60!

29 Sunday Nov 2015

Posted by Stacey Bender in Eating Out, family gatherings

Tags

George and Peggy Brown, The Lucky Wishbone

The year was 1951. A couple, a young child and their dog drove up the Al-Can highway after the war and soon opened, what was at the time, a small shack of a diner. They soon hired a waitress named Agnes (Aggie). They woke up early, went to bed late and peeled potatoes, fried chicken, griddled burgers, and spun a yarn in-between. 50 years later (10 years ago), Aggie was still there, cooking, smiling and helping to shape the sense of Place. The child was now grown with three siblings, three children of her own and a much different job, running the offices of a US Senator.

The man and the woman were still married and still the Host and Hostess of an ever-present gathering spot in Alaska, serving the best fried chicken, burgers and shakes around. They had created an institution. The photos on the walls told the story of those 50 years and the years preceding them. A WWII pilot, George met Peggy waiting tables at a diner in Utah when he began courting her. It was a fast romance that resulted in that previously mentioned child. On this day, some 60 years later, The Lucky Wishbone still has a line out the door during the lunch rush, has some of it’s original employees or their offspring, their original patrons and/or their offspring and is still owned/operated by 94-year-old George Brown, my Grandfather. And you guessed it, that child is my Mother.

This November 30, 2015, The Lucky Wishbone turns 60. I am so proud. If walls could speak, the stories would be many. Each of us kids have put in our time there learning what it is like to put in a good day’s work for a good day’s pay. Learning what quality product and service should be. Learning so much….about life. I personally, feel the Lucky Wishbone shaped who I am today, for many reasons. I know it has shaped the lives of many others, both patrons and staff.

To George and Peg (Grandma is smiling from above) – Congratulations! To Grandpa and Grandma – I love you and thank you! To all the employees that I worked with and ate with and grew to know as family – Salute!.

Happy Birthday to “the Bone”! (and Happy Birthday to my Tom whose birthday it is today; you still light up my life).

I think I’ll go cook up some fried chicken now myself. But Julia, might you bring some home for me?

my fried chicken.jpg

“Fly” Fishing

28 Sunday Jun 2015

Posted by Stacey Bender in family gatherings, the kitchen

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Alaskan King salmon, food writing, recipes, smoked cherries, smoked king salmon, smoked salmon on a Mak 2 Star General pellet grill

I have never been fly fishing. I have been fly-in, then fish-fishing though and do realize how lucky that is. I recently saw a picture of my nephew with his first-caught fish. I smiled at the image because it reminded me of my first-caught fish which (by the way) was bigger than my then seven-year-old self and, I believe, weighed considerably more than me (yes, that sounds fishy to me too). I did truly “catch” the largest salmon on that fishing trip though, even if my Grandpa had to help me reel it in!

What ‘ya got there Derek? Need a hand?

…ok, you got this one by yourself?

Among many other things, Grandpa is a pilot (as is John and for that matter, my Mom). When I recall fishing in Alaska, I recall flying to the destination. I hate to fly in general, still to this day, but I liked flying with him (or is that why I am now scared of flying; upside-down flying and all?). Truth be known, I am not that crazy about fishing now either. I like the idea of it though. It sounds pretty cool for someone who loves eating and cooking fresh fish. My Mom always baited my rod for me and when I reeled one in, she was the one that got dirty taking it from the hook. I wasn’t a “girly” girl, but I didn’t like to get my hands in the guts (yuck) either. Good thing I had Mom for that.

Grandpa taking off

In any case, I am much more interested in cooking than fishing now, but I’m lucky to have Grandpa, John, Mom and sometimes my brother Mark, to fly-in and catch it each Summer. I am also lucky because Mom and John just came to town, bringing (in addition to fried chicken from Grandpa’s restaurant) king salmon + sockeye, caught literally the day before. Sorry Gemini, it just doesn’t get fresher than that, for me!

Grandpa still flies himself (!!!) to fish for salmon, at, well, lets just say he’s had over 90 years on Earth, let alone the years in the air! How many people can say that? He brings it back to his restaurant and fries it up for the Lucky regulars sitting around the counter (who likely caught wind of what George was up to that day).

Grandpa in action:

So, for our little eight legs, two medium legs and Tom’s larger legs, we scurry to the grill to cook up the rest of the catch brought by hand, by way of commercial airlines, insulated bags and cold packs, just in time for an unconventional heatwave in Seattle’s June summer.

Mom cooked her signature salmon for us a few nights ago (see below). It awaited for us upon our return home from work, at the ready, for flash-cooking and begged to be devoured quickly along with sweet corn, grilled asparagus and whole Rainier cherries bitten from their pits and spit into the garden in hopes of cherry trees next year (of course, we do this every Summer and the squirrels usually just haul them off, and alas, the two decades-old “planted” cherry trees in the yard, are non-fruit bearing).

Thanks for the great dinner Mom!

We brined the fish, smoked the sockeye and pre-smoked the king. At the end of the day…we had fish. Smokey, yummy fish.

King Salmon smoking…

Hot-smoked King (salmon, not Elvis)

Hot-smoked Sockeye

Sorry, no photos available of the grilled king salmon with smoked jalapeño cherry sauce – I know you can use your imagination for this though.

Gin and Tonic Smoked Salmon

Today’s weather is a reprieve from a 91+ degree F heatwave that day (a paltry 88 for the high predicted). I brined my sockeye fillet in a mix of gin, tonic, lime, lemon, sugar and salt.

INGREDIENTS

2-3 lbs fresh salmon fillet (mine were sockeye, skin on… Mom didn’t want me to smoke the king – oops, did a little bit anyway… ssshhhhh).

1/4 cup turbino sugar
1/8 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup gin (I used Tangueray)
1 cup tonic water (I used Q-Tonic)
Juice of 1 lemon and 1/2 a lime

Fennel fronds (or whatever herb you might want it’s scent imparted)

Prepare

Making a brine is easy and requires less fuss than one would expect from the things I have read on the internet. Simply mix the brine ingredients in a Ziploc freezer bag, stir well to let the sugar dissolve and then add the fish.

The fish should be rinsed and patted dry. The skin can be left on or removed. You will want to let it brine for 4-6 hours or overnight for a real immersion.

Set your smoker to “smoke”. *We use our new Mak 2 Star General wood pellet grill for our smoking and the grill temp was between 180-200 degrees at that setting. Let it smoke until the thickest part reaches 140 degrees F. For us, it was 3 hours.

Easier than you thought, eh?

You can eat this straight from the bone or add to a cracker with dill sauce or creme fraiche + drink a gin & tonic (again, use your imagination, sky is the limit).

But whatever you do, do try this! It is outstanding! Smokey, but not too smokey. As spicy hot as you want it to be (1 jalapeño with seeds removed worked for me but go with your gut, it may or may not thank you later).

Smoked Jalapeño Cherry Sauce

This was a bonus because I had a bag of cherries and a fire-pot of smoke. I simply emptied them onto the grill (in my side cold-smoker tray) and let them smoke alongside the hot-smoking salmon. The jalapeño tagged along for the ride.

Hmmm…not sure where that eggplant ended up?

The cherries were perfect for eating with a cheese plate in that they were still raw but contained a mild smokey quality. I wanted to make a sauce though and the smoke was to be more assertive, so I took the cold-smoked cherries and threw them directly onto the grate with the king salmon as I smoked it the next day and let them smoke away (this is starting to sound like a Cheech and Chong movie).

Two hours later, I pulled them off, pitted them and threw them into my Blendtec with just enough water to make them saucy (1/8 cup?).

That’s it! De-lish! Stay tuned for rack of lamb with this sauce….

…or use your imagination!

Meanwhile…Buddy & Ginger are back to the observation deck awaiting their next meal.

Time Passes

29 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by Stacey Bender in family gatherings, the kitchen

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

dinner with family, Lamb leg, pesto, recipes

I came to realize recently that no matter how much we hope to slow the clock, it moves ever-forward, one tick at a time. Busy moments rush by as quickly as they erupt and people fade into the distance, slowly at first, until the rhythm of our lives picks up pace and whisks those people further into the background. The back pocket of our minds where they are thought of often (certainly more often then they realize), but seldom ever seen.

To rejoin and see one-another again is the same occasion that makes me ponder; what it was that kept us apart for so long? It is that same occasion which leaves me promising to never to let that much time pass again. Yet then, the ticks tock and the pace resumes, full-speed once more and I can only hope that I am able to pull myself back from the race, much sooner than before, to linger in new moments with those I hold so dear.

