Tag Archives: cooking

Even the best laid plans…

08 Saturday Nov 2014

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

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hat top

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 cover 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.journal open 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.

tiramisu (candles edited)
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!

hat fullThe 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“.

Green soup (and ham?)

25 Saturday Oct 2014

Posted by in Health, the kitchen

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PS_egg on wood 2

I have garden envy.  When my brother and sister-in-law moved into their newly-built house on Bainbridge Island sixteen years ago, their lawn consisted of nothing but mud, rocks, old growth trees and dreams.  Over the course of time, we have seen the transformation go from a yard that housed not even a place for Buffy to poop and pee, to many places for children to play and grow-up, adults to luncheon, retreat, tinker and entertain, and the gardener to grow vegetables rivaling those found at the Farmer’s Market.  There is a cleverly designed tree house, an elaborate garden and potting shed, a trellised patio out back with trickling water, beautiful plantings and a resident frog.  There are large trees, two in particular, that in the Summer are the anchoring points for a big screen, where movies are played for a gathering of neighbors, family and friends.  There is a water feature that was built between a neighboring house that resembles a woodsy brook that you’d never know hadn’t been there a hundred years.

But, oh what a garden has transpired.  The first time I encountered it, the vegetables were limited.  There was cabbage, very large and obnoxious looking; yet I suspect they were good.  There was kale.  This, before kale was the “it” veg to eat.  I knew not why someone would want to eat it, let alone grow it in their yard?  There it was though, not particularly interesting to me, then.  Ornamental perhaps?

On one particular visit to their house for dinner, I was taken aback by the progress.  The little garden that once was made up of a strip of property in the proximity to the length of their (long) kitchen, had suddenly become, without my knowing, a white picket fenced area, encompassing actual square footage in their yard.  Christine took me on a mini tour (because it was a mini footprint, but impressive), yes it was.

Quite some time has passed now and it is on the rarer occasion that we make it “on island”.  In the following years though, while we were still somewhat regular spectators and participants, their adjoining neighbor became family, the toddlers became kids and the kids became adolescents…the garden shed was built and the tree house was erected.  There was a dog now, other than our own, that graced the property and he (Snowball) has an orchestrated place to poop and pee.

If trees could talk, they might tell us of the nights that the neighboring families’ children came back and forth with my nieces and nephew, in happiness, in tears, and sometimes in the middle of the night.  The trees might talk of teenage gossip, pubescent fears or the story of a comforting marriage of two homes.  The trees might suggest that this was a place, in modern times, with old-fashioned values and good people.  They would also be grateful, the trees, for the love that sprouted around them and the edibles that nourished the ones within.  For that, Tom and I are happy too.

_PS_1 spoon not edited

We live off-island but fond memories (and occasional visits) still languish in our minds.  Most recently, my Mom, on her recent visit (to them, via our house) brought us home a gift from Christine; the most beautiful bouquet of hydrangeas, each stem capped in a plastic vial of water (a bouquet which made the most glorious appearance in our living room to welcome in the last of the decreasing summer sun) and a large bag filled with kale.  The most beautiful and tasty kale.  And chard. Gorgeous chard.  And tomatoes, so sweet and perfect, they were oooohed and awed upon for the appropriate amount of time before the first one burst and the fruit flies laid claim.  At this point, and not a second too soon, I had the will power and inclination to quit hoarding them for that most appropriate meal (which should always be now), and just dig in eating them raw, with reckless abandon.  So reckless, I will not share the details.  The remainder (because there were many) found their way into a most delightful fresh soup, recipe found here.

From the greens, among other things, I made soup!  Green soup…and ham.

PS_egg in soup1

 

(Almost) All Green Soup
makes approximately 12 cups

As you will find, if you continue to read what I write (in the future, and I hope you do), I am reluctant to give up a good thing…I like to dream.  I like to think about what might be best rather than what would be easiest (at the time).  So with the abundance of kale and chard (still) stored in my crisper, waiting for that perfect purpose, I decided to make soup.  Mostly with the chard, whose beautiful leaves had begun to wilt.  I had used some of them previously, in a sauté with our steak and one with our fish.  I had planned to wrap them over true cod, stuffed with bacon and leeks.  I had thought of mixing them in with ravioli and then thought of layering with eggplant, red peppers and veal.  I had imagined them as forming packets of ground lamb, co-existing with coriander, sweet onions and chopped kale.  I did though, use some to wrap my tuna salad, some to wrap my hummus, and it made its way into Tom’s turkey with cheese sandwich (surprise!).

