I Can't be Good All the Time

Transformation

2009-07-22T08:06:00.000-07:00

Hello World, I want to get on... (AND I AM TURNED ON and LOVING IT)

The creative niche I was filling for myself here has supplanted itself now into my music and songwriting...

I wanted to direct you all who may be checking this space, to my myspace page. There you can hear songs I've written, read my blog posts, and see where I'm playing music around.

www.myspace.com/mindydillard

There will be rants and raves and I'm sure the occasional recipe...
I do after all have a thing for writing about food- and in my songwriting, that is no exception.
I have a song about cake, a song that is indirectly about s'mores(mmm...), a song about the 3-cookie day(because some days are just like that), and songs entitled 'Hunger is the Best Sauce' and 'Umami' and 'Garlic Clove Renegade' are in process...

Please visit, listen, and read. And do continue to eat (and make, bake, and take) delicious food, alright?

Creative Juice

2009-05-05T06:33:00.000-07:00

Our world has come to an end. Robert John and I have decided to separate and seek our own creative juice. This is a mutual decision, though still wrought with some tears and hard words, but definitively the right move. Freedom is crying out with a strong voice and we must heed its call. We will release each other into the world from the top of this mountain we've built.

Newness is exciting. I lift off for a brand new set of circumstances soon. This experience, this separation, or even, dare I say it: this breaking up, is a gift. Without it there would be no kindling for that fire. No creative juice for the exhausted artist. Without it happening just as it has there would be no me as I exist now. There would have been no finger-lickable, yeasty popcorn consumed in large quantities by both in many late-night hours. No cakes to bake to help me grow up. No soft-boiled eggs or cream with coffee. There may have been no songs for me to write at all.

I thank him for all of this and more and still say I love you.

We're embarking on the newness and it feels alluring. Drop-dead scary but alluring. Graduate School and new employment for me and a new website. Soon I will leave I Can't be Good All the Time as an archive of this sweet time and create a new website to encapsulate my artistic interests. A place to scream, wax poetic, plan and cry about singer- songwriting/street-theatre/ yogic philosophy/ cooking and baking/ music/art/writing and more.

A link will posted here soon to my new sounding board. I hope you'll join me there for many more poetic and non-poetic waxes on a variety of subjects.

See you soon. Victory is ours.

Love, soft-boiled eggs, popcorn and a cup of creamed coffee are great combination.

Soft-Boiled Eggs
Serves 2.

Place 4 eggs in the bottom of a small saucepan.
Bring to boil on the stove.
Remove from heat, cover.
Let rest for 4 to 5 minutes, depending on how soft you like your yolk.
Run cold water over them, then place them on a steady surface like a cutting board or clean countertop and use a sharp knife to carefully slice them in half.

Serve immediately, setting half-shells on a suitable plate, with quality butter(maybe plugra), sea salt and pepper. For those in a feisty mood, serve with some sort of wilted green to the tune of broccoli raab, spinach, or kale.

Never underestimate the power of cake.

Back and Blogging

2009-04-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

Hello Dear Readers:

Just a quick note to say- for whatever perplexing reason, Blogger inexplicably shut me out of my blog for the last few months, seriously. Now suddenly, it has let me back in!

So, here I am. In news- I got accepted to an MFA in Interdisciplinary Art graduate program at Goddard College for the fall (WEEEEE!). In none so happy news- I lost my camera while we were out to breakfast one morning a few months ago. Hence not many photos to post right away. I even lost the pictures of Robert John blowing out the candles on his birthday cake.

But, on the upside, a camera is on the way, and I'm off today to do a music gig in Olympia, Washington...

Peace and Spring and Back to Blogging

The Timely Rise of the Whole Wheat Sourdough

2009-02-04T08:51:00.001-08:00

Pictured Above: 3 Rises (left), 2 Rises (Right)I call this my 'Still Life Bread' photo.
For some reason it reminds me of those pictures of apples and oranges that artists paint...

For the gloopy sourdough starter living in my fridge, its time is one that has come.

Despite a few fluky failures due to my often somewhat careless experimental innovations*...

My bread-baking stage has now surpassed that meticulous measuring of every ingredient and is no longer filled with the wafting aroma or commercial yeast. Now its just the bowl, the flour, my starter and me. Thank you to the lovely gentleman (You remember Brilliant Bob?) who brought this starter to me from over the mountainous heights and ice-ridden roads of the intermountain west at Christmas-time.

My confidence is growing as stoutly as the sourdough starter itself. Let me tell you: That starter is no shrinking violet. No more ridiculous tip-toeing around the kitchen or fretting over a caved-in mound of flour. That sour white lump, after it has been stoked and fed,
is unstoppable.

Watch out for the timely rise of the whole wheat sourdough.
That critter, parked now in my refrigerator, snugly at home, peacefully gurgling in its tupperware container is strong. I know he is just waiting, ready to be turned into pizza crust or another loaf of whole wheat sourdough. (Soon)
Beware.

*(Ahem... Masa Harina flour leftover from tamale dough yielded a squat and dense loaf of bread that was about 2 inches high...beware, there is not enough gluten in corn flour to make it much worth your sourdough-bread-making-while...if you are going to use it, just use a little of it. Note this bread is not pictured here. I took one look at it and thought "croutons!" and did not pull out my camera...)

Oh the CHANGE in this HAPPY NEW DAY!

2009-01-20T10:28:00.000-08:00

What does this mean to you? Change? What does this mean to you?

Change.

Respond.

Make Tamales before Murdering Lobster

2009-01-08T12:12:00.000-08:00

Okay.

Do you often gaze dreamily into your earl grey tea, taking stock of life, pondering questions of love and the origin of the universe? But more importantly, when is the waiter going to return to take your order?

This last question is particularly important when you're sitting in the same elegant establishment as last year, on New Year's Day. It's begun to snow in relative earnest, and everyone getting a tad concerned about making it back through the windy, rain-soaked gorge to Portlandia before you get stuck and have to shell out more moolah for a tapestry-laden room several floors above where you sit...

Its also important because despite the homemade tamales...
and the enviably good margaritas of New Year's Eve (last night)
you and the boyfriend and the boyfriends folks are miraculously hungry.

Thank God that hunger is an ongoing problem. Seriously.

To make matters worse, that three-tiered platter of pastries and biscuits has only two of the delectable and legendary apple fritters that you all remember from last years. Two. There are four of us. This will not do.

We are also sad to notice that:

There. Is. No. Butter. NONE.

There is a darling assortment of miniature jams in cute little pots, which we later steal. (Or more accurately, Elizabeth, my boyfriend's mother gets a little monogrammed bag to take them home in. They were actually fine with parting with their itsy-bitsy jam pots, but it adds intrigue to say we stole them. Don't you agree?)

We eventually remedied the the butter situation, which the intrepid staff at the grand dining room solved by bringing us a funny and little, circular pat of butter placed in the center of a plate.

(They also bring us more of those fantastical and tiny apple fritters,
but only after our other food has already arrived... Which consequently worked out swimmingly for Robert John and I, as we ended up with leftover pastries and the aforementioned mini-jams, to complement our veritable bounty of leftovers awaiting us in the refrigerator and on the liquor shelf at home...)

We were nearing the end of our holidays with Robert John's parents...

Our parental visit was a two-week version this time, that included 2 sleepovers where we were sublimely delighted host everyone and the cats...

Introducing...

(drum roll, please)
da duh, da duh, da duh....

Mysterious Ace
-The Childhood Witty of Robert John-

Mischeivous Blackjack
Who really didn't like his kitty sweater when we tried to put it on.
"I can't put my arms down!"Although he looks very stoic in this shot.... ITS a LIE.

We had gourmet meals we made, and gourmet meals we drove to, I was lucky to get lessons in both Sourdough Bread and Tamales.

(Plus, I got the gift of sourdough starter, carried all the way across Idaho by the brilliant Bob.)
(AND- my whining over not being able to handle raw pork shoulder was tolerated and dealt with. I do feel confident to handle raw meat the next time I attempt.)
(AND- The Brilliant Bob bought us a deluxe crockpot)

...Also gifts of technical gadgets for the boyfriend, a set of margarita glasses, and a Beatles reference book (that fatefully fell off the shelf at Barnes and Noble into the Brilliant Bob's hands) and these wondrous folks paid entirely to put a pick-up in my guitar...

We always have fairly out-of-this-world experiences with them. The most extreme of these for me this time was... Lobster Carnage. (My first experience of.) (lobster murder...shhh!)

It sounds most dramatic, but it turned out to be not such a big deal. The parental power duo took us to this experience as an (almost)last hurrah, the night before the day before they left. There was a bib, a bucket of oyster crackers, and also a boyfriend sitting next to me at Salty's on the Columbia. The boyfriend was the key here because he split the gargantuan lobster dinner with me and instructed me on how to effectively crack open the lobster shell, as I had never done it before. You'd think it was dangerous, but it was mostly just delicious.

I'm also told I was entertaining whilst I was eating it. Being preoccupied as I was with trying to work those big nut-cracker type thingies, I wouldn't know. I was too busy deciphering the many dining accompaniments on the table, what with the water goblets, the wine glass, upwards of 20 pieces of silverware and so on. At one point, my right hand being absorbed with the nut-cracker type thingy, trying ferociously to get into the succulent tail claw meat, collided with said water goblet and dumped much of the water and the ice keeping it cold onto my plate, and sadly, into my pool of melted butter. Luckily, Robert John once again proved his worth and calmly poured the pool of water off of my plate. Although I don't know, maybe Mr. Half-a-Lobster actually liked that ice bath. Cooling, you know, considering the way he must have died. Traumatic as it must have been, dying in a pot of boiling water and all...

Soon, I will have to try and cook lobster myself. Or go to Maine and eat lobster. Or go to Maine and rent a rustic cabin on the ocean and catch lobster and then cook lobster.

