

I Found My Thrill on Blueberry Hill

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:35:00 +0000

Hethyr: I have always loved the scene in the original Willa Wonka & the Chocolate Factory movie where Violet chews the gum containing an entire three-course dinner which, according to Wonka, isn’t yet ready for human consumption. She swells into a giant blueberry and has to be rolled away for the blueberry juice to be extracted so she doesn’t explode. Freakin’ hilarious.

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes
with Blueberry-Lemon Syrup

Well, for the past couple of weeks, I’ve gotten to know how Violet felt. Jon and I bought 40 pints of blueberries during an incredible sale at Whole Foods. The one-day sale advertised organic blueberries for $1.99 per pint. Because I’m at Whole Foods at least a few times a week, I know that organic blueberries usually cost between $4.99 and $6.99 per pint, so this was an amazing sale. Of course, I made Jon tag along so we could carry twice as many. We managed to just fit 40 into two reusable grocery bags. Jon thought it was excessive at first, but when I mentioned that even a 12- to 16-ounce bag of frozen berries (which he often uses in smoothies) is usually $3.99, he was sold. And, as if $1.99 per pint wasn’t great enough, we bought so many that we got the 10% case discount so it ended up being $1.79 per pint. I was in heaven!

Blueberry-Basil Vinegar: Day 1
(it takes about 4 weeks)

Over the next few days, I froze most of the blueberries for later use and made several items using fresh berries including the Bluebarb June (my version of the Ruby June with the addition of crushed blueberries), Blueberry-Basil Ice Cream, Blueberry-Basil Vinegar (I’ll be taking this to a swap in the near-future!), Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes with Blueberry-Lemon Syrup and Blueberry-Brandy Reduction (to use on desserts or ice cream... I made this for last Sunday's community swap). Since then, Jon has been making some variation of a blueberry smoothie nearly every day and I’ve made Blueberry-Banana Bread which we’ll take with us camping this weekend.

One swap participant from last weekend made the following comment on Facebook regarding the Blueberry-Brandy Reduction: “…last night we had the Blueberry-Brandy Reduction over ice cream and strawberries-so delicious that when I spilled a glob on the kitchen counter I seriously had to stop myself from licking it up. :)” That definitely made me smile, although I’m not sure how she resisted – I’m sure I couldn’t have and I probably would’ve been caught in the act by Jon.

A photo from Sunday's
swap by my friend Kat

Blueberry-Brandy Reduction

Makes 1 1/2 cups

4 cups fresh organic blueberries
2 cups water
1/2 cup brandy
1/2 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Zest from one lemon

1. In a saucepan, crush blueberries with potato masher.

2. Add remaining ingredients, stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook until reduced by half.

3. Cool, then strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove skin, seeds and zest. Drizzle over ice cream or other desserts.

Blueberry-Banana Bread

Makes 1 loaf

2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda (1/2 teaspoon for high altitude)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. In a medium bowl, combine first three ingredients.

3. In a large bowl, combine wet ingredients (butter through lemon juice).

4. Gradually mix dry ingredients into wet, then carefully fold in blueberries. Pour into a greased 9-inch x 5-inch loaf pan.

5. Bake for approximately 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. Slice and serve.

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Hmm... that gigantic banana sure would make
some fine smoov-eez...

Jon: Remember the show Supermarket Sweep from back in the '80s? Shoppers would run around the store like crazed lunatics dumping crap into their shopping carts as fast as possible. I’m not sure that I can even remember the point of the show, but my family and I watched it regularly. Anyway, that’s the flashback that comes to mind when I think about Hethyr and I ransacking the blueberry counter at Whole Foods last week. When I brought the bulging bags of berries up to the checker, she glanced in the top of each one and looked at me inquisitively. I hung my head in embarrassment and sheepishly stated, “There are forty.”

The good news is that we bought so freakin’ many that we got an additional seven bucks off the order due to some sort of bulk purchase policy. Now we have a bunch of gallon-sized Ziplocs stuffed full of blueberries in our freezer. But you’re not getting any complaints from me about it. It guarantees that I’ll have smoothie material for the summer, and that’s a good thing.

Actually, what I make aren’t smoothies, they’re smoov-eez (patent pending). For those of you who have read this blog before, you may know that I recently received a new ass-kicking blender as a gift. This upgraded horsepower has improved the quality and frequency of my smoov-ee making. I’ll post the recipe for the one I made today. It’s pretty simple, but so am I…

Blueberry-Banana Smoov-eez

Makes 2 servings

2 cups milk
1 cup blueberries
2 ripe bananas
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon ground flax seed
1 cup ice

1. Add all ingredients and blend.

2. Drink.

Don't Rue the 'Barb!

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 19:02:00 +0000

“Rhubarb is the vegetable bridge between the tree fruits of winter and summer.”

-Alice Waters in Chez Panisse Fruit

Hethyr: It is prime-time for rhubarb in Colorado Springs and I couldn’t be happier about that. Since we try to eat as much local, seasonal food as possible, I’m always thrilled to see rhubarb appear as it’s one of the first vegetables we see in the springtime. It signals the beginning of several months of delicious, fresh fruits and veggies and I always try to get my hands on as much as possible to use in a plethora of ways.

About a week-and-a-half ago, Jon and I took advantage of a “u-pick” organic rhubarb event at a local farm and, as usual, I got carried away. Like 18 pounds carried away. Oops. I know most people would be completely overwhelmed by 18 pounds of almost anything – especially something like rhubarb – but I have been thoroughly enjoying figuring out how to use that much. I have been a busy little ~~bee~~ ‘barb in the kitchen this week!

So far I’ve made Rhubarb-Sour Cream Coffee Cake, Rhubarb Ice Cream (I’m going to try Rhubarb-Pistachio next!), Rhubarb-Honey Muffins (fail, but they still tasted good), Rhubarb-Apple-Walnut Bread, Spiced Rhubarb Chutney (we’ll be having this on pork chops tonight), Rhubarb Tea, Lavender-Rhubarb Tea and Rhubarb Syrup to use in drinks and cocktails (we’ll be trying this drink tonight). I also gave my step-mother-in-law about a pound of rhubarb to make a pie. Well, that took care of about half of the rhubarb we picked. Jon and I were laughing this morning about how I’m now trying to conserve the remainder of the rhubarb to make goodies for the next Pikes Peak Community Cupboard swap. We should have picked more!

Rhubarb Syrup, Spiced Rhubarb Chutney,
Lavender-Rhubarb Tea & Rhubarb-Apple-Walnut Bread

My favorite recipes (that we’ve actually tasted) so far have been the Rhubarb-Apple-Walnut Bread (a great way to use up the remainder of the apples that we amazingly still have from our winter CSA) and the Lavender-Rhubarb Tea, so I’ll share those recipes today. And though we have yet to taste it, you can go here for the rhubarb syrup recipe.

Overkill? Not in my opinion! Gotta enjoy it while it’s here because it’s only for a short time each year.

Rhubarb-Apple-Walnut Bread

Makes 2 loaves

3 cups white whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder (1 teaspoon for high altitude)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (1/4 teaspoon for high altitude)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 cups walnuts, chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups fresh rhubarb, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease two loaf pans.

2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cardamom and walnuts.