This soup was a finale to the wonderful gift, harvested from that, now abundant, garden on Bainbridge.  The soup contains almost no fat and is vegetarian, if you leave out the ham bone I decided to throw in (used to flavor another soup effort, simultaneously occurring).  It makes more than one family could possibly eat (unless you live at that house in Bainbridge I spoke of with the two families and friends sharing the meal…but perhaps more than enough even then).  I will be freezing mine, in single serving portions, to eat for lunch at my whim.

The flavor is slightly spicy yet humble and earthy.  The coriander is apparent and the unmistakable texture of lentils adds enough weight to the soup that it tends toward the comfort spectrum rather than the light and healthy.

The health benefits are worth mention though.  There are so many green things in here, it should qualify for LEED (sorry, occupational reference).  It also contains onions, many, many onions; no feeding this to your dog(s), sorry G & B.

Chard:  Has a low impact on blood glucose, making it an excellent choice for diabetics (Linda, please take note of that and stuff it into Dad’s food, shhhh).  (a) Chard stalks: are high in glucosinolates, causing them to be a good thing for inflammatory  purposes, especially associated with surgery (pay attention Dad; I will be sure Linda is aware (heh, heh)).  (b) Chard greens: pack cartenoid which is good for your eyes and vitamin K, which is an excellent way of boosting your cardiovascular health (the stalks contain this too).  They also contain a high level of oxalates, which if you have kidney problems, should be consumed in moderation.  Consult your doctor for concerns.
Kale: Lowers your cholesterol!  Steam your kale for the best cholesterol benefit (darn, I like mine raw and massaged; still cholesterol lowering but not as much as steamed).  Steaming kale helps the fiber components to bind with bile acids which in turn help them to extract more easily (lowering your cholesterol).  Kale is also beneficial in regulating detoxification at a genetic level.  It can help with inflammation and oxidative stress.  Who knew? (Apparently everyone but me!)
Carrot greens:  Are not the tastiest eaten raw (unless you are a bunny or love bitter, herbacious and stringent, which I do) but they do pack this soup with additional vitamins A, B6, C and K, plus folate, manganese, niacin, potassium and thiamin.
Celery:  Is packed with antioxidants which protect against oxygen damage to our cells, blood vessels and organs.  The pectin-based polysaccharides in celery help to protect the stomach lining from ulcers.  However, this nutritional value is better when the celery is steamed or eaten raw rather than boiled.
Cilantro:  Is a member of the carrot family.  It helps to relieve intestinal gas pain, helps treat headaches, coughs and mental stress.  Cilantro also helps combat lead and other heavy metal toxicity (it is even being studied as a natural purification agent for water).
Parsley:  Is great as a digestive aid, natural breath freshener and more…

…I could go on, but I won’t.  You get the idea.

So, if that’s not reason enough to eat this superstar, healthy soup, eat it because it is just damn tasty (personal opinion, of course)!  You can wear it plain or dress it up with a spoonful of scrambled eggs, a dollop of plain yogurt or, better yet, a topping of tender pulled ham.  If you feel indifferent or curious, try mixing all three (green, eggs and ham!).

INGREDIENTS

1-2 TB olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
1 TB chopped garlic
1 cup chopped carrot (+ the greens if still attached, stems removed)
1 cup chopped celery
1 TB chopped jalapeño
2 cups sliced leeks
1 cup green lentils
2 tsp ground coriander
4 tomatillos
2 kale leaves, stemmed
12 oz chard leaves plus their stems, chopped
Sprinkle of sea salt over greens
2 TB lime juice
1 large bunch (2 cups) coarsely-chopped green onion
1 bunch cilantro, stems and all
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, stems removed
1/2 cup fresh parsley, stems and all
Ham bone/shank

In a large stockpot, heat the olive oil and sauté the onions, garlic, carrot, celery, jalapeño, chard stems and leeks until beginning to soften.  Turn down the heat to simmer and let them sweat until the leeks begin to melt, approximately 15 minutes.