Its funny. We ate a lot of fantastic food. We did SO much. Talked about doing so much else. Alas, there is much left to do and see with these folks. Not to mention, lots to learn about them.

Oh well. There is NEXT time. And anyhow the great thing about saying goodbye is that you get to start planning the next adventure.

These are the tamales from the outside, fresh out of their steam sauna, wrapped in corn husks. Our late-nite festivities prevented me from taking worthy photos of these tamales from the inside. My sincere apologies.

Homemade Tamales
Which the Brilliant Bob would like everyone to be aware of, are really quite easy to make. And... I do concur. It is all just a matter of following the directions. This, is hard for me, because I have a hard time waiting and am naturally impatient. If this is the case for you to then I advise putting on your patient hat, because the pay-off of having fresh homemade tamales will be great.

Put on that patience-hat, secure it tight, take a deep breath and your off.

(The ingredients you need are bolded for your shopping purposes)

The day before you make the tamales:

Take...

3 1/2 lbs. Pork Shoulder (Or you can use chicken, or you can use beef, or you can use a combination)
1/2 large yellow Onion (or 1 small Onion)
3 cloves Garlic

And...

Saute above ingredients over medium heat in wok or large-enough saucepan to accommodate, about 3-5 minutes

Then Add:

2 Tbps Chili Powder
1 Tbps Cumin
1/2 can diced Jalepenos
Salt and Pepper to taste

Adjust heat as necessary until Pork is well browned.

Place browned pork in crockpot. Add 1 cup of Red Wine, 1 cup of Sherry and then cover Pork the rest of the way up with water. Deglaze (put a cup or so of water) the wok or saute pan and add the resulting drippings to your crock pot concoction.

Allow to cook for day or longer on the low setting of your crockpot. The resulting meat mixture will smell fantastic, especially when you leave the house for a moment to take out the trash or recycling, and then come back inside. The longer you leave the meat in the pot, the more it will shred, which is great texture for your tamales.

Get your hands on some Corn Husks...

This overnight-wait works out perfectly for you tamale wrapping paper, your corn husks. Once that meat is in the pot, get out a small mixing bowl. Place however many husks you want to make into tamales. Then fill that bowl with water and soak those babies overnight alongside that slow-simmering pork divinity.

When ready to make Tamales:

Open up your pot of pork (if the neighbors haven't snatched it up for its perfuming essence) and using a slotted spoon, remove the meat and place in another bowl, or preferably a jumbo tupperware container. (This way you can refrigerate or freeze the cooked pig you don't tamale-ize for later use in sandwiches, etc...) Try and shred up any pork bits that are still going to be hard to bite through and remove any bones that are floating within the mixture.

Reserve the meaty broth left in the crockpot. You'll use that to make your tamale dough.

Then get a bag of:

Masa Harina

(MAH-sah ah-REE-nah, Spanish for 'dough. The traditional dough used for making corn tortillas. It is made through a process of cooking sun or fire-dried corn kernels in limewater, then soaking them, and then grinding the wet corn up and drying that, which create this corn flour that you can buy at most grocery stores. It is sometimes located in the ethnic food section and sometimes elsewhere. When in doubt, ask for directions.)

Follow directions on the back or side Masa bag, using your reserved broth, to create your tamale dough. Using your wondrous pork broth as part or all of your binding liquid.

Then take your corn husks, refreshed from their all-night excursion at the water-bath spa, and spead several of them out on a clean work space (A cutting board or plate will be smashing). Using a butter knife or fork and/or your good ol' (clean) fingers, spread masa dough lengthwise on corn husk, leaving space free of mixture on each short end, this is where you will knot the husk once its rolled up. The masa dough can go almost to the edge of the two long rectangular edges, if you like (Depending, of course on how big you want your tamales to be).

And then take several heaping spoonfuls of that pretty pork and put it in the center of the spread out masa. Then roll up the tamale, taking hold of the corn husk from one of the long ends, aiming to get that unctuous corn-mealy, masa stuff wrapped around the pork in the center. Knot the ends by tying a loose knot in the corn husk at each end. There you go. A little tamale present for you and your loves!

Continue this way, spreading masa dough on corn husks, and fillingwith pork (Works well in an assembly-line manner, get everyone in on the action), until you've got a plateful. Then steam them for 20-25 minutes in a steamer basket, alternating their direction in the pot, you know like jenga blocks.

If you make them all at once, you could probably feed 8-10 people. Well depending on your hunger level. Besides, they make for very good leftovers.

Check back soon for more tales from my Januarian front. At this point, we're baking and eating a lot to keep warm and to keep the clouded-gloom factor from overwhelming us.

And someday the story of my trip to Hawaii will appear here. Yes, sometime relatively soon I will find myself lying naked and happy on a sandy, tropical beach with one of those umbrella drinks set beside me, it would be too much work to hold it. What's more is that I do this in January. Take THAT.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Cookies and Stress Relief Prose

2008-12-06T08:07:00.001-08:00

(Song. Sung to the tune of Que Sera, Sera)

Que Sera, Sera... Whatever will be, will be
Just like these Pumpkin Cookies...Que Sera, Sera...

I wonder at the moon... Do you know what will happen next?
I guess I'll just stop to lick... The-uh cookie spoon...

Oh, I've been in a funk... What does that really mean?
It makes for a vicious scene... And me thinking I'm bunk...

These cookies were quite good... Recommended for your distress
Filled with a pumpkin caress... They don't taste like wood...

The chocolate chunks are grand... Symbolizing something I guess?
My energy is a mess... Perhaps it's part of the plan...

Its the holidays...I should be happy and shining
But I'm restless and whining.... Are you quite amazed?

Or do you too relate?... Do you too know what I mean?
Do you get this funky feeling?... Are you in this state?

Cookies can help you... And so-oh can taking things slow
Giving your lists the whoa... Forget the sarcastic 'Woo.'

When you start to bite... With a yell to your lover or mom
Do not set off that bomb... Bite a cookie and tight!

It's like your teething ring... You've regressed to that delicate state
You're a babe and you've taken the bait... You'll be safe and you'll sing!

Those Christmas carols you despise... Are playing through all your life...
Don't let it cause you strife...That will be your demise

Biting hard into your cookie... You'll be able to be part of part
Of traditions straight from the heart... You may sound like a wookie

Oue Sera, Sera... These cookies have been, they are
Bake them to find who you are... Well not real-ly

But, they can distract... From life and its crazy ways
Put many of them on trays... to find out what you lack

But hey its all okay... This is the end of my song
I hope it wasn't too long... Test this method today

Que Sera, Sera...Whatever will be be, will be
Just like those pumpkin cookies... And your life.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose or whole-wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups evaporated cane juice (sugar)
1 cup of 100% pumpkin puree (Can be canned, mine came from some pumpkins we grew in our garden!)
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups of chocolate chunks (I used a combination of Theo chocolate and Caleubraut, leftover from Thanksgiving truffles. Ghiradelli 60% bars would be just fine- sliced with a sharp knife into 'chunks')
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans (I did not include these, but you could depending on your mood)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine flour, baking soda and baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt. Whisk and set aside.

Beat butter and sugar on medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla and beat until just barely blended. Then mix in the bowl of dry ingredients until extremely well-combined.

Using rubber spatula, wooden spoon or other stirring apparati, stir in chocolate chunks and nuts (if you want).

Drop that batter by heaping tablespoon-fuls 2-inches apart on your greased, oiled, buttered, or parchment-paper covered baking sheets. (Or alternatively purchase one of these fantastic devices)

Bake cookies for 15-18 minutes, until just lightly browned. Rotate baking sheets halfway through for optimum taste potential. Let those cookies cool on the sheets for 1-2 minutes. Then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. (If you have one)
(FYI- Wire racks... Oh I dream of wire racks)

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Enjoy and write some prose.

Popping-Over with Excitement or Agreeable Ovens

2008-11-02T05:29:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to say that I'm fairly Popping with Excitement!

I'm off today on the train to the plane to fly away to land of my childhood for a week with family, friends, and my guitar.

My father and I are driving to the land of the red rocks....TODAY. We are headed to this festival, and I'm certain that that combined with hiking through various arches is going to be an absolutely grand way to spend the week.

No time to chat, really. But being that I'm popping with excitement, I thought it most appropriate to share with you all my latest successful baking endeavor, that is the Popover.
(Ha! Popping..popover...get it?)

I learned about this from Molly on the very deliciously funny blog, Orangette. She wrote this post sometime back about Popovers. Being fascinated with them from the start, I procured and antique-y, used popover pan from the thrift store and tried my hand at them. Unfortunately due to a renter's worst nightmare of an oven that haunted our kitchen while we were living in our tiny little two-level studio on Everett street, they did not turn out. And I will just leave it at that.

Well, okay, a little more detail. They rose fantastically in the oven and then fell in the very last few minutes of baking! It was so sad... And that's ALL I want to say about that, mind you, the rest is simply too painful.

Fortunately I did not give up. These popovers haunted my mind like that oven from Everett street had haunted our apartment. Then I found myself living in a different house with a more agreeable oven and it was clearly time to try again. It was one of those creatively-alive mornings, I got out my can of wondra flour (that had been waiting unopened next to the cream of tarter on the shelf for over a year) and traipsed to the store to get some whole milk, determined to follow Molly's recipe exactly.

And truth be told, thank goodness I did. These are a worthy, delightful and delicious baking adventure. From carefully tip-toeing around and gingerly flicking on the oven light to see their dramatic rise in the oven, to gleefully tearing these buttery morsels apart to expose their pillowy insides...

Oh how delectable that morning was as we spontaneously sat in a light-filled corner with a basket of these, some concord grape jam and each other. Highly recommended. Please visit Orangette using the link above to get your hands on this recipe.