This is especially true of family, as well as friends and acquaintances (new or old). Luckily, (long) overdue family gatherings usually require the involvement of food. At my Dad and Linda’s house, the food is never less than exceptional, in a comfortably casual, yet civilized and celebratory way.

I can hardly believe that the last time I had been to visit my Father was over a decade ago. We had all gathered at his place in Mexico (quite the hacienda) for a true Fiesta in celebration of the christening of my (then tiny) Nephew Alex. The (rather large) mariachi band still sings in my head as I recall those fond memories.

We had never been to their (somewhat new, to them) house in Arizona, yet when Tom and I went for dinner during our Easter weekend with my Mom, it felt like coming home. The house itself was nothing like the house we had grown up in in Alaska, but it had the convivial quality to it that the house in Anchorage had when I went home for Christmas every year during school. Back then, there were always dinner parties and entertaining, as there still are today, in whichever house they reside in at the time. The eclectic smattering of collected pieces of art, furniture, dishware and decoration, as well as the smells and sounds that erupted from the kitchen, all added to the warmth and comfort I felt when I was there.

This visit brought me back to that place of happy contentment. The moods were light and inviting. The house was unique, quirky and had character, just like my Dad and Linda.

There was a heavy Spanish influence to the architecture and a wonderful connection of outdoor courtyards to indoor living spaces.

The yard had not had much tending to yet (so says Dad), but the abundant olive trees provided lush shelter from the street, and the native growth firmly held their place in the landscape as a stunning foreground to the mountainous sky. There was more rosemary growing around one of the trees than I could imagine using in a lifetime; how I wish I could grow one good shrub, even a fraction of that scale.

Many birds had taken up residence, to which my Dad happily encouraged. We needed to be quiet in the front by the fountain so as not to disturb the nest of quail.

(shhh…quiet please)

Cracked terra cotta pots and well-placed lanterns all lended to the easy vibe; several outdoor spaces, all directly accessible from the house, made for happy discovery moving from room to room.

PS_dining table

The bar was open as we arrived and stayed open until well after Linda went to bed. We talked and reminisced, filled in missing bits and stayed up long past bedtime, sipping on the nectar from a bottle of Maker’s 46.

the bar

PS_tom and dad in living room 2 The boys discussing the adjacent courtyard fountain renovation.

But first…let there be lamb!

Yogurt and lemon-roasted Leg of Lamb with herbaceous pesto

I tend to go for lamb chops or rack of when I order or cook lamb; similar to opting for the tenderloin of beef rather than a delectably fatty rib-eye or lusciously large T-bone.

Linda does the leg… and has always done it well. This was no exception.

In fact, rack or tenderloin be damned. This was flavorful, tender and AMAZING!

Her delicious marinade of balsamic vinegar, garlic, rosemary and red wine had been replaced with lemon juice and plain yogurt; garlic plus rosemary still in tow. A platter of grilled eggplant plus asparagus went perfectly with the gratin of potato and aioli with which they were served.

The marinade and pesto were adapted from Food and Wine. The pesto called for hemp seed but Linda used pistachio, which worked perfectly. I happened to have a bag of raw, shelled hemp seed as a sample from IFBC so I gave that a try. Yum!

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 lb bone-in lamb leg

6 cloves garlic, minced (3 TB)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup plain, full-fat yogurt
1/4 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
A splash of bubbly (if you have some open)
1 TB Dijon

Pesto for saucing (recipe to follow)

A nice size bouquet of fresh herbs (rosemary, oregano, thyme)
1/2 tsp kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, plus a drizzle of olive oil over rubbed lamb

Prepare

Rinse and pat dry the lamb. Use the best quality you can afford; it will make a difference.

Combine the marinade ingredients, garlic through dijon, in a metal bowl or Ziploc freezer bag.

Add the lamb and season with sea salt, fresh pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Seal it up and let marinated for a night or a day; whatever time you might have.

Transfer the lamb and marinade to a baking dish. Cook, uncovered in an oven set to 375-degrees.

Cook, uncovered, for approximately 1 1/4 hours. An instant-read thermometer should measure at 135F.

Herbacious Pesto

I never really measure things when I make pesto; it is a touch and feel sort of affair; or rather mix and taste. I grabbed a big mix of herbs from my pots (oregano mostly, plus a little basil and some thyme).

In a mortar with a pestle, smash a clove of garlic into paste then squeeze in a little lemon juice. Add the herbs (cleaned, dried and stems somewhat removed) and gently grind them into the garlic forming a green paste.

Add in some raw, shelled hemp seeds (or pistachios) and grind into the mix. I used about 1 TB. Add more lemon juice to get it flowing and a little drizzle of olive oil too. Perhaps some salt might be needed but I didn’t bother.

No cheese for this one; it really isn’t needed.

You can always use a food processor and if making a large batch, it is probably more efficient. In this case, add all but the olive oil and puree. Drizzle olive oil in with the machine running until it is of a consistency that looks right.

(insert picture from Dad here; oh wait, I can’t, he hasn’t answered my request yet…maybe later?)

Because I’m a procrastinator on posting, an update from Dad on the pair of Gamel quail that built the nest in the middle of their courtyard flower bed.: “They have successfully produce a large covey of 16 baby quail for whom I have been throwing out bird seed and filling small containers of water each day. I have been enjoying watching them, darting all over while the father stands on the wall edge of the fountain and keeps an eye out for their safety. The mother stays on the ground with her babies showing them where to peck and where to move. They all run back to the nest whenever they spot any movement by us. The babies are such tiny creatures and appear to be on jet skis.”

Too cute.

We’re gonna have roast… (pheasant)

19 Sunday Apr 2015

Posted by Stacey Bender in family gatherings, the kitchen

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

Bugs Bunny, food writing, roast pheasant, roast pheasant + wild rice soup, wild rice recipe

To the tune of “We’re gonna have roast wabbit” by Bugs Bunny

An annual hunting trip by Grandpa George and John, brought back many pheasant, a la Elmer Fudd.

I personally am not a fan of hunting but am a fan of eating (including meat), so perhaps I am a hypocrite?

Well, I guess that might be true.

Between the two of them, a few birds made their way back to their freezers.

By way of Easter weekend in Arizona, with Mom and John (plus a lovely evening on the side with Dad and Linda), Tom and I were the lucky recipient of a home-cooked pheasant dinner.

I love poultry, but am, admittedly, not an expert in the way of cooking pheasant. I can put out a tasty meal involving quail and have been known to cook squab, now and again. I often roast chicken but prefer grilling a split, poussin under a brick. Duck is something I also roast; usually just the legs, the breast takes on a quick sear followed by about 7 minutes in the pan. I have tackled cornish hen, but not for a while, yet I should consider doing this more often. I have never actually cooked a Christmas goose and to my recollection have never eaten pheasant, let alone roasted one.

So when my Mom suggested we prepare pheasant for dinner the night after we arrived in Arizona, I was… slightly skeptical.

I had visions of a gamey, tough bird that was akin to the wild duck we used to eat after Grandpa’s duck hunting trips when I was young (absolutely no offense meant, but at the time, I was not the biggest fan of those meals).

I left the preparation of the pheasant in my Mom’s capable hands, who in turn, looked to inspiration from her Grandma.

The kitchen smells were mesmerizing as the pheasant roasted and as we sat down to the table (outside, in the warm, dry air looking at the beautiful, mountainous sky), I became a fan of pheasant!

The pheasant was dripping in moisture and bathed in succulent flavor. The wild rice provided a toothy texture to the silken meat and the cranberry sauce was a happy splash of cool refreshing fruit, even though it still resembled the can it came from; you can take the girl from Alaska but you can’t take Alaska out of the girl (I’m talking about you Mom).

…and so, with that, I give you, Roast Pheasant, in my Mom’s words: PS_cooking pot

Roasted Wild Pheasant by Patricia (AKA Mom)

“Because my grandma cooked wild birds this way, I wouldn’t mess with tradition or success; however there are a few slight embellishments. Note that our birds were skinned so I had to be careful not to dry them out.

Check carefully for any remaining b-b shots and soak a little while in salt water.

Place a carrot, quarter of an onion, and a quarter of an apple in the belly and place birds breast side up in a roasting pan.

Splash a little cherry balsamic on top then completely cover the birds with bacon strips. Add a little red wine to the pan.

Cook at 400-degrees for 10 minutes then cover and reduce heat to 300. Cook about 1.5 to 2 hours till tender.