Add the lentils and coriander. Stir to combine.  Add the tomatillos then lay the chard leaves and kale on top.  Sprinkle a little sea salt and squeeze the lime juice over the greens, cover and let cook over low heat to let them wilt and soften, about 10 minutes.

PS_cooking

Add the green onions, carrot greens (if using), cilantro, basil and parsley.  Add the stock, water and almond milk.  The liquid should mostly cover the greens but not overwhelm them.  Add a little more liquid if you feel there is not enough.  At this point, if you are using the ham bone/shank, tuck it into the liquid.  Again, this is optional and while I think it does improve the flavor, it would be just fine without it if you prefer to stick to vegetarian.  Bring this to a simmer then cover with the lid askew.  Let cook over low heat for an hour or so to really draw out the flavors.

Let sit in the pot to cool enough to handle.  Transfer the soup, in batches, to a blender or food processor (I used my Blendtec).  Purée until very smooth.  You should have a very large bowl filled with soup when you are done.  Squeeze in the juice of one lime and stir.  Serve piping hot.

If you would like to add a little texture, mix in some additional cooked lentils.  For a heartier soup, stir in some of the meat from the shank.  Another suitable garnish would be crispy bacon pieces; so many choices, so much soup…

 

PS2_baked egg 5

You can even eat it for breakfast (or this would make an equally satisfying lunch, dinner perhaps?).  Simply heat the soup and ladle it into an oven-proof dish.  Top the soup with a sunny-side up egg, a thin slice of gruyère and tuck in some thinly shaved ham.  Broil until the cheese melts then dig in.

And a happy birthday to my blog friend, Angie.  In honor of your birthday, I made green, eggs & ham!  One Sue(ss) two Sue(ss), happy birthday to you (to the tune of the birthday song, of course!).

What is wrong with me???

06 Saturday Sep 2014

Posted by in the kitchen

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IMG_6654

Wait, don’t answer this. It is meant to be rhetorical. Oh, you already have answered? Sssshhhhh, keep it to yourself, trust me, I already know.

It is September. Yes, the month that comes on the calendar after August, which is in reality, the last true month of summer. Where did the months of June, July and August go (rhetorical, again)? I waited patiently all through the winter months, and then the first month of pre-Spring for the Farmer’s Markets to unfold. I went once back in May, by myself, and made an enormous haul. So enormous that I could barely maneuver the one-foot-in-front-of-the-other thing without teetering side-to-side. My arms weighed heavy, carrying all that my eyes told me to buy.

I bought a tomato plant too.

Did I mention my arms were full and I was shopping alone?

I left that tomato plant at numerous stands. Weaving through busy crowds, I back-tracked to retrieve it as I happily thought about all the delectable morsels it would someday soon bring.

The last stop got me talking about pickles. Not just pickles, but sauerkraut too. I had to have several large (heavy) jars.

The tomato plant was left behind once again.

It wasn’t until I had reached another 7 minutes into the walk back to my car that I realized Tomato Plant had been abandoned again.

I paused for a moment and pondered about the four dollars I had paid and the worthiness of that money, versus heading back to retrieve it, laden with bags cutting marks into my wrists.

It wasn’t really to do with the money that made me return for Tomato Plant. It was the promise of the red, juicy succulence, bursting into our mouths with nothing more than a rinse from the fountain to clean off their skins. It was also the vision of delicate red balloons, multiplying and offering more sweetness, more nutrients, more summer, again and again and….

As mentioned, it is now September, and that was my only trip to Farmer’s Market this year (until last Friday). What is wrong with me? (Sssshhhhh)

And this new friend that I could not let go, brought only one, yes one, lovely little Roma, that decided to ripen while we were away on a trip. Apparently that was it, and I am most sad.

It is a good thing I was (somewhat) fortuitous in that I did buy a second plant; the type that promises to produce tomatoes. It was in a small wooden basket, gripping from a little wood trellis and did produce a bunch of bright red gems, but, only a few really made the cut. The rest were mealy. Thankfully, a mealy tomato can still make a robust, earthy sauce. So, that is what I did, sauce, times two (well one was actually a purée).

photo 3Sorry girls, he’s taken.