I Won't Cry because there's Green Tomato Pie

2008-10-21T08:47:00.000-07:00

Ugh.

So, I've got this sore throat that makes me wake up 3 in the morning in a very cranky mood. I feel full of sugary cough syrup and drops that make me go yuck.

This sickness is utterly frustrating and it took my voice away. This is especially inconveinent as I have this great green tomato pie to tell everyone about but I don't really have a voice to do it in...
Indeed this bug has crawled in my throat and taken away my voice with which to sing and my voice with which to "Mmmmm" with. The power of the pen is one of the only I have left!

Unfortunately it didn't take away my ability to piss off my sweet boyfriend after he went out to the car to get the cough syrup I had left for dead in the backseat. Indeed he shuffled out there at 3 am (When he had to get up for work in an hour) to retrieve that natural cough syrup that had provided me some amount of relief.

Alert! Someone totally decapitated our beautiful giant sunflower. SERIOUSLY, I know. I don't know who would have it in their heart to do such a cruel and unusual thing. But whomever you are, I hope you got precisely what you needed and then you went home and somebody served you some pie. It needn't have been green tomato pie, no, better yet, someone presented you a large bowl of roasted and curry-spiced SUNFLOWER seeds. Wait until you see our Sunflowers next year, they will be MANY, and they will be TALL.

This frustration has only amplified by this beautiful mammoth sunflower that we planted too late in a weird patch of dirt near the street. It was almost comical as this single sunflower seed grew and grew increasing in height and circumstance until it was nearly taller than both of us and the stalk was half as thick as my arm... But this funny yellow character has persisted and grown and grown at the edge of our driveway. But now, alas we wait breathlessly in the frosty end of October we exist in now, for it to bloom. Will it make it? Its yellow petals have been slowly curling open in waning October sun... Well it lives on in this photograph for certain. Makes a good backdrop for this other late summer treasure, the green tomato.

Whole Wheat Pie Crust

2 cups whole wheat flour (I used Bob's Red Mill, Go for the local/organic option when possible)
1 tsp sea salt
3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) organic and/or local butter
5-8 Tbsp ice water

Sift flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add butter a Tbsp at a time into the flour, cutting in with a knife (or two, or with you fingers!), rubbing together until the flour mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea-size pieces present. Sprinkle water a Tbsp at a time over the mixture, knead it lightly until a dough forms. Form dough into a ball. Cut in half and shape each into a disc, wrapping each with wax paper and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days.

When ready to use, allow to rest at room temperature for 10-20 minutes and then sprinkle countertop or large cutting board with flour. Using rolling pin or (he he)wine bottle, roll out both discs to a width of 9 inch. Press one of them into a 9-inch pie dish and set aside, ready receive its rather absurd, but delicious sugared tomato filling. Keep the other crust close at hand, ready to cover the the top, and be crimped at the edges.

Green Tomato Pie

6-8 medium green tomatoes (or an equivalent of little or larger)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground saigon cinnamon
3/4 cup evaporated cane juice (sugar)
2 Tbsp cornstarch (I used rice flour)
1 Tbsp butter

Take a small, sharp knife and score each green tomato with an X on the bottom. Bring a medium saucepan half-filled with water to a boil. Carefully drop in the tomatoes and allow them to stay in the boiling water for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into a colander. Rinse with cold water and allow to cool for 15-30 minutes, or until cool.

Using your fingers, peel back the tomato skin from the scored end and discard. (Preferably into the compost or yard debris). Chop up the tomato flesh to no bigger than bite-size pieces and take care to dry and remove and discard as many of the white tomato cores as possible.

Combine 3/4 cup (evaporated cane juice) sugar and cornstarch, whisking them together. Place tomato flesh, lemon juice, lemon peel, salt, and cinnamon in a medium saucepan (It can be the same one as before!) cooking at low heat. Stir the sugar and cornstarch mixture into the tomato mixture. Stir constantly, until mixture is clear looking and thick, like syrup. Add butter and remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 435°.

Pour tomato mixture onto prepared pie crust. Take top crust and lay it over the top, crimping the top crust and bottom together around the edges with a fork. Cut a few artful slits in the top to allow steam to escape during the cooking process. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon.

Bake for 35 minutes, covering the pie plate with foil to prevent crazy browning and then take off the foil and allow the top crust to be tinged with gold, another 10 minutes.

Serve warm, with sour cream if you like.

(Note: Also good cold, consumed after ripping from the pie plate, directly from the refrigerator, when suffering from a sore throat and intense hunger, and also while recovering from teaching a bunch of 5 year-olds theatre)

Homage to Oatmeal

2008-10-01T12:10:00.000-07:00

Yes.

I am doing it. I am writing about oatmeal. I could be writing about the cornbread I made a few weeks ago when Robert John's parents were here, or about the disappearing bran muffins I made last week, or about the heirloom tomato sauce, but right now I just can't. I simply have to wax poetic about the humble oat.

This wholesome treasure, be they steel-cut or thick-rolled have a certain distinct pleasure. At least for me. Oftentimes I will stand at the sink with my long-handled wooden spoon after I've spooned most of the steaming oats into my breakfast bowl and eat the dregs from the pot, scraping my spoon along the sides and the bottom searching out every last morsel. I then put the bowl in the sink rather guiltily, finding myself looking around to make sure no one caught me indulging in oatmeal.

For me, that moment of sneakily spooning oatmeal straight-from-the-pot has the same sort of gleeful delight one gets from eating the bottom of a bag of chips. Uh huh, you know the place. You know, where the bag creases and all the salty spices coalesce in a mingle of chip shreds that are super-saturated in slightly greasy deliciousness. Capturing those last bits from the oatmeal pot contains that same delectable joy.

If my rapturous love note to the oat is getting to you, feel free to leave my site. I realize that this is all getting a little intense and I may be well be presenting myself as some kind of oatmeal freak queen. (I mean obviously there's something a little wacky with me as I frequently take pictures of steaming bowls of grain.) No, but really, I won't hold it against you. I just hope that you, dear reader, may find your own pleasure food, the one that you eat straight from the pot or from the bottom of the bag. However if you are still reading I would like to share my Food Lover's Companion's definition of 'Oats'...

"According to a definition in Samuel Johnson's 1755 Dictionary of the English Language, oats were "a grain which in England is generally given to horses, but which in Scotland supports the people." Since oats are by far the most nutritious of the cereal grasses, it would appear that the Scots were ahead of the rest of us. Today, whole oats are still used as animal fodder. Humans don't usually consume them until after the oats have been cleaned, toasted, hulled and cleaned again, after which time they become oat groats (which still contain most of the original nutrients). Oat groats can be cooked and served as cereal, or prepared in the same manner as rice and used as a side dish or in a dish such as a salad or stuffing. When steamed and flattened with huge rollers, oat groats become regular rolled oats (also called old-fashioned oats). They take about 15 minutes to cook. Quick-cooking rolled oats are groats that have been cut into several pieces before being steamed and rolled into thinner flakes. Though they cook in about 5 minutes, many think the flavor and texture are never quite as satisfying as with regular rolled oats. Old-fashioned oats and quick-cooking oats can usually be interchanged in recipes. Instant oats, however, are not interchangeable because they're made with cut groats that have been precooked and dried before being rolled. This precooking process so softens the oat pieces that, after being combined with a liquid, the mixture can turn baked goods such as muffins or cookies into gooey lumps. Most instant oatmeal is packaged with salt, sugar and other flavorings. Scotch oats or steel-cut oats or Irish oatmeal are all names for groats that have been cut into 2 to 3 pieces and not rolled. They take considerably longer to cook than rolled oats and have a decidedly chewy texture. Oat flour is made from groats that have been ground into powder. It contains no gluten, however, so-for baked goods that need to rise, like yeast breads-must be combined with a flour that does. Oat bran is the outer casing of the oat and is particularly high in soluble fiber, thought to be a leading contender in the fight against high cholesterol. Oat bran, groats, flour and Scotch oats are more likely to be found in natural food stores than supermarkets. Oats are high in vitamin B₁ and contain a good amount of vitamins B₂ and E."

I love the Food Lover's Companion!

For a food stuff that was originally intended for horses, Oats are an unusually fantastic for this human to consume. I've only really tried the thick-rolled and steel cut versions of this grain, (besides oatmeal cookies) but I do hear tell of baked oatmeal, something that is definitely in my ovens future. For now, I'll pride myself on making heaping oatmeal sundaes, Piling on fruit, seeds, yogurt, drizzling with honey or maple syrup, sprinkling with saigon cinnamon, etc...... This has a a very do-it-yourself aplomb and I highly suggest it.

This is a fabulous breakfast is especially great after yoga class, but good anytime. Sometimes even for dinner when there is no other food to speak of in the house. But it's especially good from a wooden spoon over the sink.

Oatmeal Sundaes
Serves 2.

1 cup Organic Steel-cut Oats, or Extra-Thick Rolled Oats
Organic and local Yogurt or Milk
Nuts or Seeds, Dried Fruit or Fresh, you get the idea
? (Your own specifically special ingredient)
Maple Syrup, Honey, Brown Sugar, or other sweetener as desired
Cinnamon or Ginger for sprinkling if desired

Combine Oats with 1 cup of Water in saucepan (If you have time to leave them to soak for a few minutes or hours or even overnight, this will improve their consistency- makes them softer and such).
Cook by first bringing a boil and then turn them down to simmer away while you get out all the toppings.
Simmer, stirring occasionally until all water has been absorbed and the oats clinging together in a smooth way (Anywhere from 3-4 minutes- 30-45 minutes depending on your oat variety and how you like them cooked).
Take off the heat (Make sure to turn off the burner- sometimes I forget) and spoon into two bowls, allow to cool for 2-3 minutes.
(This is where you might eat all those oats direct from the pot- just don't burn yourself- and careful of splattering oats)
Top with choice of toppings.
Devour.
Option 1- While staring dreamily out the window at the leaves changing color
Option 2- While musing at the crazy squirrels running around upside down on the powerline
Option 3- While reading BBC headlines on the computer
Option 4,5,6,etc...- Create your own option people! I'm not you...