Serve with a wild rice pilaf and cranberry sauce.

——-

In my quest to use up leftovers I made the following and it was yummy:

Dice leftover pheasant meat and place in a mixing bowl (I had about a cup of meat).

Add the following:

3 T diced sweet onion

1 small apple diced (or about 1/2 c sliced grapes or 1/4 c dried cranberries)

2 stalks celery, diced

1/2 cup chopped nuts 1/2 tsp curry mixed into about 1/2 cup mayo

Mix all ingredients and use enough mayo to make the mixture moist and creamy.

Serve on sweet crackers (Rain Coast or Trader Joes’) as an appetizer, on greens as a salad, or in a sandwich”.

…now back to me (Stacey):

After our dinner, there were a few leftovers.

Leftover wild rice pilaf, leftover green beans and leftover pheasant, not to mention the bones from which the pheasant came, still sporting a bit of meat.

I did what any respectable person would do; I made soup.

The roasting pan was still pretty full of liquid to which I added a little more water. I removed any remaining bits of meat from the bones and tossed them into the pot as I tossed the bones into the trash.

I removed the apple, carrots and onion from the pot and chopped them, returning them back to the pot in a smaller form. I then dumped in the remaining rice, the left over green beans I had prepared for dinner (after dicing them) along with some chopped celery and a few diced tomatoes.

I splashed in some cherry balsamic vinegar, squeezed in the juice of one lemon (from the tree outside), sprinkled in some kosher salt + ground pepper and set the pot to simmer for a few hours as we cleaned up and finished our wine.

We didn’t eat the soup the next day, because it was Easter, but Tom and I downed a quick cup of the soup before heading to the airport the next day. We were quite pleased with the results.

John sent us away with one pheasant to cook back home (luck, lucky, lucky us). So I decided to try and recreate our meal (minus the cranberry can, green beans and warm, dry weather).

Here are my notes to Mom’s above:

What she said, (+)plus, my two cents:

I used 1 cup red wine.

I used a whole apple plus a half.

I did not put them in the belly but just wherever they fit (which goes for the onion and carrot too). 20 minutes at 400-degrees because I had thicker bacon wrapped around than Mom and wanted to get it to brown a bit before turning the oven down.

Pomegranate molasses plus regular balsamic vinegar stood in for the cherry balsamic vinegar. I also added 1 TB Dijon mustard.

To serve: I cut the meat away from the bone and laid it on top of the wild rice.

The wild rice was cooked in a rice maker.

To the rice, I added 1 stalk chopped celery, 1/4 finely diced apple, a handful of chopped, raw almonds.

I also added about 10 chopped, cooked crimini mushrooms.

The drippings in the pan are lovely ladled over top of the bird.

Deebuhdeebuhdee, that’s all folks!

snouty-pride-thats-not-all-folks-snoutypig
Looney Tunes content copyright Warner Bros Studios, thanks for the memories!

A zen moment

11 Saturday Apr 2015

Posted by Stacey Bender in at the holidays, Breakfast/Brunch, family gatherings

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

Easter, lemon cake, lemon curd, lemon curd cake, moments of zen, recipes

Sometimes, life happens around us. We are there too, experiencing the life but not participating in it, other than observing. I am looking out at the Arizona sky, from Grandpa’s backyard. The wind is whipping warmly across my face and I am an observer rather than a participant. For this moment I am zoning out the requirements of life. The cooking temperatures or timing. The dry or moist feel of my skin. The lizard that may be crawling toward my leg. I am unaware of the savory waft of smells from the kitchen. These smells, I set in motion. Subconsciously, they add to this moment of zen. This zen that is now. I breathe in the air. Through my nose. I release through my mouth. Thanks to Cristina for teaching me this life altering move. All of the noise is shut out…momentarily (seconds, or minutes or for whatever you make time). I actually see the beauty, not just hear about the beauty. I feel it on my skin. I smell it wildly tickling my nose.

As quickly as I allow it to begin, it ends. And off I go to make sure the kitchen is not burning. Make sure the food is happy. The people are eager to partake.

Lemon curd cake

This cake is dense and slightly dry without a nice spread of lemon curd on top. It is based off of a rosemary olive oil cake that I love to make, but I changed it up to try and utilize as many lemons as I could from my Grandfather’s plentiful lemon trees. There is little fat or sweetener in the cake, but the curd makes up for the lack of fat with its wealth of egg yolk and butter. It makes for a light dessert, a “zen moment” mid-day snack, or a prelude to brunch.

The lemon curd will keep a week or two, covered tightly, in the fridge (if you don’t use it all up on the cake). You can add fresh strawberries, cooked into the center, or leave it plain. Either way, it is best warmed, then sliced and spread with a healthy layer of the lemon curd, which unless short of time, you hopefully have made

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup reserved lemon curd batter – recipe follows
2 TB honey
1 egg yolk
2 oz goat cheese (chèvre)
1/3 cup milk (or yogurt)
5 egg whites (4 reserved from the lemon curd and 1 from this cake)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 TB chopped fresh rosemary
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt

10 strawberries, diced (optional)
Lemon curd for glazing

PREPARE

Combine the uncooked lemon curd, honey and egg yolk. It is best to use an electric mixer for several minutes.

Add the milk and goat cheese. Continue to beat the mixture until creamy; a few minutes more.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Stir into the yolk mixture then add the olive oil and blend with the mixer until well combined. Stir in the rosemary.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet, slowly mixing it in 1/2 cup at a time.

For a moister cake, you can add in the cooked lemon curd, reserving 1/4 cup to spread on the top and on the cut slices for serving.

Butter 1 loaf pan (or two mini-loaf pans) and pour in the batter. If using the strawberries, pour in half the batter then add the berries. Pour in the remaining batter.

Cook for approximately 30 minutes at 350 or until a toothpick poked in the center comes away clean.

Brush some lemon curd over the top and let cook another 5 minutes.

Let it cool slightly in the pan. Turn it onto a rack.

Serve warm, sliced, slathered with lemon curd…and perhaps, a cup of tea or a crisp glass of Albariño.

Lemon Curd

House-made lemon curd is far more delicious than that from a jar. I like mine on the tart side so I use just enough honey to keep me from crinkling my nose. Leftovers can be used to spread over your morning toast instead of jam, or an english muffin and a slice of ham.

I used freshly-picked lemons from the lemon trees outside my Grandpa’s house in Tucson during our Easter weekend with my Mom. They were large and juicy and produced thick zest. Oh how I wish I could grow a lemon tree!

INGREDIENTS

4 egg yolks (whites reserved for cake above or another use)
1/4 cup honey
The juice of 4 large lemons (approximately 1/2 cup) plus their zest
1 stick of butter

PREPARE

Bring some water to simmer in the bottom of a double boiler; it should not be able to touch the saucepan that sits on top.

Using an electric mixer, in the saucepan of the double boiler (or in a stainless steel bowl), beat the egg yolk and honey together until smooth.

Add in the lemon juice and zest, continuing to mix.

Set the saucepan over the simmering water in it’s counter-pan and whisk briskly until the batter becomes pale yellow and smoothly cooked, 6-8 minutes.

Turn off the heat and whisk in the butter, 1 TB at a time, as if making a butter sauce.

Transfer to a clean jar or container and cover tightly once cooled.

It’s all zen until you come across a little prick…

but when life gives you lemons, make lemon curd!

Even the best laid plans…

08 Saturday Nov 2014

Posted by Stacey Bender in family gatherings, From the journals, the kitchen

≈ 22 Comments

Tags

cooking, dessert, tiramisu

Cook what you know.

A good motto to live by when entertaining; one I try to uphold. This is especially true for me when it comes to dessert. A course often overlooked as I scramble to prepare all of the others. Simple is good! Something in my repertoire and something that requires little to no baking is even better. For me, that could mean tiramisu. My recipe for tiramisu dates back to 1998 from my first journal, yet I was making it before I started documenting my kitchen, uh-ventures. It was my thing. I could always woo people with my tiramisu; my rendition was golden (and it was the 90’s after all, where it even stole a few lines in “Sleepless in Seattle”). Journal #1

Okay, so my rendition of Buongusto’s tiramisu was golden. I came to acquire their rendition specifically from watching (on many occasions) the pastry chef at the long-time defunct, Buongusto Ristorante on Queen Anne, make this dessert for dinner service. It was often late at night, after hours (because it needed to be prepared a day in advance). I would watch him work his magic while he told me about the ghosts that haunted the kitchen of the old house in which the restaurant resided… I watched, I learned, I repeated (on a scale more compatible to our small Queen Anne Hill duplex kitchen). It became my go-to birthday (or special occasion) cake. I hadn’t made it in years. The entry

Facing the quickly approaching birthday affair we were hosting at our house for my Mother, it seemed appropriate to make this as a birthday cake. After all, spaghetti and meatballs had been her dinner request and tiramisu seemed like the right thing to make.