3. In a separate large bowl, mix together sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs.

4. Gradually mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients, then gently fold in rhubarb and apples.

5. Divide batter evenly between loaf pans and bake for 1 hour or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from pans and cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Lavender-Rhubarb Tea

Makes a lot

3 to 4 pounds rhubarb, cut into 2-inch sections
1 tablespoon dried lavender
12 cups water
1 cup sugar (or to taste)
Mint sprigs
Ice

1. Bring rhubarb, lavender and water to boil in a large soup pot. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.

2. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a very large bowl, discarding pulp.

3. Stir in sugar until dissolved, then cool completely.

4. Place mint leaves and ice in the bottom of a pitcher. Crush the mint and pour in the tea. Pour into individual glasses, garnish with extra mint leaves and enjoy!

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Jon: As I sit here sipping my lavender-rhubarb tea, I can’t help but think about how much I love this time of year and the fresh veggies that are being harvested all around us. I also can’t help but wonder where my masculinity has gone. Picking fresh rhubarb on a sunny Saturday afternoon… hanging out at the farmer’s market… writing a food blog… I’m becoming as domesticated as a housecat. And I haven’t even told you the worst part yet...

I’m a couple weeks away from finally getting my Master’s Degree, so I received a graduation gift from my dad and step-mom yesterday. Was it a case of beer? A new lawn mower, perhaps? A circular saw? Maybe a nice solid kick in the crotch? Nope, it was a new blender. And the really emasculating part is that I’ve been begging Hethyr for a new blender for months, so it was exactly what I wanted.

Anyway, it’s been nice getting back into the green season. We’ve been gorging on rhubarb and lettuce and I love it. This morning I drank a veggie smoothie that I made in my new blender. It was called a “spicy spinach and celery” whole juice smoothie and consisted of spinach, carrots, celery, parsley, apples and ice. It was a putrid brownish-green color that was way cool. Hethyr was grossed out by both the color and taste of this liquid salad, so I drank hers after finishing mine. It was pretty good but not exactly spicy. Maybe some vodka would liven it up a bit… it might also restore a shred of my manhood.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go wash some lettuce and head to my Zumba class.

Ladies and Gentlemen... I'm a cook.

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 00:47:00 +0000

Jon: Well it's about time I worked my way into the prime spot of this blog. I've been hanging out at the bottom of this page for far too long. So now it's time to simplify this post - or dumb it down, depending on your perspective. For those of you out there (like me) who lack the skills, patience or intelligence to cook a recipe with more than four ingredients, I hope this post is encouraging, enlightening, helpful, or at least makes you hungry.

Bacon, avocado, smoked Gouda,
tomato, sourdough grilled cheese...
You are my best friend.

Could there possibly be a more classic American meal than the grilled cheese sandwich? It's easy, it's tasty, and almost everyone digs it. All that you really need are two pieces of bread and a slice of cheese. But one great thing about a grilled cheese is that it can be "full-bodied" too, with almost infinite variety. The bread can be wheat, white, sourdough, rye, oat... the cheese can be Swiss, provolone, Gouda, pepper jack, cheddar, mozzarella... the toppings can be onions, mushrooms, bacon, avocado, tomatoes, garlic... the flavoring can be balsamic vinegar, pesto, spicy mustard, barbecue sauce, bacon jam... the possibilities seem to go on forever. Diversity is a good thing in this world, and diversity in the world of grilled cheese is no exception.

Yet another use for bacon jam.

My cooking skills have always fallen far short of my eating skills. As a guy who likes to spend minimal time making food and maximum time consuming it, the quesadilla has become another staple item in my limited repertoire. Like a grilled cheese, a quesadilla can range from a Pinto to a Cadillac. The bare bones of just a tortilla and shredded cheese is great, but so is a loaded one with ham, onions, Monterey Jack, green chilies, brown rice, black beans, and whatever else you can fit in there. A quesadilla is actually an excellent way to clean out your fridge. I bet most of you reading this right now have the ingredients in your fridge for a ridiculous quesadilla even though you don't even know it.

So here is my attempt to write a recipe. I've never done this before, but I can probably figure it out...

Heady Grilled Cheese
Makes 1 sandwich

2 pieces of sourdough bread
several slices of smoked Gouda
a pile of cooked bacon
1 avocado
1 tomato
butter
beer

Open a beer and begin drinking it (cooking without alcohol is dangerous). Butter up one side of each piece of bread. Smother the other side with cheese, vegetables, meat, condiments, and whatever else you want to put on there. Put it on a medium-hot skillet. Keep drinking your beer. Carefully flip your grilled cheese to brown both sides perfectly. Remove from the skillet and eat it.

Dank Quesadilla
Makes 1 quesadilla

2 tortillas, white or whole wheat
1 handful shredded mozzarella cheese
1 avocado
bacon jam
garlic salt
olive oil

My Sous-Chef

beer

Open a beer. Heat up some olive oil in your skillet. Load up your quesadilla with tons of wondrous edibles and grill it. Be sure to pour some olive oil on the top before you flip it back over. Remove from heat, slice it into triangles or whatever crazy shapes you like to eat, then eat it.

Note: I highly recommend sautéeing onions and mushrooms in balsamic vinegar and trying that instead of the avocado and bacon. Rice and black beans are a nice addition, too. Or you can go the pizza-quesadilla route and use pepperoni, tomato sauce and mozzarella.
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Hethyr: It's about time I get to slack at the bottom of the page! I've been doing all of the work for far too long. It's high time that he cooks and I dish it out. =)

Thank goodness for almost infinite variety when it comes to grilled cheese and quesadillas, because we eat at least one of these meals at least once a week. When I get busy with clients and cook for 10-12 hours a day, day after day, it's almost too much to think about making dinner for us when I get home. Here's where Jon's mad grilled cheese- and quesadilla-making skills come in handy. He is the master of creativity with these hand-held meals. On a side note, he also makes incredible breakfasts. I enlist his help there as often as I can.

He's been talking about doing this blog post for about three weeks now and I've been pushing him to do it, but he didn't "have the perfect ingredients" for the "perfect grilled cheese" until this week. I had no idea that there was such a thing, but I'll be damned if this didn't turn out to be the perfect sandwich. Sourdough toasts up so nicely, smoked Gouda is one of my favorite cheeses on Earth, bacon is heavenly and avocado is pure, creamy goodness. I chose to forego the tomatoes on my sandwich, but they sure looked pretty on Jon's. And beer. Sweet, sweet beer. I think I may have to take Jon's advice and start cooking with alcohol... apparently it's dangerous not to and my motto is "safety first!"

I didn't realize that I was going to get a bonus meal with this blog post, but the quesadilla with avocado and bacon jam has been one of my favorites to date. I didn't realize that I could have had mine cut into shapes, but you can be sure I'll be requesting that next time!

I Got the Hippie Hippie Shakes

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Mon, 23 May 2011 01:34:00 +0000

Hethyr: Prior to student teaching and becoming a teacher at Manitou Elementary, Jon worked as a para-educator at Ute Pass Elementary. It’s a great little school in the Manitou Springs school district and we’ve gotten to know the staff quite well over the last few years. They really create a fun atmosphere for the kids. I remember when Jon first started working there, he came home chuckling one day about a reading challenge that was taking place. There was a map of the

United States

on one of the bulletin boards and pinned to the state of Colorado was a Volkswagen bus and it was pointed West. As the kids logged reading hours, the van would inch closer and closer to California, and more specifically San Francisco. Once there, the whole school would have a “hippie” party where everyone dressed like hippies and they had music, hula-hooping, food, drinks and, I’m sure, lots of recess.