My Blueberry Gems or Create your own Cookie Adventure or How I Ate a Whole Stick of Butter Last Weekend

2008-09-03T06:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, Okay. So my 2nd title may be a slight exaggeration, but I'm telling you people, its not much of one.

But when you consider the utter delectable-ness, even in a photograph(!), of the above cookies, can you really blame me for indulging in Vitamin B?

I mean, I shared.

This whole mess started when I took 7 cups of blueberries from our fantastic GSA share, and made blueberry taffy. Now, I do not consider myself a jam expert, but I've made a jam or two and was therefore quite bewildered when the ooey, gooey purple soup in my Le Creuset pot turned into the equivalent of gummy candy.

To keep it short: Berries turned hard. Girl was sad. Wanted yummy jam for homemade bread. Boyfriend said, "Cookies?" Girl said "hmmmm."

She then scoured the internet, leaving the jammy rock, all jarred up in cold storage for a few days while she recovered and prepared. But then Friday eve rolled 'round, the time was right, and there was enough butter, just barely, for said shortbread cookies (To be bold, it was a decadent night all around, as she and the dude ate boxed mac and cheese, but with added butter, yogurt and mozzarella balls while the cookies were in process).

The dough was created, in a painstakingly enjoyable, non-food processor process. The jammy rock was microwaved. The oven was turned on for a long while. Pales yellow discs with brown, buttery edges of a many sizes flowed forth from the hearth, to be cooled. Once cool, they were slathered in thick, blueberry jam. A bit gluey, but seemingly what it was really meant for all along. Beautifully, richly colored, sparkling inside like a blueberry gem.

In the morning we were left with a rather large plate of these said blueberry gems. We had created them almost as if in a dream. Half were taken and devoured almost as quickly as they were set out at a lovely birthday party we attended that evening. The other half? We devoured those almost as quickly, with the final one being eaten on Monday morning.

This would have been an equally exciting adventure with raspberry jam, or especially another fruit mixed with nectarines. And rest assured that it is still a worthy escapade if you have perfectly normal jam, and you do your dough in a food processor. One cannot always have dramatic baking experiences after all.

Jam Sandwich Cookies or Blueberry Gems
adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe

Dry Mix:
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour- spooned and leveled off
1 1⁄2 cups evaporated cane juice
1 tablespoon baking powder
1⁄2 tablespoon sea salt

Cookies:
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1⁄2 cup 1%, 2% or whole milk
1 to 2 cups of jam or jelly

Start by making the mix: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, evaporated cane juice, baking powder, and salt. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 months. Whisk before using.

In a large bowl, cut butter into dry mix. Add about a tablespoon at a time, using two butter knives to cut the butter into very tiny pieces and distribute evenly throughout the mix (Alternatively, you could do this in the food processor, if you have one). Once the mixture resembles coarse meal, add milk, and continue mixing, maybe switching to a larger wooden spoon and helping a dough form (Or in the food processor you can continue to pulse the mixture until the dough forms).

Now, the cookies!

Preheat oven 350ºF.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Drop dough by he onto sheets, 3 inches apart – since you are making sandwich cookies you can at this point decide the size:

1 Tablespoon: a monster cookie that’s almost a meal
1 Teaspoon: a manageable teatime treat
½ Teaspoon: a delectable, buttery morsel

Create your own Cookie Adventure!

Bake until cookies begin to turn golden but center is still pale, 12 to 14 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cool, spread jam as thinly or thickly as you like on the flat side of one cookie (the side on the parchment paper) and top with another cookie of the same size.

Yield:** Depends ENTIRELY on your cookie size.

Note: ** It will likely take awhile for you to get all the dough baked into cookies. It will keep for up to week in the refrigerator and up to 2 months in the freezer, should you decide to only make half or something. And by the way, I would have somewhere to take these cookies or else you and yours may end up munching half the batch yourself in quite a short period of time.

Mt. Hood and US and CAMPING

2008-08-26T07:22:00.001-07:00

No Doubt about It

2008-08-25T11:24:00.000-07:00

Hello one, hello All

I have returned.

Yes its true- I almost swore off this whole nasty blogging business. Well, I have been busy. I've been in yoga teacher training. Beginning to play the guitar with fervor, teaching lots of kids lots of theatre. trying to actually call my friends consistently and more- but this bread, my friends,

oh

this

bread

It shook me out of my non-blog-posting stupor and screamed at me "YOU HAVE TO POST THIS RECIPE-"

This recipe is the best one in its category I've ever made, and no doubt about it. I say in its category because I've made quite a lot of types of bread at this point. Those of you who are dedicated readers will remember the first loaf of coarse cornmeal concrete and then the subsequent loaves that progressively got better- There was that no-knead one, there were some amazing croissant-like rolls that melted my heart with their melted cheese and extraordinary amounts of butter. Also there was a fantastical foccacia at some point. Oh and how could I forget the whole baguette fiasco when I was part of the darling daring bakers flock (Didn't I make some potato bread too?), and I'm probably forgetting something...but anyway now there is-

Semolina Sandwich Bread

da da da dah!

Pillowy, soft, and golden bread made almost entirely from the old semolina flour that was hanging out in a jar on the counter and packet of instant yeast that I've had for well over a year. The rise on this baby was bit extreme- I made Rob laugh as I tiptoed into the kitchen as to not disturb the doughy, rising monolith.

When it finally went in the oven both of us acted silly hovering around a bag of chips and salsa and turning the oven light on every 7 seconds or so just to make sure that the loaf of bread wasn't going to rupture on the inside of the oven. I was aghast. We were both flabbergasted. This was the best sandwich bread I had EVER made. I'm talking like EVER. Never before had my kitchen or my eyes seen a load that rose to a height and width that makes a fabulous landscape for our newest love around here, sunbutter. (Have you tried this stuff? I am allergic to peanut butter, so I'm constantly searching for substitutes to make me feel like I'm in the classic American sandwich loop). The bread makes for slightly decadent toast with its olive oil content making for a fabulous tender crumb.

So, I am back, and I'll say it again, there's no doubt about it. I will continue to eat and bake bread, forsaking my recent foray into a gluten-free lifestyle that ended up being not not for me. I didn't plan to be back here, typing up my fiendish food foibles and exhibiting my attempts at glamour food photography, but I guess life had other plans. Darn (and Delicious) Bread!

I'll try to to not get my floured covered hands on the strings of my guitar, or on my laptops keys that would be bad....

Semolina Sandwich Loaf
Daniel Leader, Local Breads
Found on The Fresh Loaf

Time: 8 to 12 minutes to knead; 1 1/2 to 2 hours to ferment; 1 to 1 1/2 hours to proof; 35 to 45 minutes to bake

Makes: 1 Sandwich Loaf, no doubt about it.

1 1/2 cups water, tepid (70 to 78 degrees)
1 teaspoon instant yeast(also called rapid rise)
3 1/4 cups fine semolina (durum) flour
1 tablespoon evaporated cane juice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

Pour the water into a large mixing bowl. Add the yeast, flour, sugar, olive oil and salt and stir with a wooden spoon just until a rough dough forms.

Lightly dust the counter with semolina flour. Scrape the dough out of the bowl and knead it with smooth, steady strokes until it is very smooth, shiny, and elastic, 10 to 12 minutes.

Clean the mixing bowl of any extraneous debris and oil it lightly. Place the dough heap in there and cover it (a dish towel works fine to save plastic) and leave it to rise at room temperature (70 to 75 degrees) until it inflates into a dome, reaching double; 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
(I find this trick helpful in my Northwest climate: Take the mixing bowl with the dough heap and stick it in the oven with just the oven light turned on to create an incubation chamber.)

Grease a loaf pan (8 1/2 x 4 1/2) with oil. Lightly dust the counter with semolina flour. (If you run out of semolina flour as I did, feel free to substitute with AP (all-purpose) flour or another flour (I myself used some renegade millet flour). Uncover the dough and turn it out onto the counter. Form the dough into a pan loaf. Nestle the loaf into the pan, seam side down, pressing it gently to fit. Lightly dust the top of the loaf with semolina flour and set it in a warm place (your choice of incubation chamber) to proof.

Let the loaf rise at room temperature (70 to 75 degrees) until it crowns just above the rim of the pan, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

About 15 minutes before baking place rack in middle of oven. Preheat oven to 375°F.

Place the loaf on the middle rack of the oven. Bake until the loaf pulls away from the sides of the pan and the crust is a deep golden brown, 35 to 45 minutes.

Remove loaf from pan and allow to cool, right side up. Cool bread completely (It will be hard to wait... but worth it) before slicing, about 1 hour. Store the cut loaf in a resealable plastic bag at room temperature. It will only stay fresh for about 3 days, so get on eating it! For longer storage, freeze in a resealable plastic bag for up to 1 month.

A tale of two Daring Bakers: A Cake and a Coconut-Pudding filled Epiphany

2008-03-27T22:19:00.000-07:00

Oh, let them eat their Easter cake. And then let them who are still hanging out in the household eat the leftovers (and also lick the cream cheese icing off a finger that a certain someone sneakily swiped along the edge of the cake plate).

Last weekend was a celebration weekend here of sorts. Rob has lately gotten a promotion of sorts at work, and my parents were here for a quick visit. Thus, I felt that it was the perfect weekend to attempt the March 2008 Daring Bakers Challenge: Dorie's Perfect Party Cake.