I made a very bad birthday cake.

I don’t know that I should apologize about it, because I was not actually making a cake. As I said, I was making tiramisu. For my Mom’s birthday (she just turned…well, we were forewarned not to say which birthday it was).

Bad birthday cake nonetheless.

I am blaming it on the eggs. I cracked open the 7 perfectly large, brown eggs slated for this effort, but was rewarded with a meager bit of yolk in each of them. I had virtually 1/2 the amount of yolk that I should have had. However, this did not stop me from proceeding, diligently following each bit of scribble in my dog-eared and tattered journal.

Rather than a thickened, creamy cloud that should have spread loosely over the top of each layer of ladyfingers, I had what “spread” with the consistency of buttermilk. I added another 8oz of mascarpone, along with two more egg yolks, (happily for them, the whites were cooked for Buddy and Ginger) and I took my hand blender to it again. Ironically, it was even thinner than what I had before, but it was midnight and I had to move on.

Next, I slopped down a layer of this wet cream, topped it with the first layer of fingers, and poured, as evenly as I could, more of the cream over top. It disappeared into the pores of the fingers but I topped it with the next layer of fingers nonetheless. Now it was time for a little, big chill, overnight, in the fridge. I learned to always make this a day ahead. Perhaps the new day would show a fluffier reward?

The new day did not reward me with fluff. Instead, the big chill looked like a big shake. I should clarify this; it was like the aftermath of a BIG shake, like the kind from a big dog that was left to do their business out in the rain. There was a puddle of cream slopping out the edges causing a very unsightly mess, and a completely exposed, un-topped layer of cake. I mopped it up from the sides with a paper towel. Cake sitting on the counter, I stood over it, deliberating on what would be my next move. Mom was hanging about the kitchen now and I tried to hide the misery under a wrap of foil until I could formulate a good plan. Family would be arriving shortly and I was still up to my elbows in mess. Messy kitchen, messy clothes, messy hair. Luckily, in my frustration at the state of the cream the previous night, I did not use it all, deciding to wait on topping the last layer until the next day. Instead, I held it in it’s glass container overnight to see if it would thicken. It did not.

I had one more 8oz tub of mascarpone and a fresh batch of eggs (because I anticipated making a fix and asked Tom to pick some up at the store). What I did not have was time, to start over. Into the Blendtec my extra batter went, along with two more egg yolks. Yup, you guessed it, the result was thinner yet again. I thought that surely, the egg yolks plus high Blendtec velocity would produce the equivalent texture of heavy whipped cream. I was wrong.

So in desperation, I took that (newly purchased) last tub of mascarpone and emptied all but a few spoonfuls into the Blendtec container after transferring the batter back to it’s glass dish. I then added a modest amount of cream batter back in with the mascarpone, say 3/4 cup. Whiz, whiz, whiz…but not enough in the container to blend it well so I dug in with a rubber spatula and beat it around a little until it was finally, a lovely, little thick bit of mascarpone cream. Yes, key word here is little (as in just enough to do the trick, but modest enough to leave exposed ladyfingers). I spread it over top anyways and then dusted it with carob power to cover the inadequate amount of cream. Not too shabby. Not sexy, but not shabby indeed. A few clever birthday candles, a dimly lit room, a festive table filled with balloons, flowers and dinner aftermath…we had a birthday-worthy cake. It didn’t hurt that my sister-in-law had also donned the table with a double-tiered plate of Italian dolce (cannoli, amaretto cookies and biscotti). Added a few perfectly-frothed cups of espresso and we were in business.

Sometimes, you can cook what you know, but you find you need to get reacquainted once more. Sometimes even the best-laid plans require a change of plan and often times, they work out just fine, nonetheless.

A little rough but…still festive (and tasty).

Tiramisu

I have eaten many versions of tiramisu, some dense and thick, others light and fluffy. There can be espresso or not, booze or not, but there really should be both. It is important to use high-quality ingredients (as it always is), but with this dish even more-so due to the minimal flavors that are brought together to sing. A good, thick espresso will provide a deep flavor and a gentle “pick me up”. For the booze, a nice brandy is what I prefer, mixed with a small amount of Kahlúa and Meyer rum. Some people use only rum or (gasp), no booze at all. The booze is not meant to overwhelm the flavor but to add a nice sweetness and rich complexity that without would be apparent if missing. I prefer the fluffy over the dense, indicating to me, that it has been delicately constructed with fresh eggs, whites whipped separate from the yolk and not replaced by a commercially convenient concoction. The ladyfingers should be dipped quickly, not soaked, in the espresso and booze mixture so as to keep them from becoming soggy. Most importantly, as mentioned earlier, it needs time to chill, preferably overnight, to allow the flavors to connect and the cream to firm. The result should be a perfectly balanced flavor of coffee and cream with chocolate and spice. The texture should be soft and fluffy, leaving your palette cleansed and your stomach less than over-indulged.

INGREDIENTS

5 egg yolks
1/2 cup Turbino sugar
8 oz Mascarpone
7 egg whites

1 cup espresso
1/8 cup Brandy, plus a drizzle for the cream mixture
2 TB Kahlúa
1/4 cup Meyer rum
Several grates of fresh nutmeg (or about 1/8 tsp grated)
Cocoa or carob powder

2 packages of ladyfingers

PREPARE

In a large bowl, whip together the yolks and sugar with a mixer until they are pale yellow. Pour in a few drips of brandy and add the mascarpone. Mix until blended.

In a separate bowl, mix the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Pour the egg whites mixture into the cream and stir to blend. It should be stiff enough to thickly coat the back of a spoon.

In another bowl, combine the espresso and the booze. Set out a large platter with shallow sides or a sheet pan. Quickly dunk the ladyfingers into the espresso mix, one side at a time. Lay each one down on the platter or pan, forming rows until you have a single layer.

Top with half of the cream, spreading it evenly over the first layer. Sprinkle with carob or cocoa powder then repeat the process again with another layer.

Carefully cover, trying not to let the cover touch the surface of the cream (rigid aluminum foil works well). Chill for at least 8 hours. It is best to make 12-24 hours in advance.

If it is an occasion cake, I make it directly on the platter since it will not transfer well other than to individual plates when serving. Candles look festive and espresso served with is a must (at least for me).

Godere!

The traveling birthday hat!

When I turned 40, I had a small outdoor party and my brother, Scott, gave me this hat. Under (slight) protest, I wore it that night and then passed the torch to the next family member up on the birthday docket. It became a tradition, passing the hat from one to the next for their birthdays. I even took it on the plane to Hawai‘i one year and made Tom wear it for most of the flight on his birthday (he wasn’t under protest, the photos show him with a glass of Champagne and guava in his hand). There is a little pocket on the inside of the hat and I had grandiose plans of each person leaving a picture of themselves wearing the hat, and tucking it into the pocket before sending it down the line. Now that it is x years (I’m not talking either) later, I wish that we had done that; it would have been lovely to see them all now. My Mom, under more than slight protest, did wear the hat too. She looked marvelous. “No pictures, please“.

One!

28 Sunday Sep 2014

Posted by Stacey Bender in family gatherings, From the journals, the kitchen

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

cantaloupe sauce, Corn broth, Fall dinner, food, fresh shrimp spring rolls, IFBC 2014, IFBC 2015, massaged kale, pork belly, recipes, true cod

The number of times I have gone to Europe.
The number of meals I have eaten which included beef tongue.
The number of times I have truly fallen in love.
ONE.
The number of years I have attended the International Food Bloggers Conference (IFBC 2014).
The number of years I have written this Blog.
One!
One special, overwhelming, fulfilling, challenging, and inspirational year!
One year ago today, Pete was sitting in our dining room, asking me what I wanted this to look like. One day before, I had no idea what I was about to get into let alone know what it should look like (other than the header, which Pete designed for me earlier). I would not have ever gotten past the thought of a space to write down my ideas about food without first, the journals that my husband Tom bought me, ritually, each time I filled one up, or second, without Pete saying, “Hey, do you want me to come over and just help you do this thing?”. I can’t thank them enough!