I still talk to the P.E. Teacher often on Facebook and Twitter and she recently asked me to participate in their first “Health Jam” where vendors are set up and classes and parents rotate through to see demonstrations and displays pertaining to health and fitness. I knew I wanted my demonstration to be something that would hold the kids’ attention while also being interesting for the parents and teachers. To me, that means hands-on, easy, tasty food for the kids and information for the parents on keeping their families healthy and happy.

Nephews, Ashyr & Roc, making granola bars

So, for this “hippie” school, I decided a “granola” presentation was appropriate. I’ve been making my own granola bars since I decided that boxed bars are too pricey for what you get and unacceptable in terms of ingredients. I can't even pronounce some of them. I know exactly what goes into my bars and that they’re inexpensive and incredibly easy to make. Aside from using the oven, a kid could make this recipe entirely on his/her own. For the demo, I plan on asking for student volunteers and having them actually make these granola bars. It should be very entertaining for the adults! ;)

A couple of things worth noting:

We wonder why kids are
addicted to sugar...

1) Boxed granola bars are loaded with sugar in lots of different forms. For example, on Wal-Mart’s Great Value Chocolate Chunk Chewy Granola Bars ingredients list, you can find sugar in the first ingredient (granola), sugar as the second ingredient, sugar in a couple of different forms in the chocolate, corn syrup solids, sugar (yes, again on it’s own), high fructose corn syrup and fructose. So, sugar is listed eight separate times on the ingredients list. Wow.

2) Boxed bars contain ingredients of unknown origin (at least to us!). We found an ingredient called “crisp syrup” on the same ingredients list. We Googled it and came up with nothing. WTF is this stuff? Not to mention “BHT (a preservative).” Another quote from the ingredients list: “May contain traces of almonds, pecans, walnuts and peanuts.” MAY contain? As in they don’t know? That’s messed up. Again, I know exactly what is in my granola bars! I even throw in a little dark chocolate and organic dried fruit for good measure.

Boxed bar=size of Jon's
middle finger
Mine=bigger & MUCH better

3) Size does matter! The same store-bought bars are less than half the size of my homemade ones (although you can certainly determine your ideal size for yourself… nah, I’ll let that one go). That’s about the size of Jon’s middle finger (see picture at left). When you buy their bars, that’s essentially the message they’re sending you. So why not send the message right back by refusing to buy them anymore and by taking a step toward self-sufficiency and making your own?

These granola bars, just like most of my other recipes, are very versatile. If you tire of dark chocolate, you're sick... oops, I mean try other kinds of chips such as milk or white chocolate, peanut butter chips, etc. Mix up the fruit and/or nuts or make up different combos such as "tropical" using dried pineapple, large coconut flakes and chopped macadamia nuts. Or "autumn" using fall spices, dried apples, cranberries and walnuts. Use your imagination and the possibilities become infinite. And you'll never have to buy icky boxed bars again!

Chewy Granola Bars

Makes 16 bars (or 32 if you want their size)

2 1/2 cups quick rolled oats
1/2 cup brown rice crisp cereal
1/4 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
6 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup dried fruit, chopped OR 1/2 cup dried fruit, chopped + 1/2 cup nuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch x 13-inch baking dish with butter or cooking spray. Set aside.

Grease hands to keep
granola from sticking

In a large bowl, stir together oats, brown rice cereal, coconut flakes, chocolate chips and salt. Add brown sugar, melted butter, honey and vanilla and mix well. Stir in dried fruit and nuts (if using).

Pour mixture into the greased baking dish and, with greased hands, press down firmly and evenly.

Bake at 350°F for approximately 18 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Score into 16 bars, then let cool completely. Once set, finish cutting bars the rest of the way through.

NOTE: Can easily be halved and baked in an 8-inch x 8-inch pan.

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Jon: What’s not to love about granola bars? The Urban Dictionary has seven definitions for “granola.” Some of the highlights include…

“A person who dresses like a hippy, eats natural foods (granola), and is usually a Liberal, but in all other ways is a typical middle class white person, and is likely to revert back to being straight when they finish college.”

“A tree hugging, free spirited hippie minus all the drugs.”

“earthy crunchy, nature valley, au natural, plain jane, somewhat dirty and unkempt, and in need of a shower.”

Need to hear it used in a sentence to truly understand? I thought so. Here are a couple of helpful examples…

“Did you see that granola chick at the farmer’s market buying bean sprouts? Yeah, her new Volvo was parked next to me.”

“That chick doesn’t shave her armpits; she’s hella granola.”

So I guess if we take the Urban Dictionary to be law (which we clearly should), granola bars are free-spirited, tree-hugging, earth-conscious, natural edibles. But they also happen to have just enough style and class to appease those uppity types who like to shower regularly. They've got the whole package. Let's face it, if a granola bar were a person, it’d be Johnny Depp.

One of the best things about Hethyr’s granola bars is that they are a little different every time. Since you can use any type of dried fruits, chocolates, nuts, and whatever other ingredients, your bars can have a great variety of flavors. One of the other best things about Hethyr's granola bars are that they taste freakin' amazing. The portability is nice, too. I often have one or two during snack time right after recess. Yep, that's right. I still have snack time and recess. And all the kids are jealous of my granola bars.

Stuff It!

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Mon, 16 May 2011 03:04:00 +0000

Hundreds of morels found by Jon's family

Hethyr: You probably know by now that I am a huge fan of morel mushrooms and I, for one, hope that you get several morel recipes from me this spring! That would imply that we’ve been successful on our hunts. Unfortunately, I think it’s still too early in the mountains (at least where we’ve looked) because, as of two days ago, we were still getting snow. I’m hoping to try again in a couple of weeks, but until then we’ll enjoy the dried morels we received as a gift yesterday from Jon’s dad, step-mom, sister and brother-in-law. They had a VERY successful hunt last week, gathering about 650 between the four of them! Of course they wouldn’t disclose where they found them or they would have had to kill us. I put our little jar of dried ‘shrooms in the pantry and wondered what mouthwatering dish I’d eventually use them in. Well, it didn’t take long to figure it out. About 24 hours, as a matter of fact.

Today, while shopping for clients, I picked up some fresh, locally grown asparagus to have as a side dish with dinner. I had some chicken and pork tenderloins thawing in the refrigerator and thought the asparagus would make a beautiful side for either. Well, I know I’ve mentioned my odd cravings in prior posts and today was no exception. I started fantasizing (yes, food is like porn to me, okay?) about calzones at one point, knowing that we had some leftover ricotta from a recipe earlier this week. Then I started wondering what kind of scrumptious fillings I could think of to put in my fantasy calzone…?...?... Then I remembered the morels. And the chicken. Yep and yep.