I was not alone. My fellow baking compatriots all over the globe had also at some point in the month also cracked open some eggs, buttered up their parchment paper(and maybe family and members and friends to help them) and gone to town. Morven was our hostess this month, and she picked a recipe that was both challenging and delicious.

I conspired with my mother, enlisting her help in this my very first daring baker challenge completed with help from my mother, and my very first layer cake. I whispered to her when Rob was in the other room we would be making this cake. She agreed and later convinced to use full-on enriched cake flour for this project. I gulped and under her stern and loving advisement, plunked the rectangular box into the cart (And while I was at it, I got a can of wondra flour) I however won her eventual approval with my decision to purchase the sillicone cake pans ( They were half-off and yeah, I had no cake pans, and yes, they are red and blue, no statement intended)

Later my mother and I purchased a silly little Easter trinket with 3 little white easter bunnies chasing each other around in a circle, at one of our large and lovely Goodwill stores. The plan was to put this on top of the cake and proclaim to my boyfriend, "It's time to stop chasing your tail!" We giggled all the way to the checkout and chuckled during our take-out Burgerville dinner with my Dad.

Then began the cake-baking frenzy. I had had a brilliant coconut-filled epiphany at the store, and so my mother set out to make the coconut pudding from an organic mix I had on the top shelf. I separated some eggs and sifted the flour, baking soda, and salt together with my shiny new sifter (Rob gave it to me! Some women get flowers for Valentines...I got a sifter). I had decided to forsake the lemon flavor and leave behind the buttercream frosting for a cream cheese one.

The cake batter came together and all seemed well. The batter looked beautiful in my patriotic plans. Into the oven they went. We were making good time and still had a few more hours before the man was to come home from work (It was a surprise!) The smell of baking cake began to pervade the air...

However, they wouldn't rise.
I peeked into the oven time and time again, scowling at the cakes in their silicone pans and biting my lip.

They wouldn't rise.....

Something must have gone awry in my prep. My mom and I puzzled over it. We blinked and shook our heads. Did I forget to put in the baking powder? Did I over mix the batter? Was some ingredient too cold? Too hot? All signs pointed to no.

And so there was only one thing to do. The four-layer cake called for in Dorie's recipe, a great recipe found in her book: Baking, from my Home to Yours, was transformed into two (The barely-risen cakes would not have withstood my dull serrated knife I fear). We smothered the top of one cake with the epiphany I arrived at while staring at the disposable baking pans in the florescent-lit Fred Meyer- coconut pudding (compliments of mama), and jarred raspberry preserves (without high fructose corn syrup- thank you very much, Mindy trumps mom's advice) The outside was smothered in my cream cheese frosting and pressed with shredded coconut. Then the little bunnies with their perpetual little running motion were positioned on top.

We all ate cake. Immediately. Then we went to bed and spent the next day on the Oregon coast.
I recommend it. It was a lovely visit and a great celebration.

Dorie's Perfect Party Cake
(with my own modifications)

For the Cake:
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 Tbps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups whole milk (I used 2%)
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups evaporated cane juice
1 vanilla bean
1 stick (8 Tbps or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese (I used Philadelphia brand)
1 cup evaporated cane juice
1 1/2 cups of heavy whipping cream
A dash of Vanilla
1/8 tsp salt

For Finishing:
1 package coconut pudding mix (I used a package of Dr. Oetker's brand, that was hanging out on my top shelf, though you could always make your own)
1/2 cup raspberry preserves
1 1/2 cups sweetened, shredded coconut

Prepare:
Take stick of butter cream cheese, and four eggs outs of refrigerator to come to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 350°
Center a rack in the middle of the oven.
Butter two 9x2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each with butter-rubbed parchment paper.

Making the cake:
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
Separate eggs.
Whisk together milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put sugar and vanilla bean in a bowl and rub the sugar and the vanilla bean together with your fingers, until sugar is fragrant with vanilla.
Add butter (soften on stovetop or in microwave if it it still hard), use hand mixer, beating for a full three minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, continuing to beat on medium speed.
Beat in half the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.
Add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the batter is all homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Then beat is for a full 2 minutes more to ensure even aeration of the batter.

And at last divide the batter between your 2 prepared cake pans and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch- a thin knife stuck in the center should come out clean.

Transfer to cutting board, cut-open paper bags, or best-case scenario, a cooling rack, to cool for 5 minutes.

Run knife around sides of cakes, invert them on the cutting board or clean counter and peel off the paper liners.

To make Cream Cheese Frosting:
Whip Whipped cream in small bowl until stiff peaks form.

In another bowl combine softened cream cheese, sugar, salt, and vanilla until smooth.

Fold in whipped cream.

Cake Assembly:
(I will give directions for a two-layer cake. To make cake with more layers, you simply have to saw these cakes in half with a sharp serrated knife- as long as your cake has risen... go for it)

Place one layer on a plate.

Spread thickly with the preserves. Dollop the about half the prepared coconut pudding over the top (save the rest for a midnight snack).

Place other cake over the top and carefully smother the entire thing in cream cheese frosting using your rubber spatula and butter knife. Sprinkle coconut on top and all over sides if you desire.

Decorate with a trinket that makes you or someone you love giggle, and present it to them or to yourself.

And then by all means, EAT IT.

Daring Bakers: Bagging the Baguettes- The Morning After.

2008-03-01T14:14:00.001-08:00

I did it.

I didn't, however, succeed the first time. I chose to let the matter rest.

What's more is that I did not cancel my sojourn to Manzanita the next day (to have a foamy cappuccino in this spot). So what if it was a drive in the pouring rain to the coast and back, only to stand on the wind-blown, cold beach for about a minute and spend a few hours in a coffee shop? It was nice to get out of the city, even if only for a few hours. I even took the forlorn baguettes, hoping to find some Manzanita birds to toss the sad, shrunken loaves at. That didn't happen. I left the coffee shop as the rain had begun in decided earnest
and saw my loaves of bread-like matter in the backseat (which upon arriving landed in the trash can in my garage) and then I found peace in the parking lot.

A statue plopped for no apparent reason in the foliage behind the Manzanita News and Espresso house. I was in awe of this discovery and felt quite blissful at seeing it and my corresponding decision to not be at home at that moment trying to unmold my second try of baguettes. Another time, surely, there will be for me and my baguette creation.

Then I returned from my solo vision quest and begun the whole process again before catching a yoga class. The first part of the rising process is lengthy to the tune of 3 hours. This was when I decided that this time around was not the time for the baguette. I mixed the dough up, and went on my way. I was low-key. I came home from Yoga and punched down the bubbling dough. (By-the-way: Turning on the oven light did a masterful job of heating up the oven to a great rising temperature for me) As it rose again, Rob and I went grocery shopping. On return from that adventure. Rob holed himself up in the front room to work on a paper, and I attempted to work on cleaning all the bits of flour from the white cabinetry in the kitchen, and made us dinner of frozen whole foods brand quiche (One in the throws of French Baking has no time for other cooking.)

Later on, I fiddled and folded the dough up as Julia describes, into place for its third rise. Then came that damn unmolding.

I had wrapped it in a towel and throughly doused the towel with ample flour. But that yeasty organism had grown lots. It seemed to prowl with its glutinous self, trying to latch onto whatever surface available to it. Finally it was time to get the thing onto the baking sheet.

Easy does it, Easy does it. Stuck. (!)

Rob appeared at the sound of my trauma after finding me an acceptable razor blade from his artist supplies with which I would slash that sprawling dough. Together we unpeeled the towels, and gingerly pulled off the last bit of attached towel (I think if I do this again, that baker's canvas is something I need to investigate).

AHHH! It sort of broke the cloak of gluten, exposing the sticky inside to the outside world.

"But that's like what happens when you slash it right?"

Quickly we transfered the oozing mass onto the baking sheet- wondering if it was going to defate.

I slashed it. 1-2-3! I shoved it in the oven, put the pan of ice in there with it and shut the door.

It wasn't until later during one dousing with water that I realized it was working. The dough was swelling and there was even some golden color coming on the crusty top. You go, yeast. This is why I love to bake, this feeling right here.

"It's Working!" I shrieked.

We didn't get out first taste until 6am (2-3 hour cooling process, it didn't go in the oven until 11:30pm) right before Rob went to work. But the bread was good, its flavor was tangy, and I'm still glad I didn't bother with the baguette.

The post below this one has links to the recipe I used on the Daring Bakers website and a link to a bunch of other people's tales of French Bread. I want to thank hostesses Mary and Sara for such an amazing challenge...

Daring Bakers: Bagging the Baguettes

2008-03-01T00:08:00.001-08:00

Yes, again that time of the month has arrived.

No, not that time- That OTHER time when I join that saucy group of daring bakers as we cajole, prod, and poke whatever ingredients we are trying to make into something FANTASTIC into actually becoming that FANTASTIC Something. This time it was the classic Julia Child Recipe (and may I add epic), 18 pages to French Bread.

And I'm afraid that for this challenge: I am LATE.

But you see there, I admitted it without shame. Let's just say- I have good reason! It was a leap day, which like a full moon must lead to craziness! But besides My first try was within the alotted time frame- but alas did not turn out so well. Problems with the unmolding step led to soggy and pale= utter nastiness. Needless to say, I bagged it. (And them)

Check back soon for a more thorough account of how I forsook the baguette this time for a very respectable loaf. (And better, less creepy photos, that won't have been taken in the middle of the night) And probably most important: How I spent my day off (which could have been spent rolling baguettes), on a vision quest at the ocean, and how I found peace.

In the meantime, find the recipe I've been reading a lot and working from here.

And look at the other crazy DB people's amazing feats here.

Toodle ooh. I will now wait until morning (A built-in cooling time, hooray!) to slice into that baby and see what its made out of...

Be sure to check back for Part 2!

Valentine's Day is more complete with...