And big thanks to all of you that actually read what I write. A bigger thanks to those that actually leave comments and/or follow my blog (Simon, you were my first follower, thanks!). Most of all I am just happy to have a place that I can escape to and write for a few minutes, or an hour, or a day. One! Without that time, I feel lost. Without that writing, I would not have connected to all of the people that I have met through this blog. I am so glad to have “met” each of you. I wish I could meet you all in person, have you to dinner, or share a glass of wine over a leisurely lunch. But we can pretend (unless you actually come over, then we can do some serious eating!).

I leave you with this, a dinner that we shared last night with my Mom and her opposite-sex-partner, John (very much part of the family too), before their departure back to Alaska (after fixing numerous household things in need of repair). One trip, one meal, one year, is never enough (but they will be back for a special birthday in a month, I will keep writing for another year and I will attend, for my second time, the International Food Bloggers Conference, September 18-20, 2015, you too can register here).

One Summer down, Fall is back in the air, and this is the meal that we shared… and for Mom, my recipe for the pork belly + canteloupe sauce. One course is never enough. We had five. A good number too, but too much to write. This is about, One (recipe).

A Fall Dinner for Mom and John 9/27/14

To start – Nibbles with cocktails
Fresh shrimp spring rolls with dipping sauces (nuac chom + nectarine sauce)
+
Fried shoyu tofu sticks + golden cow’s milk cheese & everything crackers (for the nibbler (ironically not me, my Mom))
1st
Roast beet + raw zucchini and mint stack with miso sauce and pickled ginger
2nd
True cod with corn, wild mushrooms, baby bok choy and shoyu corn broth
3rd
*Pork belly + scallop, massaged kale, cantaloupe sauce
To finish
Fig, apple and ricotta galette with carmel cashew-milk ice cream
+
Berry galette with Elleno’s lemon curd yogurt

Fresh shrimp spring rolls with dipping sauces.

Roast beet + raw zucchini and mint stack with miso sauce and pickled ginger.

True cod with corn, wild mushrooms, baby bok choy and shoyu corn broth.

Pork belly + scallop, massaged kale, cantaloupe sauce.

Berry galette with Elleno’s lemon curd yogurt (in the making).

*Pork belly + scallop, massaged kale, cantaloupe sauce
Serves 4-6 people

It is best to get the pork belly with the skin on if you can; this time I did not but I prefer it that way (it keeps the fat from turning very black). I learned the method of cooking pork belly from Tom Collicio’s book, “Think Like a Chef” and have experimented with many different cooking flavors, modifications ever since. The pork belly is braised in a broth that then becomes the base of the sauce for the true cod (above) which I also used to flavor the beets, zucchini and fried tofu sticks.

The cantaloupe sauce helps cut the richness of the pork and the saltiness of the shoyu braise. It smells of pumpkin as it cooks, and looks like butterscotch when done. I make this sauce every Fall. It is wonderful served with a meal of cranberry beans, pork loin and prosciutto, plus could easily be used to sauce everything from fish to fois gras. Because I was pairing this with a shoyu-based braise, I changed out the typical Chardonnay in the sauce for sake, but either would work fine. You can freeze leftovers in a Ziploc freezer bag or freezer-safe container. Both the pork and the sauce can be made a day or two in advance, which makes it great for entertaining.

The kale was an afterthought because I felt we needed something green, I had some in the fridge, plus I felt it would lend a perfect balance of texture and flavor to the rest of the dish. My favorite way to eat kale is a simple massage of olive oil, sea salt and lemon juice. No cooking required; the heat from the pork and the sauce are all the heat that is needed.

INGREDIENTS (for the pork belly)

2 lbs pork belly, skin on if you can
Salt and pepper
1 celery stick, diced
3/4 cup onion, chopped
2 TB chopped garlic
3/4 cup corn broth
1/2 cup shoyu (I used Ohsawa organic Nama Shoyu. Quality does make a difference but feel free to substitute for a soy sauce instead. Please note that it might be saltier so do adjust according to taste.
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup water

INGREDIENTS (for the cantaloupe sauce)

1 cup chopped onion (or shallot)
1/4 cup chopped fennel bulb (or a few fennel stems and fronds from the garden, chopped as I did this time; I had no fennel bulb)
1 TB butter for sauteing (or use olive oil)
3 TB L’Estornell Grenache varietal red wine vinegar (or another good quality red wine vinegar) (more as needed to season)
1 cup sake (or chardonnay)
2 to 2 1/2 cups large diced, peeled cantaloupe
A handful of fresh basil (optional)
1 TB red currant jelly (I forgot it last night but it does help to thicken the sauce)
1 TB demi-glace
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 cup heavy cream
Sea salt to taste

INGREDIENTS (to finish and serve)

Kale (approximately 1 leaf per person), rinsed, dried and stem removed
Olive oil, sea salt and lemon juice to taste

Fresh, dry-packed sea scallops (1 per person)
Olive oil, a knob of butter, sea salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice

Fennel fronds and flower for garnish (optional)

PREP & COOK (the pork)

Season the pork with sea salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 350-degrees

In a hot pan, brown the pork, skin (or fat) side down (this might take 10-15 minutes over medium heat). No oil is needed as there is plenty of fat that will come out of the pork. Drain it off periodically if it splatters too much. You will want to reserve about 1-2 TB for cooking the vegetables. Transfer the pork to a plate.

In 1-2 TB pork fat, cook the celery, onion and garlic until soft. This will take about 10 minutes more. Keep the heat low so as not to brown the vegetables.

Transfer the vegetables to a baking dish. Top with the pork belly, skin (or fat) side up.

Combine the shoyu, rice wine vinegar and water in a small bowl (or measuring glass). Pour enough of this mixture into the baking dish to come 1/2 to 3/4 the way up, but not cover the pork. You will likely still have some liquid left which will be added later.

Cook, uncovered for 1 1/2 hours. Check on the liquid and add more if needed.

Cook an additional hour, checking occasionally to be sure it is not burning or running out of liquid. If it browns too much, you can cover it loosely with foil. Add the rest of the liquid (if any). You could use sake or water if needed.

3 hours is usually how long I leave my pork to cook. It should be quite tender (the degree of tenderness will depend on the thickness of the pork and the ratio of fat to meat). It will go back in the oven to finish later (if eating that night), or the next day (if doing in advance).

If you are doing this in advance, store the pork, in the baking pan with the liquid (and solids), covered and refrigerated until ready to use.

When you are ready to use (up to 8 hours in advance), transfer the pork to a plate. Pick off obvious pieces of fat that have solidified in the liquid. Strain the contents of the pan through a fine mesh strainer (or chinois) into a bowl and discard the solids. Separate the oil from the liquid as best you can. The liquid will likely be quite salty; this is okay. You should have about one cup of liquid. Dilute with more corn broth (approximately 1/2 to 3/4 cup). Taste for flavor and adjust accordingly. It should be balanced in flavor now, not too salty, not too sweet.

Remove the skin from the pork (skip this step, obviously, if there was no skin to start). Cut the pork into 4-6 equal sized pieces. Score the fat. Put it back into a baking pan with the liquid. At this point, I went ahead and added a few tablespoons of that liquid to my sliced beets, zucchini and tofu. I “borrowed” more of the liquid when I went to cook my true cod.

In a 350-degree oven, cook (or re-warm) the pork until it is very tender and the fat is browned (but not burnt). If you did not have skin on the pork, the skin will burn easier so you should keep checking in on it’s progress. Allow 1/2 hour for this process but you can keep it in the oven for longer if you are serving other courses; just be sure to cover it or turn down the heat so as not to dry the pork out.

PREP & COOK (the cantaloupe sauce)

Heat a saute pan and melt a knob of butter. Add the onion and fennel. Cook until the onion is translucent, approximately 10 minutes. Add the vinegar and cook a few minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Add the sake (or wine) and cantaloupe; continue simmering for approximately 20 minutes more or until the cantaloupe has softened and blended into the pan (another 20 minutes or so).

Strain the sauce through a chinois. The liquid should be thin and bright. You will likely have 1 1/2 cups.

The bowl in the front is my strained pork braising liquid.

Put the liquid back to the sauce pan (wiped clean). Add the basil (if using) and let steep for 1/2 an hour, no need to turn on the burner. Remove and squeeze liquid from basil, discard basil.

Add the jelly, cayenne, demi-glace and cream. Bring to a simmer and reduce until it is just thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, approximately 20 minutes (it will reduce by about 1/3). Set aside and re-heat when ready to use.