When I mentioned my idea to Jon, I had barely gotten the name of the dish out before he was in full agreement that he, too, wanted this more than anything. Ever. Okay, maybe I’m imagining that he wanted this as badly as I did, but I guess we’ll have to see what he says…

It is hard to describe the sense of satisfaction and wonder I feel when I start with a few basic ingredients, spend a little time in the kitchen and end up with a sensory masterpiece. I think it was this feeling that led me to fall in love with cooking in the first place. I remember how proud I was of my first fruit pizza which I made when family visited Jon and me during college. I think you can see the pride in my face in the picture. =)

Although the fruit pizza was a far cry from my current culinary creations, I still get that same giddy feeling when a dish turns out well. I got that warm, fuzzy feeling from these calzones… not fuzzy like those massive caterpillars which seem to have attached themselves to my eyebrows in this picture.

Chicken and Morel Calzones

Serves 2 to 4

I love coming up with new Spring recipes!

1 dough recipe (see below)
1/4 to 1/2 ounce dried morel mushrooms (use fresh if you’ve got ‘em!)
1 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup sliced cippolini onions or shallots
1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 to 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup shredded Asiago cheese
1/4 cup shredded Fontina cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
3/4 cup cooked, shredded chicken
1 egg
Splash of water

Prepare dough (see recipe below). While dough is rising, place dried morels in a bowl with boiling water, cover and let reconstitute for 20-30 minutes. Drain, reserving liquid for another use, and coarsely chop mushrooms.

Place pizza stone on center rack in oven and preheat oven to 400°F. Sprinkle pizza peel liberally with cornmeal.

Heat olive oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add sliced onions or shallots and chopped morels and cook until onions or shallots are translucent. Add balsamic vinegar and cook until evaporated. Remove mixture from skillet and cool slightly.

In a large bowl, combine ricotta, Asiago, Fontina, thyme, chicken and mushroom mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

Prepare egg wash: In a small dish, combine 1 egg with a splash of water. Whisk with a fork.

Place half of the filling onto half of each prepared dough circle, leaving an inch around the edge to close the calzone. Brush around the edge of each calzone with the egg wash, fold the dough in half and press closed. Roll the edge up on itself and press down again so filling doesn’t leak out. Brush tops with egg wash, then cut a few vents so steam can escape.

Transfer calzones to pizza peel one at a time and slide onto the preheated pizza stone. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until tops are golden brown and insides are hot. Cut in half, if desired, or keep the whole thing to yourself. =)

Basic Pizza/Calzone Dough

Makes one 10-inch pizza or two calzones

1/2 teaspoon dry active yeast
6-8 tablespoons warm water (100°F to 110°F), divided
2 1/4 ounces (about 1/2 cup) white whole wheat flour
2 1/4 ounces (about 1/2 cup) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
Cornmeal

Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm water and let stand for 5 minutes.

Place flour and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times.

Pour yeast mixture through chute while processor is running, then add additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough forms a ball (see picture at left). Process for 30 seconds.

After an hour, if the dough has risen enough, a couple of fingers pressed into dough will leave an indentation. Punch down dough, cover and let rest 5 minutes.

FOR PIZZA: While dough rises, preheat oven to 500°F. Place pizza stone in the center of preheated oven about 30 minutes prior to baking pizza.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 10-inch circle. Place dough onto a pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal. Top and bake according to recipe.

FOR CALZONES: Divide dough into two equal pieces and one at a time, on a floured surface, flatten each dough round with a rolling pin until about 8 to 10-inches in diameter. Fill and bake according to recipe.
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Jon: I love the concept of a calzone. It provides all the satisfaction of a pizza with its tasty browned dough, gooey cheese, saucy... um... sauciness. But there's something extra cool about the calzone. Maybe it's that a calzone is like a little gift-wrapped present... a doughy package with a surprise inside. Feasting upon good food that has even better food stuffed inside of it is fun. It's like biting into a chocolate donut and discovering a creamy filling. Or grabbing a piece of chocolate-covered who-knows-what from a box, wondering if you'll hit the jackpot with a caramel or coconut center (or gag because you got the orange one).

Remember Tidal Wave gum, the gum with a gooey fruity liquid in the middle? Your taste buds would go haywire for one glorious minute before you had to spit the bland, tasteless remains out of your mouth. Calzones also remind me of pepperoni rolls from Gumby's pizza in Champaign, IL. They were great with a side of Pokey Sticks at 3am during the college years. Pepperoni rolls were nothing special... in fact, they were pretty low quality. But once again, there's just something about the mysterious appeal of food that hides inside of other food.

I think it's funny and fitting that "calzone" refers to "stockings" or "trousers" in some Italian dialects. Earlier today I suggested to Hethyr that we make a breakfast stocking sometime soon. Of course, when I say "we" I really mean "she," but whatever. A calzone with bacon, eggs, potatoes, cheese and black beans? Yum. That would be a mighty fine trouser.

Anyway, this calzone was outstanding. The morels and balsamic vinegar are what really did it for me. But something else might satisfy your cravings, which is the beauty of the magnificently versatile calzone. So my advice to you... go stuff something inside of something else and enjoy it.

Happy National Buttermilk Biscuit Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Sat, 14 May 2011 16:50:00 +0000

Hethyr:

Homemade Whole Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits inspired by National Buttermilk Biscuit Day

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Jon:

What's Shakin', Beef 'n Bacon?

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Tue, 10 May 2011 00:59:00 +0000

Hethyr: The other morning, I got an intense craving for a burger, which is a bit odd for me. Not to say that I don't love them - they just aren't something I eat very often and especially at 9:00 am. Usually Jon and I grab a burger after a good hike, but this was not the case on this particular day. This craving came from some unknown place deep in my psyche and would not subside - I thought about it all day long. Even while I was doing yoga (about the only time my brain gives me a break), all I could think about while I wasn't supposed to be thinking at all was a big, juicy burger with bacon and cheese. *DROOL*

Jon's beautiful burgers,
grilled on a perfect day

When Jon got home from school that day, I asked him to grill some burgers. Since we didn't have any buns on hand, we decided to use slices of homemade bread and make our version of a patty melt.

For the last week, we've been eating this incredible bacon jam that I received at a local swap. People hand-make goods (food or otherwise) or come with eggs, produce, milk, herbs, etc. to swap with other folks. No money is allowed so you trade your items for others'. It's a cool way to meet people in your community and end up with a rockin' stash of goodies.

The bounty I received from the swap

I took dark chocolate-cherry-almond granola bars, dark chocolate "beetniks" (mini-muffins), artisan bread, organic unsweetened applesauce that I canned from Colorado apples and my Asian sesame vinaigrette. I came home with balsamic-marinated dried tomatoes, peppermint lotion, Gorgonzola shortbread bites with fig compote, bacon jam (times two!), raw goat milk, vegetable seeds, mayonnaise and Japanese-style mayonnaise, sandalwood and patchouli soaps, piñon nuts, farm-fresh eggs, white whole wheat flour, honey caramels, banana pudding with salted caramel sauce, lemon pudding with raspberry sauce, dog treats, pot de crème (sort of like crème brûlée) and laundry soap. It was awesome!

We’ve tried several of the items from the swap so far – all incredible – and the bacon jam has made a few appearances on this week’s menu. First, Jon made us grilled cheese sandwiches with bacon jam, then we had the patty melts and just this morning I made breakfast burritos with eggs, potatoes, black beans, cheese and… you guessed it – bacon jam. Freakin’ amazing. I plan on making it myself someday, but first I guess we’ll polish off the two jars I got at the swap. Yep, that’s right – I shamelessly took a second jar when it was up for grabs.