My real problem is this, I sometimes go whole seasons, yearning for the next season. I know, we all do this (no?). I then go through the next season and forget to enjoy (to the fullest), all the delights that said season brings… until the end. I am now at the end of Summer without having reveled in a plethora of perfect tomatoes. And there are few foods I adore more than Summer-fresh tomatoes.

For my sprint to the end (of Summer) though, I have managed to pile 4 bags of produce, farm-fresh eggs, pasta and pickles into my car last Friday from the Bellevue Farmer’s Market before heading off for the weekend where I piled a few more bags of the same (minus pasta) from the local farm stand (Hunter’s Farm) near Hoodsport, WA. I have a very full fridge and a bowl filled with Summer tomatoes (I am happy to say, but anxious about using in time).

This Fall, I must remember to cook using pears and squash. Until then, I give you freshly grown tomatoes, roasted and puréed, served with a side of chicken and eggplant Parmesan (because, it looks a little bit like Fall and I did have mealy tomatoes for sauce).

Roasted tomato (purée) sauce
makes approximately 2 cups

Once, long ago, when I worked at (the sadly now-defunct) Seattle restaurant Italia, I noticed the ovens were constantly filled with sheets of whole tomatoes roasting and sending out a heavenly scent. The cooks would take them from the oven and dump them through a large contraption that separated the meat from the seeds and skin. I have no idea what temperature the ovens were or how long they roasted, but I did know two things; roasted tomatoes made delicious sauce, and roasting tomatoes made everything smell fantastic.

This is less of a recipe than a process. To coax out that earthy, sun-kissed tomato flavor, roasting them low and slow in the oven is a pretty neat trick. Roasting high and quick works pretty well too and I often switch between the two depending on how much time I have, what I am making and how big the tomatoes are; it is pretty hard to screw up at this.

For instance, if I am using smaller, cherry tomatoes that I want to liken to those sun-dried numbers, I usually douse them with a little olive oil, sprinkle over some sea salt and cook them at around 300-degrees until they dry out a bit, but retain their natural juices. At 300-degrees, this might take only an hour or less; if I reduced the oven to 250-degrees it would take longer, but provide a more-succulent result. I am slightly impatient (again, shhhhhhh) so I usually opt to cook at a higher temperature (sometimes 375-degrees) for a shorter time. For this sauce however, low and slow is the way to go.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 lbs tomatoes
1 head garlic, outer skin removed, cloves separated, hard inner skin still intact
Olive oil
Sea salt + fresh ground pepper, to taste
Red wine vinegar, to taste

tomatoes raw copy

PREPARE

Preheat the oven to 275-degrees.

Put the whole tomatoes and garlic cloves on a sheet pan. Drizzle over some olive oil, then sprinkle with sea salt. Add some herb sprigs if you like, such as fresh thyme, rosemary or oregano. Shake to coat.

Place the pan in the oven and let roast for approximately 2 hours.

cooked tomato

Transfer the contents of the pan to a food processor, including juices (if any), yet removing the garlic’s skin (and any skin that easily slips from the tomatoes), as well as picking away the stems from the herbs; purée.

Add the vinegar and a sprinkle of salt and grind of pepper to taste. Process to combine. I sometimes add a little more fresh herb or dried oregano; this is optional because it will taste fantastic with or without.

That’s it. Easy, right? Yes, it truly is. You can use this versatile sauce for many things; use right away or freeze to use later.

Roasted tomato (purée) sauce with a side of chicken + eggplant Parmesan
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

1 cup (+/-) roasted tomato (purée) sauce – see recipe above

2 smallish eggplants (Chinese or Japanese varieties work too but adjust quantity per slice circumference), sliced into 1 to 1 1/2″ slices.
Olive oil for brushing
Sea salt to season

2 boneless, skinless breasts of chicken, each breast cut in half down the center
Sea salt and pepper for seasoning
Flour for dusting
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup panko
1/8 cup grated Parmesan
Olive oil for frying
1/2 cup grated mozzarella
Soft herbs (such as basil or oregano) for garnish

PREPARE

Preheat the oven to 375-degrees.