FINISH & SERVE

While the pork is warming in the oven, prepare the kale. Slice the leaves into pieces, drizzle over some olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and squeeze over a wedge of lemon. Gently massage the leaves to soften and distribute the flavors. I think I might have even spooned over a bit of the shoyu corn broth (optional). Set aside.

Rinse and pat dry the scallops (remove the muscle if it is still attached). Score the top side with a small cross-hatch cut. Season with salt and pepper. Be sure the scallop is completely dry before putting them in the pan to produce a nice seared top.

Re-heat the cantaloupe sauce. Check to be sure the pork is warmed through.

On individual plates, divide the kale. If using fennel fronds and flowers, put them artfully on the plates too.

Heat a saute pan until hot. Add just enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan. When the oil is heated (enough to easily move about the pan), add the scallops, scored side down. Do not touch them for at least 2 minutes.

When the scallops easily come away from the pan with a spatula without sticking, and they are nicely browned on the one side, throw in the knob of butter. It should melt quickly. Turn the scallops over. In the 30 seconds after you turn the scallops, place one piece of pork on each plate. Immediately squeeze in a lemon wedge and turn off the heat. The scallops should be soft to the touch still (not rubbery), seared on the exterior and soft in the middle.

Quickly spoon the cantaloupe sauce onto each plate and immediately remove the scallops from the pan and place one on each plate.

One bite!

Two pups!

10 legs!

Down on the Farm and back to the City

16 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by Stacey Bender in cooking basics, family gatherings, From the journals, the kitchen

≈ 28 Comments

Tags

Corn broth, corn butter, cows, family reunion, Hager City WI, St. James Hotel MN

I used to tease my brother, Scott, that he was the Country Mouse and I was the City Mouse. As the years go on though, I start yearning more for the tranquility of Nature’s melodies than for the sounds of the energy bursting from the bustling city. I don’t think I would ever completely trade the skyline for clear sky but I can appreciate more now, what a sweet life country living would be.

Last month, Tom and I went to Minnesota for a family reunion. My Grandpa, on my Mother’s side, grew up in Hager City (“City”, current population 338), Wisconsin, which is just a stone’s throw across the mighty Mississippi from Red Wing, MN. It had been over thirty years since I last visited; my Great Grandmother had still been alive. One of my cousins, Sabrina, ended up marrying a gentleman there and now lives on a large farm that houses some of Wisconsin’s premiere dairy cows, supplying milk to the creameries that produce those famous Wisconsin cheeses.

Grandpa Brown stepp’in out and me…ssshhhh, I adopted (temporarily) a dog; don’t tell Ginger and Buddy.

I had the opportunity to accompany Sabrina’s husband, “Farmer John”, while he made his rounds at milking time (PM that is, I’d have only been in bed mere hours before AM milking). I had never milked a cow before and didn’t realize what an interesting operation the whole thing was. He let us (me and a half dozen bright eyed wee ones) milk a cow, although I wouldn’t say It was of any help to him, or the cow. In fact, I felt like an intruder, knowing that the cow was being burdened by my/our inexperienced technique. It was not as I expected either. It looked so easy when he showed us.

When I went to place my hand on the cow’s teat, I expected it to be soft and squishy but it was so much larger than I thought and was taut beneath my skin, requiring a swift pull that I did not deliver well. The warm liquid shot out sideways as I did not control my grip.

“Farmer John”

Right before we went into the barn, my sister-in-law, Irma, told me how they used to milk the cow’s milk right into a glass, pour in a shot of tequila and drink it fresh on the spot; (her family has a ranch back in Oaxaca, Mexico). When I saw the liquid squirt out toward me sideways, I couldn’t imagine having an aim good enough to hit a small opening on a glass, let alone wanting to drink it. Watching it hit a pail though (as someone more experienced did) it was cloudy white with frothy bubbles as if it had been warmed to place in a shot of espresso, so the image of their drink seemed like an intriguing ritual.

In addition to milk, one of their main crops is corn.

This is at the Farmer’s Market, not my cousin, but a big heap of corn to unload.

Looking around the property, corn stalks surrounded us for as far as you could see. They were bigger than I would have imagined, perhaps twelve or fourteen feet tall. Other than the corn, the only tall structures where the barns and the silos. At night you could hear the whisper that the stalks made as they blew easily in the nights breeze. The only light came from the moon as it lit up the sky, and the flicker of the fire pit around which came good conversation accompanied by wine, until the rain came in and cleansed the earth for the next day.

Tom and I (being ones to elevate every travel experience) stayed at the historic St. James Hotel in Red Wing. My Mom fondly remembers my Grandmother taking her there for lunch as a young child. Then, she wore her white gloves, was taught the proper placement of silverware and to say please and thank you. Our room looked out over the River and the train tracks were nearby (well, across the street). The startling and frequent blowing of the whistle both excited and lullabied us as the trains raced past. Tom didn’t even use ear plugs after the first night (shocking!).

There was deep-rooted history there, but apparently, no food served after 10:00 pm. Our first night got us in past this hour and we dined on Chex mix, pretzels and Manhattans (classy, right?).

We later asked that the cherries (we forgot that was “traditional”) be replaced with lemon twists (although they might have gone nicely with Chex).

The bartenders there were really good though, Chris, in particular, is one I would expect to find behind a serious hipster bar in Portland.

With no coffee pots in the room (gasp!), Tom went down for cappuccinos in the mornings while I showered. We would meet on the veranda where he sat, waiting in a rocking chair with the newspaper, his coffee and a wonderful view of the river, boats and folks.

Later, the scratch Bloody Mary’s would come, served refreshingly good, with a chaser of light beer. A (not so) light breakfast set us up for a day of family and fun.

So, this trip brought us from city to farm and back again.

And back at our “homestead”…

Milky Corn Broth with shrimp meat, sweet tomato and avocado

Needless to say, we were sent home with many ears of fresh corn so when we got back I made a long-time summer favorite, corn broth; it is a broth that eats like a soup. It is refreshing and pure, tasting deeply of corn which mingles happily with it’s favorite comrade, shrimp. The sweetness of the corn is offset nicely by the subtle, sweet saltiness of the shrimp and further enhanced by the creamy avocado and textural nuances of tomato.

As I was straining this through my chinois, the liquid resembled the milk from a cow, slightly warm and bubbling as it pooled out and into the bowl. The final liquid is milky, sweet and gold. I can’t imagine a more fitting recipe (of mine) than this, to illustrate the influence and coupling of these two commodities; even though there is not actually dairy in this soup (unless you count the butter), it tastes of fresh cream kissed with corn.

The amount of salt and lemon juice will depend on the sweetness of the corn. If overly sweet, the salt and lemon juice help to balance it out.

INGREDIENTS

5 ears fresh corn, husks and silk removed
1 large (or 2 medium) sweet onions, chopped
2 TB butter
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups dry white wine or vermouth
4 cups water
1-2 tsp kosher salt (or to taste)
Lemon juice to taste (perhaps 1-2 TB)

Garnish: Per person, approximately 2 oz shrimp meat (Oregon or Canadian if you can), 1 wedge avocado (diced), 3 sweet baby cherry tomatoes (cut in half or quarters).

PREPARE

Remove the corn from the cobs and reserve the cobs.

In a large pot, sauté the onion, garlic and corn in the butter until soft, approximately 5 minutes. You don’t want it to brown though so keep the temperature slightly low.

Add the white wine, water, reserved cobs to the pot and bring to a simmer. Put the lid on and turn the heat down. Let it simmer over low heat for 45 minutes to an hour. The lid should help the liquid to keep from evaporating. I like to participate in the process so I check in pretty often to see how the flavor is coming along. I might remove the lid if I feel if it seems too watery and as long as the liquid is not going away altogether, I let it simmer as long as 1 1/2 hours to allow the aromatics to really permeate the liquid. There is not an exactness to the amount of time or liquid quantity, just taste and instinct.

Remove the pot from the heat and let cool slightly. I like to leave it sit until the cobs are cool enough to handle but that is not necessary. Remove the cobs from the pot with tongs and set in a bowl. Pour the rest of the contents into a chinois placed over a bowl and push on the solids to extract all the liquid and flavor. When the cobs are cool enough to handle, use a knife to squeeze whatever liquid you can from them and add it to the bowl.

Return the liquid to the pot season with salt and lemon juice. Simmer a little more to thicken it slightly. It will be broth but should thicken enough to look like cream.

Chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

SERVE

Place the shrimp meat in the bottom of individual bowls. Ladle the corn broth over the shrimp meat. top with the avocado and tomato.

If you had a bit of crispy bacon (say left over from breakfast), that might taste good as well (says Tom).

BONUS: Corn Butter

I recently got a Blendtec. It competes with Vitamix and as far as I know, works every bit as good, if not better. Plus, it fits under my cabinet and is easy to clean. I usually throw out the mash of solids after pressing them through my chinois but, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to add them to my Blendtec and put the switch on soup mode. I ended up with a lovely bowl of corn butter. It is delicious on toast and I imagine many other things I have yet to discover.

And lastly, while we were in MN, we went to a park that had a special place just for monarch butterflies. This shot is for Sheri at Unfettered Fox, I thought of her as I followed this fellow (and it’s friends) from spot to spot.

Have wings, will fly.

And when a late Summer storm passes through when the special guests need to be escorted to their vehicles, creative pop-up valet service ensues…

Man on a mission.

His kind of gal, her kind of guy!

04 Friday Jul 2014

Posted by Stacey Bender in cooking basics, family gatherings, Ginger + Buddy, the kitchen

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

Alaskan pilots, cedar plank salmon, cooking, fishing the Deshka River, omegas for dogs, troll caught Alaskan King salmon

My mom has skills. Had I paid more attention and wasn’t put off by blood and guts, I might have learned to clean and fillet a fish, but alas, no. This is one thing I now wish I had paid attention to, because unlike the other skills she has, this is one that would be of particular benefit to someone who loves food as much as I.

Needless to say, I did not need to perform that task on her last visit to Seattle, boasting her freshly caught salmon, because she had already exercised this fishing ritual prior to getting on the plane. She delivered a chunk to a friend of hers who lives in Tukwila, took another large portion to my brother’s house (where she spent the next couple of days) and sent the rest of it with her “opposite sex partner”, John, to bring to our house where he would be camped out working with Tom to finish our deck.

When John and my mom met, he was living/working in the Bay Area but had a cabin and airplane in Alaska (where his heart lived).

Despite the un-commonalities between them, they are at their core, kindred souls. Mom can fish with the best of them, sleep on a cot, squat in the woods, and spin a good yarn. They both like to travel, both love to fly, and the crisp chill of Alaska will never be replaced by the wet dampness of Seattle or the sunny bustle of California. They thaw their chilled bones in Tucson part of the year, but can mostly be found doing those things that only true Alaskans do… such as fishing.

So… a man, a woman and a fishing pole:

I asked Mom to write a few words about Alaskan salmon and this is what she had to say:

“Simply put—I love it! And that means fishing, catching and best of all: eating. Usually John and I fly to the Deshka River. It is about 15 minutes from the cabin or a several hour drive + boat ride from Anchorage. Weekends are horrendous but it’s pretty crazy any time the kings are running since so many boats anchor at the mouth and plug up the river. We prefer to troll a bit upstream since it’s much more civilized, our lines don’t get tangled with everybody else, and we are much more successful! We also make certain to be in the boat, hooks in the water, at precisely 6:00 am. Fish and Game closes the river between 11 pm and 6 am to allow for sufficient escapement, so you will often see 10-20 fish being caught the first five minutes. As you alluded in your previous blog (post), not too many women are as avid as I am, so even though the regulars are nearly all men, through either luck or skill, I definitely keep up.

The picture on the right is a view out the cockpit window of the propellers spinning around.

John goes to the Nushagak River in Western Alaska every year with friends and I went for the first time in June. It was three hours by John’s Cessna but so worth it. The fishing was great, but I was surprised at how many boats were on the river so far from civilization. Most of the boats were chartered and the camps were leased from the local Native corporations. The village store carried a few essentials and sold gas for $7.50 a gallon.

While I like every kind of salmon, especially when fresh, king (Chinook) is my favorite. I could eat it every night and never get tired of it.

Mom prepping and the glorious outcome.

My favorite method of cooking is with nothing but lemon pepper, Wondra flour and maybe a few sprinkles of brown sugar. I very lightly grease a hot pan with olive oil and butter, brown the filet good side down, turn it once and finish it off in the oven. The critical thing is to not overcook it. I usually leave it a little red in the thickest part. Salmon is also good on the barbeque, but I miss the crust you can get in the pan.”

Mom forgot to mention Grandpa’s “fried salmon” which is what the lucky (no pun intended) recipients of my Grandpa’s fresh catch will get when he cooks some up at his restaurant, the Lucky Wishbone (never to be found on the menu… This is a “special treat” for his friends and family only).

My favorite way to cook salmon is on a wood plank on the grill. When John and Tom finished the deck, I asked Mom to cook the salmon she brought her favorite way. She was perplexed that I did not have lemon-pepper, “everybody in America has lemon-pepper,” she said in disbelief. But not us, so we used lemon zest, sea salt and fresh ground pepper instead.

The next day we went shopping (stopping also for her stock-up at Trader Joe’s). When we returned home, she handed me a jar of lemon-pepper and Tom and I had a hearty laugh. I promised I would give it a try on the other half of the salmon that night (they were on their way to the airport, time to go home).

I still prefer fresh lemon, salt and pepper but hey, I at least gave it a try.

Cedar Planked Salmon

A big, big… no, HUGE thanks to John for his stamina, endurance and encore on our deck; we could not have done it without you! Mom – thanks for everything else. I love the way you cooked your salmon for us! However, in honor of our new cedar deck, cedar-planked salmon (using planks left over from construction) it had to be – the night we ate dinner for the first time on our new deck.

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. fresh king salmon fillets (in one piece or cut into individual pieces), de-boned, skin removed

1/2 – 1 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp raw sugar

Many grinds of fresh pepper

Herbs (of your liking – basil, thyme, tarragon, fennel frond, etc.)

5-plus thin slices fresh lemon (enough to cover circumference of fish)

1 cedar (or any type (alder is especially great) of clean, untreated wood) plank, sized to fit the fish; soak in water for at least one hour before grilling to prevent from burning

1 very hot grill, heated to 400-plus degrees

TO COOK

Pat dry the salmon and season both sides with sea salt and pepper, then sprinkle over sugar on the top side that had no skin (inside). I like to add a little more salt than I normally would since it is slightly curing first, but I also don’t want to overdo it as to make it too salty. The sugar is to offset the salt and adds a little color.

Top with fresh herbs and slices of lemon. Set aside until grill is hot and plank is ready to accept the salmon.

When you are ready to cook, put the soaked cedar plank, top-side down, on the hot grill for 10 minutes to heat. When hot, turn plank over and top with salmon fillet.

Place the plank of salmon on direct heat and close lid. Let cook until it is opaque with just a slight bit of red at the thickest part, approximately 10 minutes.

Remove plank with a hot pad or spatula and let rest a minute or two. Divide the salmon amongst plates, letting guests squeeze the juice from the lemon slices over their salmon.

FOR THE PUPS

I like to trim the ends of the salmon that are the fattiest (lots of good omegas) and the brown part on the back side left from the skin. I place the trimmings into a piece of foil, seal the foil and cook it on the top warming rack of the grill (not direct heat) or in the oven, until cooked through. I then open the foil, let it cool to a manageable temperature and feed it to Ginger and Buddy. This is not only healthy for their coat, cancer-fighting and good for their hearts, but it is also something that lets them enjoy the good eats of life too (AKA – good for their souls).

Buddy on patrol on the new outpost (staining and furniture to come later…).

Plotting the next (t)ask on the tiny mobile device.

Stamina, Endurance and an Encore

25 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by Stacey Bender in family gatherings, the kitchen

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

baking, Chocolate chunk cookies, pine nuts

As I start to write this, I realize that, while I meant to write only about one piece of the story, the title is appropriate for the bigger story. Three Fridays ago kicked off a weekend of celebration, hard work and accomplishments. The celebrations were for hard work and accomplishment and they were followed by a different type of hard work with great progress but not final accomplishment. Both ended in an encore.

My oldest niece, Catherine, graduated last weekend from high school. Back when I graduated, it was a small sort of affair held in the auditorium of our school followed by a few handshakes and hugs on the lawn outside then a few pretty-unmemorable parties. Cat, however, kicked off her high school exit weekend with a cello recital that brought down the house, with a little help from sister Julia (also on cello), brother Axel (that little ham, on violin, and ego), Grandmother Doris (wow, can she sing) and Cat’s friend Sophia (Juilliard, here she comes… no really, for real – she’s in!). Following the recital was a reception back at my brother’s house which mimicked a small wedding reception, boasting around 100 guests (top that one x3 when the moments come Scott & Christine; not so far in the future now…).