2008-02-22T07:57:00.000-08:00

These.

The Cookie Cure or Woman Cannot rely on Decongestant Alone

2008-02-05T22:45:00.000-08:00

I've been hit with the utter nastiness of a mid-winter illness. As a grown-up, (with not a regular 9-to-5) I'm discovering that usually, unless you have some visible substance visible seeping out of your body, sick days are not very easy to come by.

Henceforth, this weekend I continued performing my bouncy role in the quirky show I'm currently in (Now going into its fourth weekend). Gritting my teeth, doped up on decongestants and cough drops, I reported shortly after call time each night curl my hair, put on my ruby eyeshadow, and stick my inserts into my bra.

Every day, my co-actors would ask, "Feeling better?" And I'm sorry to report that I was never able to answer them in the true affirmative.

On the bright side, I have strengthened my supply of homeopathic remedies available here in the house. And I discovered (With Rob's help) a fabulous nasal decongestant product that I had to tell everyone about. And I got this outside-of-myself-don't-care-a-darn-about-what-anyone-thinks-of-me perspective on my performance. Plus there are those cookies. But more about them later.

These sicknesses creep up me not unlike the many recipes in the latest issue of Bon Appetit that I want to try. All of the sudden, I'm immovable on the futon and getting spoon-fed cough syrup and have probably gotten over half of my caloric intake in the last week from cough drops. Sometimes I feel like I should change my middle name to snuffel-upha-gous. And why do viruses have to last up to two weeks? (Moan)

Thank God that I made these cookies before the cold got really nasty. A few nights ago, I made a batch, baked a few and save the rest and then I had one these S'more cookies alongside my Nyquil, washed down with tea, before I went to sleep.

Then the nasty cold went on its way, infecting my entire week and weekend, and is still here, making itself comfortable, waiting to be totally kicked out of its accommodations in my sinuses. But, throughout it all, a bowl of cookie dough akin to a jumbled pot of chocolate and marshmallow gold sat safely in my refrigerator.

This particular sickness has made me hungry and these cookies are comforting- they fill the void. The day that I stayed home sick, I ate 3 of these wonderful clusters. A little something substantial to sink my teeth into, and slightly nutritious to boot. These little jumbles bundled up in whole wheat flour sport chocolate and/or marshmallow in every bite. They are craggy little buggers, molasses-rich heaps with the occasional burst of walnut. They are designed to taste like s'mores what with their obvious ingredients and also the whole wheat flour (subs in for the graham taste with brown sugar and molasses).

This morning, after taking some of the fabulous decongestant, I spied the silver bowl of Cookie dough gold gleaming and whipped out the rest of the cookies. Thank God there is another plate of these in the kitchen to get me through the end of the gnarly cold, after all, woman cannot rely on decongestant alone. And later, I took the remainder of them to the cast of my show after many proclamations of hand-washing.

Whole Wheat S'more Cookies

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups (packed)brown sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk ( No buttermilk? Squirt 3/4 tsp lemon juice into the milk, stir it up and let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. Viola.)
1 tbps dark molasses
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted.
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips (9 ounces)
1 cup mini-marshmallows (left out to stale overnight)
3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (or crush them up with your hands)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Line a few cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk flour, sugar, salt and baking soda in a large bowl.
Whisk eggs, buttermilk, molasses and vanilla extract in medium bowl;whisk in melted butter. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients, stirring until dough is evenly moistened. Stir in chocolate chips, marshmallows, and nuts.

Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets. Space them about 3 inches apart. About 12 cookies will fit on a sheet. Bake cookies 1 sheet at a time, until they are golden brown, dry to touch, but still slightly soft, 15 minutes.

Let cookies cool on sheets 10 minutes, then transfer to racks or cut-up paper bags and cool. (Cookies will firm up as they cool) store in airtight container at room temperature.

Daring Bakers: The Little Lemon Meringue Tartlets that Couldn't....

2008-01-27T21:46:00.000-08:00

Well, these were the Little Lemon Meringue Tartlets that couldn't because they they just couldn't be just right. That's very akin to life anyway, right? And probably way more interesting.

I had no pie tin so I decided to go off on my own, into the free-form abyss of the third-page challenge portion of the Daring Bakers recipe. I also have no rolling pin- and usually I use a wine bottle, but yesterday, I was so happy, listening to my favorite show on the radio in baking bliss that I just decided to use my fingers. My lemon filling was terrificly gloopy in the saucepan on the stove, then I added the lemon juice, and it sort of runny. I threw it in the refrigerator in an attempt to harden it. And alas, I did not beat the egg whites quite long enough, and my hard peaks were actually soft melting ones.

But, it really all turned out remarkably well for these Little
Lemon Meringue Tartlets that couldn't.

Even though the dough was sort-of mottled with fingerprints, it still tasted great, flecked with butter and made with organic all-purpose king arthur flour and organic cane sugar. The lemon filling did firm up in the fridge(a little) and tasted delicious licked from the saucepan(and on top of my mottled free form tart crusts). The meringue, though it could have been a little stiffer, was tender and sweet, and did brown on top (And it stayed on the top)

My last ditch attempt for character was a sprinkling of cacao nibs and cocoa powder over the top of (a few) of them. Then I gave up.

Just like my day, I decided to be done. I oftentimes pack up much more for myself to do, with multiple lists, full backpacks, and grand expectations, than I can ever possibly get done. And yesterday, this baking project could have been the beginning of another 8-hour day of work, but that just couldn't be because that would have put bedtime at 3 am.

But- I did get to use a few of my never-before-used tart pans in this project, and will know next to roll out the dough to avoid a thickly-mottled crust. I will have a better understanding of the escapades of lemon filling. I won't be so mesmerized by the sugar and cornstarch glooping together that I get giddy and add too much lemon juice. Also, next time, I will trust my instincts about mixing the meringue. It takes a while.

So, now I've got seven (slightly homely) Little Lemon Meringue Tartlets sitting pretty on a plate. I don't know who will eat them. I've sort of had my fill of them for now because I spent so many hours making them, and licked lemon gloop, ate buttery flour-nubbins off of my plastic cutting board and spoonfuls of leftover(soft) meringue out of the silver bowl.

Oh well, just like all the things I've got to do, it will just have to work itself out.

Thank you to Jen of the Canadian Baker for this glorious challenge, it made me feel present and alive.

And check out the other Daring Baker's renditions of this recipe....

January's Challenge - Lemon Meringue Pie

**Please scroll down for additional pie information!

Hello Daring Bakers! I hope everyone had a restful holiday season. How quickly time flies as I now find myself hosting January’s Daring Baker Challenge. I thought this day was so far away in March and could not predict the exponential growth of this fabulous group of people.
I have chosen for us to make Lemon Meringue Pie this month because it is something I’ve always wanted to try to make and I also wanted something lighter after all the holiday treats. The pie requires that you make three components – crust, curd filling and a fluffy meringue which some of you already have had experience with. I am hoping that it is enough of a challenge for all of you but if not, I have added a variation at the end for those of you so inclined to do something different.
All I ask is that the pie remains lemon and you follow the recipe I have provided. Feel free to make necessary changes with regards to diet or health reasons. For those of you who abhor lemon, perhaps the next challenge will be more to your liking. For those of you who enjoy citrus, have fun and I hope you enjoy the challenge!
The post date will be Monday January 28, 2008 so you have lots of time to complete the challenge.

Lemon Meringue Pie
Makes one 10-inch (25 cm) pie
For the Crust:
¾ cup (180 mL) cold butter; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces
2 cups (475 mL) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt
⅓ cup (80 mL) ice water
For the Filling:
2 cups (475 mL) water
1 cup (240 mL) granulated sugar
½ cup (120 mL) cornstarch
5 egg yolks, beaten
¼ cup (60 mL) butter
¾ cup (180 mL) fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon zest
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract
For the Meringue:
5 egg whites, room temperature
½ tsp (2.5 mL) cream of tartar
¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt
½ tsp (2.5 mL) vanilla extract
¾ cup (180 mL) granulated sugar
For the Crust: Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt. Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.
Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of ⅛ inch (.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about ½ inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling.

For the Filling: Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated.
Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.

For the Meringue: Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack. Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust.
Daring Bakers Extra Challenge
Free-Style Lemon Tartlets

Prepare the recipe as above but complete the following steps:
To roll out tartlet dough, slice the dough into 6 pieces. On lightly floured surface, roll each circle of dough into a 5 inch disk. Stack the disks, separated by pieces of plastic wrap, on a plate, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
To bake the dough, position rack in oven to the centre of oven and preheat to 350ºF (180ºC). Place the disks of dough, evenly spaced, on a baking sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Cool completely.
To finish tartlets, first place oven rack in the upper third of the oven and increase heat to 425ºF.
Divide the lemon filling equally among the disks, mounding it in the centre and leaving a 1-inch border all the way around.
Spoon the meringue decoratively over each tartlet, right to the edges, in dramatic swirling peaks. Return tartlets to oven and bake for about 5 minutes, until the meringue is golden brown.
Additions:
You can make one pie or tartlets (in a tin or free-form)
You can compliment your pie with a sauce. For example, you can serve it with raspberry or white chocolate sauce.
You can use a piping bag to apply the meringue if you like.
Decoration is up to you - lemon zest or fruit are totally acceptable.
Pie recipe courtesy of Wanda’s Pie in the Sky by Wanda Beaver, 2002
Tartlet recipe courtesy of Ripe for Dessert by David Lebovitz, 2003

Comfort me with Brussel Sprouts and Pizza

2008-01-23T21:28:00.000-08:00

It has been Chilly. My bicycle is in cold storage in the basement, and my body likes fleece jackets and wool socks.

And to make matters worse, the kitchen hearth has been rather quiet lately. Schedules have intensified to their maximum capacity around here and it hasn't left much time to cook.