Lay the eggplant sides on a baking sheet and brush each side with olive oil. Sprinkle one side with a little sea salt.

PSeggplant

Roast the eggplant in the oven for approximately 20-30 minutes. It wants to be slightly browned but not hard. The top will be slightly tough but with a little give to the touch. Remove from the oven and let sit. The eggplant should soften as it sits (making it hard to resist eating directly from the sheet pan; I always make enough to account for my nibbles).

In a shallow plate or bowl, mix the panko and grated Parmesan.

On a cutting board, between two sheets of wax paper, pound the chicken breasts until even and 3/8″ thick. Season with salt and pepper and throw a handful of flour over, lightly coating each side.

Dip each chicken breast quarter in egg, then press into the panko/Parmesan mix. These can set aside 1/2 to 1 hour before cooking.

chick parm

Heat a sauté pan and add enough olive oil to just fill the bottom to 1/8″ deep. When the oil is hot, add the chicken and cook undisturbed until golden on the bottom side. Flip and cook 30 seconds more. Turn off the heat and transfer the chicken to a paper towel-lined surface.

Spread some tomato sauce on the bottom of a baking pan (just enough to barely coat).

Add the roasted eggplant in four vertical lines .

Top each line with a chicken breast quarter.

Pour the remainder of the sauce over all, down the center.

Sprinkle with shredded cheese and chopped fresh oregano.

uncooked

Bake for 30 minutes, loosely covered with foil. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.

close up

Now, may I recommend that you serve one quarter chicken + eggplant Parmesan, on a plate alongside a fresh green salad with vinaigrette or dressing of your choice?

photo 2
(note from the editor) Edit with a nice glass of wine, Rosé on a warm Summer day. Enjoy.

photo(And don’t forget, tomatoes are good for pups too)!

Just Peachy (1 sweet + 2 savory)

23 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by in From the journals, the kitchen

≈ 23 Comments

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galette

I’ve always wanted a fruit tree; one that actually produces fruit, unlike our cherry trees, which do not. Apple trees grow well in our neck of the woods, as do plum trees, cherry and fig. I don’t know how to do it but I think I need to plant a fig tree soon.

For now though, I am currently without fruit (on tree). Luckily, when our next door neighbors Kam and Amy moved in, they had a peach tree that they didn’t want so they gave it to their friends, Neil and Stacy, who moved in across the street from us shortly after they moved in next door. Neil and Stacy re-planted that tree in their front yard and then several years later, sold the house to Piotr (AKA “P”). It has been a decade now since that tree was relocated, but it has just in the last couple of years, began to produce fruit.

The fruit from this peach tree feeds many squirrels, birds, bugs, and the bunny in the neighborhood, in addition to providing a juicy accompaniment to my morning yogurt, plus an endless amount of cooking inspiration. The branches fell heavy and full several weeks ago, so in an attempt to salvage a branch in distress, Tom and I picked the fuzzy, round balls which slipped easily from their stems, out of their clothing and into a basket, a bag, or a bath.

Parboiling them loosens their skin, allowing it to peel away easily for freezing, baking or saucing. Otherwise, keep them in the basket if they are ripe, in a paper bag if they are not; eat raw with yogurt and freshly made granola (or the best that you can buy).

If you are like me (lucky enough to have a neighbor/friend willing to let you take copious amounts of them, and still kind enough to bring you a bag of them picked from the tree’s top), you will need other ideas; so, here are a few ways I like to use peaches (with corresponding recipes of course):

Spicy Peach Galette
Peach Barbecue Sauce (use for baby back ribs or on a lamb + feta burger)
Tangy Peach Sauce (use to braise beef or sauce fish)

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Spicy Peach Galette
Makes 2 galettes