Our patty melts thoroughly satisfied my mega-burger craving, but I’ll probably never be quite content with a regular patty melt again. I’ll always feel like it’s missing that sweet, tangy, smoky something. Maybe I’ll have to start carrying a jar of it around with me in my purse...

Bacon Jam Patty Melts

Serves 4

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
8 bread slices
4 tablespoons bacon jam or 8 cooked bacon slices
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (we used some from the swap)
4 slices of white cheese (mozzarella, muenster, pepperjack, etc.)
1 medium onion, sliced
5 tablespoons butter

1. Form the ground beef into 4 patties, coat with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill, broil or pan-fry the patties until cooked to your liking (keep in mind that they'll cook a little more when the sandwich is made). Cover with foil to keep warm and set aside.

2. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium heat and add the onion slices. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and browned. Remove from skillet and set aside.
3. Spread 4 slices of bread with mayonnaise and 4 with bacon jam (or bacon). Top 4 of the slices with hamburger patties, cheese and cooked onions. Top with the remaining bread slices.

4. Melt half of the remaining butter in the skillet and add sandwiches. Cook until golden brown, then carefully flip. Cook second side until golden brown and cheese is melted. Cut in half, bite in and experience bacon-y bliss!
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Jon: Some of my best memories from college are from the days when Hethyr and I would sleep until mid-afternoon then head to Steak 'n Shake for a very late breakfast. Those of you who live out west with us might not know about Steak 'n Shake because they haven't yet migrated into the mountain time zone. Basically it's a 24-hour diner where you can shorten your life significantly by consuming a greasy burger, cheese-soaked fries and a cherry coke for minimal cash. It's the kind of place that we no longer frequent due to the fact that we want to live to see 40, but it was great college food nonetheless.

Steak 'n Shake's Frisco Melt

Our favorite Steak 'n Shake meal was definitely the "Frisco Melt." It was a couple of burger patties with two kinds of cheese and "Frisco sauce" (which tasted suspiciously like Thousand Island dressing), all loaded up on some grilled sourdough bread. It was truly a miracle meal, sufficing as a late-afternoon breakfast or an early morning beer-sponge. What more could a couple of starving college kids want?

When Hethyr came to me the other day with her burger craving and we didn't have any hamburger buns, the Frisco Melt discussion started immediately. We knew we wanted the same satisfaction, only this was our chance to make it healthier (kind of) and even tastier. With a little creativity and some help from the bacon jam, our new best friend, I can proudly proclaim mission accomplished.

By the way, Mom and Dad, in case you're reading this, you can be sure that we only did this on weekends and never would have done such a thing on a school day. I always tried to get up by noon when I actually had class.

Gimme Some Morel or I'll Kick You in the Asparagus!

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 23:22:00 +0000

Hethyr: My family is originally from central Illinois and some of my earliest memories are of my dad going morel mushroom hunting in the spring. I’m not sure why I remember it so well… maybe it was his sheer excitement over finding some strange looking little mushrooms. To me, as a child, they looked liked little brains – I thought they were awesome and I remember that they were the only mushrooms I'd ever really eat as a kid. After coming home from a day of morel hunting with my uncle and some other guys, Dad could barely wait for Mom to batter and fry them up.

My mom recently told me a story about how my dad found one single morel on their property when they still lived in Illinois. They searched and searched, but could sadly find no others. Mom still battered and fried the lonely morel for Dad’s gastronomic pleasure. It cracks me up to think of one single mushroom on a plate and tortures me to think of how that one little Morchella would have just been a teaser and made me yearn for more. Poor Dad!

Here's a beautiful morel haiku by John (not my husband)...

Brown wrinkly features

camouflaged in the forest.

SHIT! I stepped on one!

For many years as Jon (my husband) and I moved around the country, I missed morels each spring but found out within the last few years that they do, in fact, grow in Colorado. I have yet to actually find any, as the timing is later than I was used to in Illinois. A couple of years ago, I think one of my friends found some in late June/early July. That was a late year for almost everything on the Front Range, though. I’ll be searching again this year and with any luck, will be able to enjoy some freshies, but in the meantime I’ve found some dried morels that have at least partially satisfied my craving.

Great book, great recipes!

I had been saving one-half ounce of the dried morels for a specific recipe and now that asparagus is here along with spring, I got to put them to use the other night. A few years ago (before I knew morels grew in Colorado and before I was able to find dried morels), I read the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and it contained a recipe for Asparagus and Morel Bread Pudding. Although it involved a bit of preparation, I longed for the day when I could actually try that recipe. My dream finally came true the other night! But, as is the story of my life, I didn’t have all of the ingredients that were called for in the recipe so the following is my take on it. Although I still wish I'd had fresh morels to use, I truly think my recipe turned out better than the original would have. Not that the original sounded at all bad – if that had been the case, I never would have wanted to try it in the first place!

And as a last little note, I can’t resist telling about my brother-in-law’s comment on Facebook the other day. Actually, I’ll just post his quote in regards to my little niece, who is one-and-a-half… “Delle was just handed an asparagus stalk... her natural reaction was to brush her teeth with it.” Ha ha ha ha ha! I love it.

Hethyr’s Morel and Asparagus Bread Pudding

Serves 4 to 6

"This is so good! May I have some morel, please?"

3/4 cup boiling water
1/2 ounce dried morels
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sliced cipollini onions (you could also use spring onion or shallots)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
1 loaf whole wheat or whole grain bread, cubed and toasted (I used homemade bread but you could easily use store-bought)
4 large (preferably farm-fresh) eggs
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded or crumbled goat cheese with crushed red pepper (if you can’t find it, use plain goat cheese and 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes)

1. In a small dish, pour boiling water over dried morels, cover and let reconstitute for 20 to 30 minutes. Drain, reserving liquid, and chop mushrooms coarsely. Set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine mushroom liquid, heavy cream, milk, onions, thyme, salt and pepper in a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat.

The elusive, reclusive morel in all of
its reconstituted glory

3. In a large bowl, pour liquid over breadcrumbs and let sit for about 10-15 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed (it’s okay if not all of it gets soaked up).

4. In a separate large bowl, whisk together eggs, salt and pepper.

5. Steam asparagus for 1-2 minutes or until bright green. Shock by dunking in ice cold water to stop the cooking process. Set aside.

6. In a medium skillet, heat butter over medium heat. Sauté the chopped morels in butter for 2 minutes.

7. Combine eggs with breadcrumb mixture, mushrooms, asparagus and 2/3 of the goat cheese. Pour into a greased 12- x 8-inch glass baking dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until puffy and golden brown.

OMG
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Jon:

Gnawing 'shroom pudding

Tastes like a bowl full of love

Need a cold shower.

Yep, there is no doubt that this dish inspires poetry. In fact, I believe this was one of the best meals that Hethyr has ever made. Some of the credit obviously goes to the morels, but the whole combination of flavors is unbelievable. Actually my mouth is watering profusely just thinking about it. I think I need to go eat some more right now...

Done. It was just as good as leftovers as it was fresh. I'm not really sure that I've ever had morels before this meal, but I think I just officially joined the bandwagon of mushroom-crazy people who search for them in the woods like tiny buried treasures. I think I could get pretty into it. After all, there's nothing unpleasant about hiking in the woods, especially around here. I just need to train myself to look for little brain-things on the ground as I walk instead of spacing out like I normally do.