How cute is she (and happy)?!

The following day was the graduation ceremony and it was an impressive cast of students, teachers, performers and speakers (Catherine played a small bit on her cello and Sophia got a standing ovation on her violin solo later – wow, those gals can play!). After the ceremony, the graduates mobbed a fleet of buses that whisked them to Puget Sound where they partied (safely, drug and alcohol free…) until the wee hours of the morning (my brother Scott chaperoned the graveyard shift dealing cards at the blackjack table… say whaaaat?).

Tom and I stayed on-island Friday night with Scott’s in-laws who have a house a mile down the road from theirs so that we need not shuttle back-and-forth on the (damn) ferry for the multi-day events. Doris, Scott’s mother-in-law, makes all of her own bread and is the type of cook that I wish I could be, simple, rustic and real. No matter what she makes, it is effortless to watch, comforting to eat and memorable for years to come.

Our breakfast was a humble plate of scrambled eggs served with thin slices of ham, thick slices of Swiss cheese and her mouth-watering bread that I smothered in butter and honey, scrumptious – oh yeah. We washed it all down with deep mugs of hot coffee and went about our day visiting with each other and admiring their garden (with the “Tom-Tom Club” slug hunting) before joining Tom (not my Tom, Doris’ Tom) for lunch at his local joint, The Island Grill, before joining the rest of the fam for the graduation ceremony (oops, we got the stink-eye for being fashionably (on-time) late. That guy can tell a story!

Doris and “her” Tom making tracks toward the ball field for graduation fashionably (on time) late. With deer escort.

Now, you are probably wondering, what was the other piece of the story? Well, here it is: Flying in from Alaska to attend the graduation festivities, my Mom and her opposite sex partner, John, were put to work right-away cutting vegetables, slicing meat and doing various bits of helping hand. After the reception, (my) Tom and I said good bye for the night as we headed over to (the other) Tom and Doris’ and as we walked out the door (a little (or lot) bit after midnight), John and my Mom were still slung with aprons, knee deep in dishes and cleaning up of things.

The next night after graduation, everyone went back to my brother’s house except Catherine (because she was on the party bus) and us (because we were exhausted and had a long ride home with preparation of guests to be had); and they cooked a salmon for the island dinner that my Mom had caught just a few days prior (she can out-fish all the curmudgeons on the Nushagak River). If that weren’t enough fun, they then traveled the 35 minute ferry ride (not counting waiting in line) and 18 miles to our house for the night, only to wake up at 6:00 am (John, not Mom) to demo/build our deck. Crazy right?

Talk about stamina and endurance, the last time John helped us with a project, they had just deplaned a flight from Europe and came straight away over to help build a storage loft in our garage. Well, that had not been the plan, but me, in the middle of cooking dinner, put it on indefinite hold, while John and Tom started banging away (John insisted and Tom followed his lead, never one to reject skilled help in a seemingly daunting task). John decided we needed this more than we needed to put up a small bamboo fence in the corner of our yard (which was the original request for the weekend since it was keeping a car out of the garage); he was right of course. But then they did that too. No kidding. A new storage loft, a cleaned out garage (with enough room to actually fit the car) and a bamboo fence, all in the course of a weekend. John, of course, didn’t return for several years after that (do you blame him?).

Hmmmmmmm, the beginnings of a new daunting task.

So, with boards on our deck rotting to the point of footsteps sinking right through them, we decided it was time to do a little restoration (I couldn’t bare thinking of the eight little paws catching mid-step). We knew John was traveling our way with Mom and we sheepishly asked if he could help change out a “few” boards, though after months of analysis we new it was at least 85% or so. At the time, we were unclear about schedules and such; silly us, we were left with only 2-1/2 days – plus, silly him, he agreed! I certainly won’t be going into a list of “Oh, but I made him this food”, sort of list because it doesn’t compare to the efforts, energy and hard work that he sweated-out and burned-off in return (plus, believe it or not, he is not motivated by food – crazy). I will say though, that I made beef for John, plus potatoes, the mashed-up kind, no vegetables (okay, maybe a few) and no wine (well, not for him). Yep, he is a meat-and-potatoes job, diner-establishment and vodka and tonic number (no fault there other than vodka over gin) -preferred over crushed grapes and white linen). He is also a big Cookie Monster and I was feeling particularly guilty for not making a batch; I resorted to (good, local heathly-ish) store-bought cookies instead. So, as I said, we had two and one-half days, 2 men full-time, 2 women (very) part-time and a (very) special appearance for a few hours by John’s son, Luke and our neighbor and friend Piotr, as well (huge thanks). We also had a Helluva lot of work and inclement weather (because why would it choose to cooperate?). You already know that John is an achiever, but I forgot to mention that he is relentless as well. 14-hour days, straight through without (seriously) so much as a potty break and food taken in only when hand force-fed during action (until a late-night dinner, s t a m i n a).

So, two (okay, three…possibly four) sore backs, aches and many pains, bruises and blisters later, it was time for them to catch a flight back to the North (where the weather was behaving(?)). Right down to the wire and it was so close…but not quite done (no stairs to the yard for the pups and no benches that make up the rail… oh how this bothered John (mostly because as he gave the five-minute intense discussion on how to build stairs before peeling off to the airport, Tom looked like a deer in headlights, his day-to-day occupational device is a “mouse”). John kept at it until the final minute when my Mom literally pulled him out the door in order to make the flight (e n d u r a n c e).

Serious progress by Monday.

We were ecstatic at the progress by Tuesday evening (not thinking it would even get as far as it did get on Tuesday) but Tom did have an apprehension of his ability to finish by himself. I, of course, was going to help (blind, leading the even more blind). Later that week, Tom was texting John back and forth, sent a picture of the cleaned up site and jokingly wrote “see you Saturday”. John wrote back “Saturday??? I can’t make it Saturday, but how about Thursday, does that work for you?”. “You wouldn’t kid a guy would you?”, was the reply (along with a full-fledged WTF?! and so on… it was a good day. So John has come back for an encore, all the way from Alaska (with more freshly caught king salmon in tow). We will give him a standing ovation and this time, store-bought cookies simply won’t do.

Chocolate Chunk Pine Nut Cookies

So this past Thursday night, as I made dinner while “the boys” were out slinging wood, I found myself with enough time to make cookies. I am much more of a cook than a baker so I don’t have a lot of cookie recipes up my sleeve. I had opened my email earlier and – low and behold, one of my blog friends had recently posted about chocolate chip cookies. She claims not to be a baker either, so I’m not sure it was the wisest choice to try making her recipe but it was Prudy from Butter, Basil and Breadcrumbs, so I felt I couldn’t go too wrong.

As I pulled up the screen to look at the recipe, I realized it was adapted from Crisco’s Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie and I’ve never cooked with shortening, let alone had any in the house (except when it suspiciously appeared from house guests). I started to slightly panic when I realized I was low on butter, had only whole wheat flour, no raisins, or walnuts and most importantly, no chocolate chips. Hmmm… improvisation was in order. I kept hearing Tom in my head saying, “Don’t make them taste of cardboard!” (which, to him, my cookies tend to taste of because I try to make them “healthy”). These however, I will be making again… and again, and again, and again!

Ingredients 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour 2 tsp salt 1 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp baking powder 3/4 cup Turbino sugar 6 TB butter 1/4 cup olive oil 1 TB vanilla extract 2 TB milk 1 egg 1/4 cups coarsely-chopped raw pine nuts Approximately 1 cup or 4 oz – mix of milk and dark chocolate cut into chunks I used Theo “salt and dark chocolate” plus “milk chocolate” plus Chocolove hazelnut milk chocolate, plus 1 oz Endangered Species dark chocolate (left over from Halloween, heh, heh…). To Make

Mix the flour, salt, baking soda and powder in a smallish bowl.

Combine the sugar, butter, oil, vanilla, milk and egg in a large bowl and beat with a hand mixer until well-beaten.

Add the dry mixture to the wet and continue mixing until well combined.

Mix in the pine nuts and chocolate. Scoop small balls of dough onto a non-stick baking sheet (space a few inches apart). Cook at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes (or so) until golden and cooked through.

Let cool, slightly on the sheets and then transfer to a rack or eat right away.

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10 Legs in the Kitchen

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Category Archives: family gatherings

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Stamina, Endurance and an Encore