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I have always admired the imperfect and irregular shape of the galette. Galette is filled more sparingly than pie and with the thin profile and lovely drape, it crisps nicely, making it a welcome addition to your morning coffee, or with a light dollop of crème fraîche it has all the nuances of an elegant dessert. Galette is portable if you want to tuck it in your picnic basket or it sets nicely atop a fancy plate waiting to hold court. Galette is easy and forgiving if baking isn’t really your thing, but can be made to look quite pretty if you are patient enough to spend time arranging the fruit just so. This galette is filled with sweet peaches and then spiced a bit with cayenne-spiked honey. I was inspired by all the galettes that have been popping up as of late, and with a healthy basket of peaches on hand, it seemed as good of time as any to give the galette a try. Plus, I had half a recipe of pie dough still hanging out in my freezer from my Red, White and Blueberry pie.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound peaches, peeled and pitted (4-5 small)
A good sprinkle of cornstarch
1/2 recipe pie dough
1 lime wedge

2 TB honey
1/4 tsp cardamon
1/4 heaping tsp dried oregano
Several shots cayenne pepper powder

honey
Cayenne spiked honey for glazing (this is how mine looked, this was enough for one of the galettes so I made another of the same, reflected in the amounts of ingredients listed above)

PREPARE

Thaw the dough in the refrigerator (if frozen). Be sure it is still chilled, but soft enough to roll. Divide the dough in half and roll, one half at a time on a floured surface. As soon as it is rolled, transfer to a non-stick baking sheet before the dough becomes too soft to move. Sprinkle approximately 1 tsp of cornstarch over each dough round.

Squeeze lime juice over the peaches and arrange them in the center of the rounds, leaving a few inches at the sides. Fold the sides over to cover just the edge of the peaches.

Mix the honey, cardamon, oregano and cayenne in a small bowl and heat in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds (just long enough to make the honey soften).

Brush the honey over the tops of the peaches, and bake in a pre-heated, 400-degree oven for approximately 12 minutes. If the peaches have too much liquid, stirring in a little cornstarch will help.  When finished, let cool slightly on the pan and enjoy right away or cover and refrigerate or freeze.

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Peach Barbecue Sauce
makes approximately 4 cups

barbeque sauce

INGREDIENTS

Olive oil to sauté
1 sweet onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 poblano chili, large dice
2 tomatoes, cored and large dice
4 peaches, skinned, cored and large dice
1 bottle of ale (I used Red Hook IPA, but any good ale will do)
3 TB organic ketchup
1 TB Grenache (or other red wine) vinegar
1 handful fresh cilantro, roughly torn

PREPARE

Sweat the onion and garlic in olive oil until soft (5 minutes or so). Turn up the heat to medium and add the remaining ingredients.

Bring to a simmer, then turn down the heat to low and continue cooking until things become nicely combined and slightly thickened (about 30 more minutes). Purée with a hand blender or in a food processor. Adjust seasonings to taste.

lamb burger 1
Peach barbecue sauce in & on lamb burger with feta, grilled onion and peach

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Tangy Peach Sauce

Coconut oil for sauté
1 small jalapeño, seeded and diced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and diced
1 TB coriander seeds, toasted and freshly ground

2 lbs peaches, peeled and pits removed (approximately 4 cups peach meat)
1 cup water
1/2 cup coffee
Juice of 4 limes (approximately 5 TB)
3 TB fish sauce
1 1/2 tsp siriacha sauce

IMG_6306IMG_6309

PREPARE

In a small amount of coconut oil, sauté the garlic and jalapeño for a few minutes over relatively low heat. Add the ground coriander and stir.

Add the peaches, followed by the fish sauce, siriacha, water, coffee and lime juice.

Turn up the heat and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low and let simmer until it has reduced and thickened, approximately 30 minutes.

Put the mixture through a food mill and then purée with a hand held blender or in a food processor. You should have about 3 cups. Check for flavor. If you like it spicier, add more siriacha, too spicy, add more lime and perhaps some honey.

This freezes well or you can bottle it following this process.

Ginger buddy
Not bottled and not frozen, Ginger & Buddy are peachy too + they eat peach!

Flowers + peaches courtesy of our friend Piotr, thanks “P”.

His kind of gal, her kind of guy!

04 Friday Jul 2014

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

≈ 16 Comments

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photo 1

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:

my kind of guy_gal

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.

plane 1 and 2
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.

salmon x 2 test
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).

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

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