Will this be the spot where I someday
fertilize a field of morels?

I love the secrecy of the whole morel-hunting game. Searching online, there are an endless number of posts that brag about the wondrous fields of 'shrooms that were discovered but never the location of the bounty. A couple of our closest friends wouldn't even tell us where to go last summer after they had just returned from the mountains with bags of morels and stories of hundreds more. I finally guilted them into at least providing the trail name where they started their hike. I wonder what would happen if I found and posted the GPS coordinates of every quality morel field I could find out about. Would I be snuffed out by some crazy syndicate of the mushroom mafia? Would I be buried in a shallow grave in a grove of aspens on a mountainside so that I might provide fertilizer for future generations of morels? Who knows? I guess I'd better play it safe and refrain from the publicity stunt. But to anyone reading this, please feel free to send me those coordinates anyway.

Tantrums and Testicles

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 03:51:00 +0000

Hethyr: I don’t know about you, but some of my best recipe creations happen when I have a bunch of mismatched ingredients on hand (i.e. desperation). When we’re really hungry and don’t have two things that go together, I a) throw a tantrum, tell Jon to fend for himself and don’t end up eating anything or b) get creative and hope for a tasty end-product. The following recipe was the result of the latter. As you’ll see by the name, it’s quite an interesting combination. A piece of warm pita bread, topped with fish taco ingredients, pizza-style. Voilà! Fish Taco Pit-z-as. Cute, eh?

As you may know by now if you’ve become a regular reader (yes, I'm talking to both of you), most of our household produce comes from our Grant Family Farms CSA. But, alas, we are into the second of three months of the year in which we don’t receive weekly (summer) or monthly (winter) boxes of delicious, organic fruits and vegetables. Boo hoo! =’( I can’t wait until June when our CSA will start back up. Until then, we’ll subsist on stored apples, beets and potatoes and the few items that I will begrudgingly pick up from the store. Don’t get me wrong - Whole Foods isn’t bad – we are just very used to our locally grown, seasonal produce so it’s an adjustment during those few CSA-less months every year.

A sight we never see in Colorado

Unfortunately, avocado trees never really thrive in Colorado so we don’t get to eat the fruit nearly as often as we’d like, but avocados are one of the very few produce items that I will occasionally go out of my way to buy at the store. When I do break down and buy them, they are usually made into large quantities of guacamole, which is then almost instantaneously devoured. We’ve never actually had any leftover, but according to my mom (who lives in Florida and seems to always have locally grown avocados the size of my head on hand), it freezes well. I will try it one of these days if there is EVER any leftover. As with each and every person who has a recipe for guacamole, I think mine is the best, but you can be the judge...

To pit an avocado, cut it in half lengthwise, grab each half in one hand, twist in opposite directions and pull apart. The pit will remain embedded in one of the halves. VERY CAREFULLY, whack the pit with a knife, then twist – the pit should come right out.

Interesting (and pretty hilarious) facts: The word avocado comes from the Spanish word aguacate, which is derived from the Nahuatl word ahuacatl meaning "testicle" - an obvious reference to the shape of the fruit. It was also known as the "fertility fruit" and had the reputation of being an aphrodisiac.

As with most of my recipes, you can easily adapt this one to use what you've got on hand. Use refried beans in place of the guacamole, cabbage or lettuce instead of spinach, salmon or another protein entirely (chicken, beef, shredded pork) in place of the mild white fish, any kind of cheese, etc. You get the idea - have fun with it!

Fusion Cuisine a la Hethyr

Fish Taco Pit-z-as

Makes 2 servings

2 pita rounds
Guacamole, to taste (see my recipe below or use your favorite)
2 cups fresh baby spinach
1 to 2 cups white fish, seasoned with Magic Dust spice rub or spice blend of your choice, cooked and flaked
1/4 cup goat cheese with crushed red pepper, crumbled
Hot sauce

Wrap pita bread in foil and heat in a 400°F oven for 5-7 minutes. Slather pita rounds with guacamole, top with spinach, flaked fish, goat cheese and hot sauce. Dig in. You’ll probably need a fork and knife.

Wholly guacamole!

Guacamole

1 garlic clove, minced
Kosher salt
2 ripe avocados, halved and pitted
1/2 tablespoon lime juice
1 small tomato
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped

Sprinkle minced garlic with salt and smash with the edge of a chef’s knife until a paste forms. Scoop avocado meat into a bowl or onto a cutting board, add garlic paste and lime juice and smash with a fork until desired consistency (I like to leave mine somewhat chunky). Gently fold in tomatoes and cilantro. Adjust salt if necessary.
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Jon: Now that you've learned a bit about the origin of "avacado," allow me to continue the lesson. The word cantaloupe comes from the the Italian word cantalupo meaning "large breast." Actually, that's a total lie. But I'm not going to let Hethyr outdo me with her testicle-talk.

Hethyr is correct that her guacamole is the best in the world... or at least the best that any white girl has ever made. And these fish tacos pit-z-as were ridiculously good. It is a crazy Greek-Mexican-seafood combination that works in a truly multicultural way. These tacos are what sushi rolls would be if they were flattened and turned into sandwiches. And like sushi, you can stuff yourself and feel alright about it because it digests well. It's also worth mentioning that the quality of your pita bread goes a long way to determining the quality of this meal. We buy our pita bread from Jake and Telly's, an awesome Greek restaurant on the west side of town. It's soft and fluffy and white, just like good pita should be.

Buon appetito! Or if you prefer... Buon cantalupo!

Grown-Up After-School Snack

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 01:20:00 +0000

Hethyr: Sorry it's been a while since we've posted, but one's coming within the next couple of days. Until then here's a teaser to tide you over. Cheers to wine, cheese and blogging! =)
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Jon: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Our snack is better than yours is!
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You Don't Win Friends with Salad... Or Do You?

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 00:47:00 +0000

Hethyr: For the last week, I’ve been in Florida visiting my family. The weather for the first few days was amazing – in the 80s and sunny with a slight breeze. We boated, beached and bummed. It was great!

Relaxing on the beach in Florida

My future brother-in-law, Mark, was recently working in the Gulf and caught some yellowfin tuna during a fishing trip on a rare day off. He graciously let us cook some for dinner one night while we were in town. The method used to catch the fish was trolling which, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch, is “an environmentally responsible fishing method. Fishermen can quickly release unwanted catch from their hooks since lines are reeled in soon after a fish takes the bait.”

My mom and I hit up a farmers’ market for some local goods to accompany the tuna. I was surprised to see a lot of produce from other states/countries as the markets I’m used to in CO consist of almost all local goods. But we sought out the local FL produce and ended up with a bounty… Ruskin tomatoes, escarole, arugula, basil, tangerines, strawberries, sweet corn, artisan bread... my mouth is watering just thinking about it! We decided to have corn-on-the-cob and escarole-arugula-basil salad with tangerine-balsamic vinaigrette as our side dishes.

My mom picked up some Gulf shrimp and made a delicious Cajun-style shrimp dish with crusty bread for dipping while my sister Krystl and I cooked the marinated tuna to each person’s liking. Everything was incredible!