So, one night last week, (might I mention, the only night of the week Rob and I both had off at the same time) we might have cleaned our messy abode, but instead we unwound, and we made some pizza to warm up.

The last time we made pizza was in our old, itsy-bitsy apartment, in a stove 1/3 the size of the one we have now- and it was springtime. The pizza we made then was an extremely thin-crusted one, the recipe for which I adapted from Jamie's Italy. But, right now my friends it is the dead of winter, and no thin crust will do, no, in this time of hectic schedules and arctic weather (ha. I know...I live in the Pacific Northwest, but hey, its all relative), on the only partial-night off in ages- a whole-wheaty- thicker-crusted-thrust-me-into-your-mouth slice(or 3) will do.

Specific-to-January Pizza Crust:
adapted from 1000 Vegetarian Recipes from around the World

2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 envelope active dry Yeast
1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Plus some for greasing)

1) Heat one cup of water on high in the microwave for 1 minute.

2) Stir flour, yeast, and salt together in a medium bowl and make well in the center. Stir in most of the water and olive oil to make a dough. Add the rest of the water if needed to make a soft dough.

3) Turn out onto a lightly floured counter and knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth, but still soft (not stiff). Wash bowl, and lightly coat it with olive oil. Shape the dough into a ball, put it in bowl, and turn over to coat in oil. Cover and set aside until doubled in size. (About 40 minutes- 1 1/2 hours)

4) Turn dough out onto a lightly floured countertop. Knead a few times and then cover with upturned bowl for 10 minute.

5) Divide dough in half. Makes 2(about) 9-inch rounds to be baked at 425°, for 10-15 minutes or until crispy and topped in whatever rib-sticking way you desire. (We uses Ricotta and Asiago cheese, mushrooms, kale, and something else...but I forget) (Also works well to freeze half the dough for another cold January night)

As a delightfully simple pre-feast, eaten while standing against the kitchen counter waiting for the Ricotta cheese on the pizza to brown. I originaly thought that these would go on the pizza. They didn't make it- but they were much better this way anyway, really.

Simple Roasted Brussel Sprouts
Brussel Sprouts, rinsed, bad leaves removed and quartered.
Olive Oil
Sea Salt & Pepper (I used a little bit of smoked salt)

Preheat oven to 350°.
Spread rinsed and cut brussel sprouts on a baking sheet. Douse liberally with olive oil. (1/3 cup should probably be enough) Stir to coat all.

Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.

Roast until crispy and beginning to brown.

Eat as an extremely satisfying appetizer while waiting for pizza. (We were going to put these on the pizza, but then decided against it.) Really, these could be the next french-fry craze, only even better. Savor carefully and lick the salty oil off your fingers.

Looking at Christmas through New Year's through Green Garlic Goggles wearing Red Nail Polish...

2008-01-02T07:15:00.001-08:00

Whew.
Woo hoo!

I am amazed at the amount of cream that I could ingest in the past few weeks... I just want to eat rice and clear soups for awhile. Not to mention the desserts, the wine, etc. So really, I have been so busy lapping up whatever put before that I've not yet recorded it... (And I'm joking about eating the rice and clear soups, maybe just for a week...a day..)

Robert John's folks from the Utah-home have been here and spent a delightful time with us filled with laughter, alcohol, and scads and scads eating out.

And thus, through a few highlights of these gourmet dining experiences, I document their visit with us in Portland.

The Schooner-
We found this place blessedly easily in Astoria when we decided it was time for Christmas dinner. We were impressed with among other things, (like a ginger martini,a refreshing mojito, and the tenderest, most-buttery sea bass ever) the 'bread service.' They brought us enough bread to soak up the dregs of our hors' de vours, etc.

Cafe Mingo-
Nice gnocchi and a delicious, decadent prosciutto platter.

Simon's at the Gorge Hotel- (THE highlight)
After we made it here, through the freeway wind-tunnel, to a town called Hood River, some 60 miles out of PDX town, we enjoyed an illustrious 5-course breakfast. It was served to us, over the course of three hours, in a large, ornate, circa 1920's room with a view of the Columbia and light streaming in. The courses included cinnamon apple fritters....

A Salmon waffle with dill and creme-fraiche and a tiny little cornichon.
An absolutely gorgeous Pumpkin Sachette with spinach and macerated cherries.

A Curious Crab Louis..

Plus ample champagne...

Plus an eggs benedict, pictured at top by Rob's mom Liz, accented by her 'Throw me down" red nails...

We were astounded with the generosity of these folk. Thank you for all the gourmet eats. Thank you, thank you for music turntables and a brand new all-leather handbag. Thanks for driving with us to coast through the snow storm on Christmas Day to find the sun. Thanks for coming to see my show. Thank you for everything.

Plus Fran's Smoked Sea Salt caramels, which no one in the house really liked but me, liked but me, but boy was I glad to have them- especially the other day when I endured a traumatic cleaning out of all the gross holiday leftovers in the refrigerator, and needed a reward.

When New Year Eve rolled 'round, we had a bottle of champagne before our meal out at a mediocre tex-mex restaurant and then followed it up with a bottle of prosecco later on. We sat around our cluttered front room and spoke of our New Year's Resolutions.

I have come up with four:

Cook more savory things that require chopping (I wish to be better at this)
Learn to love doing the dishes (I have new pink dish gloves!)
Scale back my crazy schedule (More time to bake and chop, write and read, sing, and do yoga)
Don't Sweat the Small stuff (like Whole Foods ruining my breakfast, because they put too much sugar in their pre-made oatmeal)

And among other things these guys brought us back the funny garlic peeler that we gave them last year and presented it triumphantly to us, along with some matching green garlic goggles(Actually for chopping onions, but garlic is alliterative). (We got a picture of each of us wearing them)

Well in humble thanks for the visit, here is the recipe for the thumbprint cookies that garnered your praise, that I made with raspberry jam.

It is time to plan your next visit to Portland. This time I'll make we will discover precisely what our favorite Portland restaurant is, and just for you, I will wear the green onion goggles while I chop up something delicious.

Thumbprint cookies:
adapted from The Joy of Cooking

Blend until creamy:

6 Tbps to 1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar

Beat in:

2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp grated tangerine zest
1 cup All-Purpose flour (preferably sifted)
1/2 tsp salt

Chill for several hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place 1/2 cup Evaporated cane juice in a bowl (for rolling).
Pinch off 1-inch pieces from the dough. Roll them in the Evaporated cane juice, and place them on a lightly greased and floured baking sheet.

Bake for 5 minutes.

Get jam ready. (I used raspberry, that I made myself from frozen berries) Around 1 cup should be ample. **You could also try pecan halves or ricotta cheese.

Take baking sheet out of the oven at the 5 minute mark. Depress each cookie in the center with a spoon. Fill the center with a bit of jam and return to the oven for 8 more minutes or until the edges are a golden brown.

Makes about twenty rich and colorful cookies.
Serve to visitors on a pretty plate, they will be impressed. (Take the leftovers to work or school and they will be snatched up so quick, you won't know what hit you)

Daring Bakers: The Yule Log turned Magical Meringue Mushroom Forest

2007-12-23T21:28:00.000-08:00

Today I woke up and said to Rob, " I guess I've gotta to go see some flour about a cake."
Yes. Today was the day(the day before Christmas Eve) in which I was to (attempt to) complete my second Daring Bakers Challenge. And here I document this frenzied attempt in pictures....
The meringue mushrooms manuevered into the oven at 1 AM the night before, but smooth to make and the virgin creation of my brand new pastry bag! Fairly smooth...no kinks yet in this part of the process....

Next, the sponge cake, bright-and-early in the morn. After a oh-no! I don't have the right sugar kefuffle- I used turbinado sugar and produced what I thought was a great use of eggs and sugar regardless.

This was set aside to cool...

Then there came....the buttercream. An express trip had been made to the supermarket only minutes before for eggs to obtain their whites to whip up this buttery, chocolate vodka frosting. (Hey, it was the only liquor that I had!- It was good...) I doubted myself here, had a little issue with forgetting to heat the egg whites before beginning to whip them. (Oh, and no Stand Mixer here at I Can't be Good All the Time, No I use a handheld!-) What I learned about buttercream: It is better room temperature.

Then came home-made raspberry jam (which is tasty) slooshing over the top...

Then after I unsuccessfully tried roll it up (the sponge broke), I decided that I was going to stray from tradition and salvage it by making a mossy, mushroom-covered forest floor. So I plopped the thing in a casserole and covered it in the chocolate buttercream.

And below, here is my amalgamation of a magical mushroom forest. Some of the chewy meringues almost have smiling faces on their upper cap. In this lush forest, mushrooms have run amuk, and it has snowed. Pebbles(white chocolate) and moss(cocoa powder) dot this edible landscape....