Cajun Shrimp, Marinated Tuna, Corn-on-the-Cob,
Escarole, Arugula & Basil with Tangerine-Balsamic Vinaigrette

After trying the vinaigrette, my mom asked if I had other dressing recipes that I would share. Since we are overloaded with salad greens in the springtime with our CSA, I, in fact, have many, many dressing recipes that I am more than happy to share! For years, I have made my own salad dressings because they’re much less expensive to make than the small bottles available at grocery stores, I know exactly what ingredients are being used and because the combinations and flavors are endless. You can create a dressing to complement any meal you’re having.

Here are a few of my very favorites…

Asian Sesame Vinaigrette

Makes a little over 1 cup

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil

Combine all ingredients in a mason jar with an airtight, spill-proof lid. Shake vigorously before drizzling over salad. Alternatively, you can whisk together first six ingredients in a medium bowl, then slowly stream in olive oil and sesame oil. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months. You may need to bring to room temperature just prior to use to allow the oils to re-liquefy.

Tangerine-Balsamic Vinaigrette

Makes a little over 1 1/4 cups

6 tablespoons tangerine juice (use 1 large or 2 small tangerines)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cups olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a mason jar with an airtight, spill-proof lid. Shake vigorously before drizzling over salad. Alternatively, you can whisk together tangerine juice, vinegar, salt and pepper in a medium bowl, then slowly stream in olive oil. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. You may need to bring to room temperature just prior to use to allow the oil to re-liquefy.

Greek Vinaigrette

Makes approximately 1 cup

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
Salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a mason jar with an airtight, spill-proof lid. Shake vigorously before drizzling over salad. Alternatively, you can whisk together red wine vinegar through salt and pepper, then slowly stream in olive oil. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months. You may need to bring to room temperature just prior to use to allow the oil to re-liquefy.

Peach or Apricot-Ginger Vinaigrette

Makes approximately 1 cup

2 tablespoons peach or apricot preserves
1 small shallot, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced or 1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup olive oil

In a medium bowl, whisk together preserves through salt and pepper, then slowly stream in olive oil. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. You may need to bring to room temperature just prior to use to allow the oil to re-liquefy.

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Post-beach Jon

Jon: The Florida trip was definitely a great time. As you can see from the picture above, I'm sporting a glowing white Colorado winter skin tone. About two hours after this picture was taken, the glowing white had transitioned into a nice strawberry red. And speaking of strawberries, those were perfectly in season and were probably the best thing I tasted all week. I also had a strawberry-mango smoothie at the farmers' market which was absolutely delicious. The only fruit we've been eating for the last six months in Colorado is apples so I was thrilled to eat something else.

It was incredibly satisfying to eat a salad, too, even though the server at Rusty BelliesHethyr made the tangerine-balsamic vinaigrette. I instead had to subsist on quesadillas, popcorn, cereal and apples until she returned to cook for me again.

Store bought: 8 ounces (1 cup) for $4.29!

Aside from the fact that Hethyr's salad dressings are delicious, they probably cost about 10 cents to make. And in case you haven't noticed, salad dressing costs an arm and a leg at the store. It's quite a racket. In fact, maybe Hethyr should get in the salad dressing biz and jack the price up a thousand percent. We could use our salad dressing profits to buy a second home in Florida so we could eat strawberries and lettuce in the winter. Hmmm....

Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 19:08:00 +0000

Hethyr: In our 13 years together, Jon and I have always been a bit fascinated by the fact that I know a lot of songs from the 30s without a clue as to how I came to learn them, so we’ve always joked about my previous life in the Big Band/Swing Era. I’d even asked my mom about it in the past and she couldn’t figure out how I would know these songs. Well, one day about a year ago, I was watching the 2005 remake of King Kong and started singing along to one of the songs – an Al Jolson recording of “I’m Sitting on Top of the World.” As usual with this kind of music, it struck me as odd that I knew the song at all. For a completely unrelated reason, I called home and my dad just happened to pick up the phone. He has always amazed me with his musical knowledge, so I asked him how I could possibly know so many songs from that era. He started laughing and told me that his parents had listened to Big Band/Swing when I was really young. That explained it all! And after years of wondering who I was in the 30s. ;)

Cherry Pies with Almond-Streusel Topping

So, if you haven’t figured out the connection yet, the version of “Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries” in the video is from that era and this blog post is all about cherries and cherry wine. It is also quite fitting that Bing Crosby was part of the recording - can you figure out why? This summer, we received quite a bounty of pie cherries in our Grant Family Farms CSA. I used some to make a couple of pies this past summer and I froze the rest, knowing that cherry pie in the dead of winter would be a special treat. Actually, Jon got a couple of cherry pies and some cherry-cheese blintzes for Valentine's Day! We also got about a dozen bottles of cherry wine between our summer and winter CSA shares. It’s a really nice, light, crisp wine with a bright red color and a beautiful hand-drawn label, but because it is sweet, it’s not something I can sit down and drink several glasses of at once. Since we received so many bottles, though, and since it’s only good for about 6 months in the refrigerator, we’ve given some as gifts and I’ve had to get really creative with the rest (aside from what we drink, of course). This led to the creation of a couple of really great sauce recipes that I’ll share with you.

Since pork tends to go well with fruit sauces and chutneys due to its natural sweetness, I thought of a way to combine the cherry wine with pork chops. I thought a cherry wine-cream sauce sounded divine, so I reduced some cherry wine with fresh rosemary and cream until slightly thickened. Given a little extra time, I would probably have reduced it even more until it became thick and syrupy but it was still great, even if a little thin.

For the other recipe, I made a sweet drizzle for ice cream which turned out even better than expected. Cherry pits and stems and the bark of the cherry tree have an almondy aroma/flavor so almonds are a natural complement to cherries. What better to pair with this heavenly dessert sauce than my homemade toasted almond ice cream? Although I’m sure it would be delicious over other flavors as well!

*Bonus Cherry Tip: Easily pit fresh cherries by pushing the end of a chopstick or drinking straw through one end of the cherries. The pits should push right through the other end.

Cherry Wine-Cream Sauce for Pork Chops or Pork Tenderloin

1 cup cherry wine
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
Pinch of salt
Pepper

In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients and cook over medium to medium-high heat until liquid is reduced to about 1/2 cup. Adjust seasonings and drizzle over cooked pork chops or sliced pork tenderloin.

Cherry Wine-Brandy Reduction Sauce for Ice Cream, Pound Cake or Other Desserts

1/2 cup cherry wine
1/4 cup brandy
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup pie cherries

Cherry and dairy - oh, so very! =)

Combine wine, brandy, honey and pie cherries in a small saucepan over medium to medium-high heat for 15 minutes or until thickened and syrupy. Watch closely so it doesn’t boil over.

Cool completely. Add a little bit of water to thin, if necessary, before drizzling over ice cream, pound cake or other desserts of your choice. I drizzled mine over homemade toasted almond ice cream and garnished with sliced toasted almonds.

I think this one is FoodPornDaily-worthy!

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Pie Man

Jon: One of the many great things about our CSA from Grant Farms is that we sometimes get awesome bonus items. The fruits and veggies are the real reasons why we're signed up for a share, but it's always fun to get extra little "presents" like cherry wine and pie cherries. Other past presents have included apple cider, gourds, eggs, bread, harvest beer and a holiday wreath. But the cherry-related items have been provided in full force. Every fall and winter we eat more pies than Lardass from Stand By Me. I think it's important to any healthy balanced diet to include an appropriate pie to non-pie ratio. I'm pretty sure that pie-deficiency is America's number one killer. Seriously. I read it on Wikipedia.

I'm sweatin' just looking
at this baby

I'm not sure how a cherry becomes a pie cherry. Okay, I just asked Hethyr after writing that question so now I know. Apparently there are sweet cherries and tart cherries. The tart ones are used for pies (and those are the ones used in the sauce recipe above). I can definitely vouch for the extreme tartness of these cherries, as evidenced by the way they cause me to sweat under my eyes. Just as Hethyr's mom can confirm, anything sour or tart makes me sweat under my eyes. The first time I told Ginny that margaritas make me sweat under my eyes (due to the sour mix), she laughed so hard I thought she would pass out. Once she regained control she then proceeded to shoot margarita at me through her straw. I can only hope that I don't get a tart pie in the face from her next week when I see her in Florida.

The intensity of these cherries make them a perfect fit for ice cream. And the cherry wine sauce for pork is some of the best stuff I've ever had. Maybe it's the sweetness of the pork that works so well with the cherry flavor. I'm not entirely sure, but I don't need to be sure to eat it. All this talk about tart cherries is actually causing me to sweat under my eyes right now. I'd better grab a glass of wine and a towel.

One Fish, Two Fish, Whole Fish, Glued Fish

noreply@blogger.com (Hethyr and Jon) — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 01:42:00 +0000

Hethyr: One of the greatest parts about my job is the relationships I have built with the staff at the grocery stores in which I shop. Not only is it fun to be able to talk to familiar people as I shop, but sometimes I even get preferential treatment! I often get the inside scoop on upcoming specials, employees will offer to go to the back to get me top quality produce which hasn’t yet been shelved and sometimes, like the other day, one of them will even track me down in the store to tell me something awesome has just come in off the truck.

"Eat me!"

I was at the seafood counter at Whole Foods shopping for a client the other day when one of the fishmongers told me what the upcoming weekend had in store (no pun intended) for them. It was their 7th anniversary and they had all kinds of events planned. He mentioned a couple of specials they’d be having including a sale on whole yellowtail snapper, which they only get in occasionally. I’d purchased one a few weeks prior and it was absolutely beautiful and delicious (Jon didn’t think it was quite as pretty as I did!). I knew that I wouldn’t be making a trip to Whole Foods while they were having the sale so I was bummed that I’d be missing out but wished the guys luck and went on my way. About halfway through the store I heard someone yelling. I didn’t really pay attention because employees are often yelling instructions/information back and forth to each other. Well, a couple of yells later, I realized it was Adam, one of the fishmongers, yelling at me and then he appeared at the end of the aisle waving a gorgeous yellowtail snapper. “I didn’t think they were coming until tomorrow, but they just unloaded these off the truck!” So I made my way back to the seafood counter while they wrapped up a two or three pound beauty for me at the special sale price that wouldn’t be available until the next day. I think it cost $18 and it fed us for three meals. If you break it down, that’s $3 per person per meal. That’s a heck of a lot less expensive than what you’d pay in a restaurant for the same thing.

The first night, I stuffed the fish with butter and herbs and baked it whole. The second night, I flaked it and made it into AMAZING curried fish cakes that fed us for the next two days. In the following recipes, feel free to substitute any mild white fish for the yellowtail snapper if you can’t find it. If you can find it, I really recommend trying it. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch rates it as a good alternative and notes that “a recent assessment of yellowtail snapper suggests that the population is healthy and abundant.”

In the fishcakes, I use millet as an ingredient. Millet is an ancient gluten-free, easily digested whole grain that is high in protein, fiber, B-vitamins and minerals. It is very versatile and can be enjoyed with savory or sweet ingredients (think side dish with dinner or a breakfast cereal). Find more information and a few great millet recipes here. As always, I’d love to hear your comments on how you adapt these recipes to suit your tastes or to use what you have on hand. So try one or both of these recipes... just for the halibut!

Baked Whole Yellowtail Snapper with Herbs
Serves 2 to 6 (depending on whether or not you want leftovers)

1 whole yellowtail snapper, about 2 to 3 pounds, cleaned
4 tablespoons butter, softened
Fresh herbs of your choice (I used rosemary and thyme)
Salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Chop herbs and mix with softened butter. Season cavity with salt and pepper and stuff with herb butter. Rub outside of fish with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

2. Place fish on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake for about 30-35 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

3. If desired, save leftovers for curried fish cakes.

Curried Fish Cakes with Cilantro-Garlic-Yogurt Sauce

Serves 4 (2 fish cakes per person)

1 cup plain yogurt (preferably Greek-style)
1 cup cilantro leaves, loosely packed
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup red onion, diced
3/4 cup celery, diced
2 cups cooked millet (see directions here)
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1 pound yellowtail snapper, cooked and flaked
1/4 cup sliced scallions
1/2 cup sliced almonds, chopped
1/4 cup golden raisins, chopped
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 eggs
Oil

1. In blender or food processor, combine yogurt, cilantro, garlic, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. Set aside.

2. Melt butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook onion and celery until softened. Cool slightly.

3. Toss cooked millet with ground flaxseed until millet is well coated. Add flaked fish, scallions, almonds, raisins, curry powder, salt and pepper, onion and celery, Dijon mustard and eggs. Stir together with a fork until well combined. Divide mixture into eight equal portions and form into 8 patties, each about 1/2-inch thick.

4. Heat 1/4” of oil over medium heat in large skillet. When oil is hot, carefully add fish cakes and cook for approximately four minutes per side or until golden brown and hot throughout. Drain on paper towels, then serve with Cilantro-Garlic-Yogurt Sauce.
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Jon: Let's face it... cooking can be gross, especially for carnivores. I've definitely seen Hethyr make tremendous progress over time with her ability to handle the less pleasant side of cheffing. For example, as recently as three or four years ago she could barely touch a piece of raw chicken without gagging. Since then I've witnessed her go elbow deep while stuffing a Thanksgiving turkey like some poultry proctologist without so much as batting an eye. She's come a long way.

A picture of Hethyr stuffing the fish.

But despite the progress she's made, it's a whole different story when dinner is still wearing its head. After flopping the snapper out of the wrapping paper and onto the baking sheet, it was impossible to ignore the fact that he did, in fact, still have his head. Hethyr refused my offer to prep him so she proceeded with lathering him up with olive oil and stuffing him full of butter and herbs on her own. Despite the presence of the ominous head, Hethyr once again persevered and overcame her fears. Dinner was delicious.

Garr waiting for his shot
at the snapper.

Our dog Garr, however, has no such concerns regarding either fish or fish heads. He spends most of his life waiting just outside the kitchen watching everything that Hethyr does and basking in the smells that she creates. He goes pretty nuts over the smell of fish in the kitchen. As you've probably figured out by now, Garr is actually named after a fish. That is thanks to Hethyr's sister Shaye who has an uncanny ability to give names to animals and children that seem perplexing at first but fit perfectly later down the road. For example, Gar fish are known for their elongated bodies and rows of long sharp teeth. Garr is also known for his elongated body and has rows of short crooked teeth that are too big to fit in his mouth. Both can be violent and dangerous if poked or prodded. And I believe that both are of roughly equal intelligence.