It may not be a yule log...but...I like it regardless. I'll get the log rolled up next time. (Maybe)

Yule Log
(from Perfect Cakes by Nick Malgieri and The Williams-Sonoma Collection: Dessert)

Daring Bakers Challenge #14: December 2007
Hosts: Daring Baker Founders Ivonne (Cream Puffs in Venice) and Lisa (La Mia Cucina)
Quantity: Serves 12
Cake should be stored in a cool, dry place. Leftovers should be refrigerated
Challenge Requirements:
A genoise cake using the recipe below
A coffee buttercream frosting using the recipe below (Note: For those of you that have an aversion to coffee, you can use another flavour for your buttercream, however, the buttercream must be dark in colour. We don’t want any white or cream-coloured Yule Logs!
Meringue or Marzipan mushrooms using the recipes below
Allowed Modifications:
1. Your genoise must be made using the recipe provided; however, it can be flavoured however you wish. Make it chocolate, add nuts, douse it in liquor, throw in some citrus or just leave it plain. It’s entirely up to you how you flavour it. Substitutions for health reasons are allowed but you must let us know.
2. While the outside of your Yule Log must be frosted with the coffee buttercream using the recipe provided here, you are free to fill the recipe however you choose. Fill it with fruit, jam, melted chocolate, pudding, whipped cream, or another frosting of your choice. You have complete freedom when it comes to the FILLING. Substitutions for health reasons are allowed but you must let us know.
3. At the very least, besides the coffee buttercream, you must decorate your log with mushrooms. We have provided a recipe for meringue mushrooms and marzipan mushrooms. You can choose one or the other or you can try both. But you must try at least one type of mushroom.
4. You have complete freedom, besides the mushrooms, to decorate your logs however you wish.
5. You have complete freedom to make your logs in whatever shape you like (mini logs, one huge log, an upright log, etc.)
6. High altitude modifications are allowed as long as you stay “true” to the recipe.
7. Conversion for certain dietary restrictions like gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan etc. is allowed.
8. Recipe ingredient exception allowed only if allergy or an ingredient not available or cost prohibitive in your region.
Additional Information about Challenge:If you are not going to use the coffee buttercream to fill your log, be sure to have the filling ready once the genoise comes out of the oven. If you do fill your Yule Log with fruit or with soemthing other than buttercream, please note that you may not be able to freeze the Log because the filling may not last.
Recipes:
Plain Genoise:
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
pinch of salt
¾ cup of sugar
½ cup cake flour - spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off (also known as cake & pastry flour)
¼ cup cornstarch
one (1) 10 x 15 inch jelly-roll pan that has been buttered and lined with parchment paper and then buttered again

1.Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.
2.Half-fill a medium saucepan with water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat so the water is simmering.
3.Whisk the eggs, egg yolks, salt and sugar together in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer. Place over the pan of simmering water and whisk gently until the mixture is just lukewarm, about 100 degrees if you have a thermometer (or test with your finger - it should be warm to the touch).
4.Attach the bowl to the mixer and, with the whisk attachment, whip on medium-high speed until the egg mixture is cooled (touch the outside of the bowl to tell) and tripled in volume. The egg foam will be thick and will form a slowly dissolving ribbon falling back onto the bowl of whipped eggs when the whisk is lifted.
5.While the eggs are whipping, stir together the flour and cornstarch.
6.Sift one-third of the flour mixture over the beaten eggs. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the flour mixture, making sure to scrape all the way to the bottom of the bowl on every pass through the batter to prevent the flour mixture from accumulating there and making lumps. Repeat with another third of the flour mixture and finally with the remainder.
7.Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
8.Bake the genoise for about 10 to 12 minutes. Make sure the cake doesn’t overbake and become too dry or it will not roll properly.
9.While the cake is baking, begin making the buttercream.
10.Once the cake is done (a tester will come out clean and if you press the cake lightly it will spring back), remove it from the oven and let it cool on a rack.
Coffee Buttercream:
4 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
24 tablespoons (3 sticks or 1-1/2 cups) unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
2 tablespoons rum or brandy
1.Whisk the egg whites and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer. Set the bowl over simmering water and whisk gently until the sugar is dissolved and the egg whites are hot.
2.Attach the bowl to the mixer and whip with the whisk on medium speed until cooled. Switch to the paddle and beat in the softened butter and continue beating until the buttercream is smooth. Dissolve the instant coffee in the liquor and beat into the buttercream.
Meringue Mushrooms:
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
½ cup (3-1/2 ounces/105 g.) granulated sugar
1/3 cup (1-1/3 ounces/40 g.) icing sugar
Unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting
1.Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Have ready a pastry bag fitted with a small (no. 6) plain tip. In a bowl, using a mixer on medium-low speed, beat together the egg whites and cream of tartar until very foamy. Slowly add the granulated sugar while beating. Increase the speed to high and beat until soft peaks form when the beaters are lifted. Continue until the whites hold stiff, shiny peaks. Sift the icing sugar over the whites and, using a rubber spatula, fold in until well blended.
2.Scoop the mixture into the bag. On one baking sheet, pipe 48 stems, each ½ inch (12 mm.) wide at the base and tapering off to a point at the top, ¾ inch (2 cm.) tall, and spaced about ½ inch (12 mm.) apart. On the other sheet, pipe 48 mounds for the tops, each about 1-1/4 inches (3 cm.) wide and ¾ inch (2 cm.) high, also spaced ½ inch (12 mm.) apart. With a damp fingertip, gently smooth any pointy tips. Dust with cocoa. Reserve the remaining meringue.
3.Bake until dry and firm enough to lift off the paper, 50-55 minutes. Set the pans on the counter and turn the mounds flat side up. With the tip of a knife, carefully make a small hole in the flat side of each mound. Pipe small dabs of the remaining meringue into the holes and insert the stems tip first. Return to the oven until completely dry, about 15 minutes longer. Let cool completely on the sheets.
Marzipan Mushrooms:
8 ounces almond paste
2 cups icing sugar
3 to 5 tablespoons light corn syrup
Cocoa powder
1.To make the marzipan combine the almond paste and 1 cup of the icing sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat with the paddle attachment on low speed until sugar is almost absorbed.
2.Add the remaining 1 cup of sugar and mix until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
3.Add half the corn syrup, then continue mixing until a bit of the marzipan holds together when squeezed, adding additional corn syrup a little at a time, as necessary: the marzipan in the bowl will still appear crumbly.
4.Transfer the marzipan to a work surface and knead until smooth.
5.Roll one-third of the marzipan into a 6 inches long cylinder and cut into 1-inch lengths.
6.Roll half the lengths into balls. Press the remaining cylindrical lengths (stems) into the balls (caps) to make mushrooms.
7.Smudge with cocoa powder.
Assembling the Yule Log:
1.Run a sharp knife around the edges of the genoise to loosen it from the pan.
2.Turn the genoise layer over (unmolding it from the sheet pan onto a flat surface) and peel away the paper.
3.Carefully invert your genoise onto a fresh piece of parchment paper.
4.Spread with half the coffee buttercream (or whatever filling you’re using).
5.Use the parchment paper to help you roll the cake into a tight cylinder.
6.Transfer back to the baking sheet and refrigerate for several hours.
7.Unwrap the cake. Trim the ends on the diagonal, starting the cuts about 2 inches away from each end.
8.Position the larger cut piece on each log about 2/3 across the top.
9.Cover the log with the reserved buttercream, making sure to curve around the protruding stump.
10.Streak the buttercream with a fork or decorating comb to resemble bark.
11.Transfer the log to a platter and decorate with your mushrooms and whatever other decorations you’ve chosen.

Do check out other version's of this confection from the now 400-strong intrepid group, known as the Daring Bakers.

A Truffle Tale: Themed.

2007-12-21T06:53:00.001-08:00

This crazy-busy girl took a look at holiday gift giving from the view of the last minute and said: Must make Truffles.

These confections, reminiscent of the underground mushroom which is their namesake, have always held an allure for me and my desire to make them was only intensified by my crazy I-am-in-a-show, and I have 3 jobs business. And really? They were not hard to make at all and amazingly satisfying.

They were also a collaboration. My crazy-busy companion hopped on the truffle bandwagon and really pulled it off, making over 20 home-made boxes from funky, recycled paper to house these chocolate morsels. Together we spent the better part of two days (when we were not dashing off to work or work) melting, dunking, boxing, folding, cutting, making a mess, losing things (scissors, pens, various truffle toppings), and exclaiming in either frustrated anguish or exuberance.

The first batch was such a decided success, that I made another one. Our modest list of people of whom to mail-order Christmas truffle cheer to, grew to most everyone in each of our families and friends and acquaintances in about 5 states. Before we knew it we had a sea of small square boxes populating the refrigerator, gloating at us. You have to send us now.

But, I'm happy to say, we quieted the snickering voices, and sent them! It may have been a little last minute, right under-the-wire (last day to send packages Thursday, Dec 20), but we did it. And now ready or not, those truffles are out there. They are seeing all different parts of the country. And the extra truffles?

Some of you reading this may have even had them come to you. In a shameless act of marketing. I invited folks to read about the truffles creative conception on my blog. Some of you may have never been here before. So, thanks for coming! I hope the truffles held up in the journey. And Merry Christmas.

In regards to Themes:

The possibilities in truffle-making are quite endless. Be it spiced or sweet, salty or sour, old-fashioned or noveau, there is a truffle combo for everyone.

Originally, I had wanted to present all the people I sent truffles too with a certificate of sorts, saying why the truffle was dipped, topped, spiced, flavored with whatever element it was and how it related their delightful quirk. Suffice to say, the whole process was slightly frenetic, with some white chocolate getting on my forehead, and little dishes of truffle supplies occupying every free ounce of counter space. This caused me to maybe be not quite as discerning as I could be when it came to perfect themes. Also I do not know some of you as well as others... so some of my comments just turned into shout-outs. But I did keep track!

Momma - Vanilla White Chocolate with Lavender (A chocolate for calm, relaxing winter break)
Dad- Filled Cayenne with Sunflower Seeds (We love spicy seeds)
Chris-Cayenne with Sesame Seeds (Because of your love of hummus)
Adrienne- Vanilla White Chocolate with Cranberry (sweet, but a little tart)
Uncle Steve- Cayenne with Sunflower Seeds and Cinnamon (You can handle it)
Stephanie- Tropical Coconut (Merry Christmas)
Jennifer- White Chocolate with Lavender( Happy New Year)
Katy and Jerre- Vanilla Ginger with Cranberry, Peppermint with Cacao Nibs, and Vanilla Cinnamon-Coconut with Clementine Zest (You girls are awesome, all over the map- and you are zesty!)
Shannon and Byron- Vanilla Cranberry, Cayenne with Sunflower Seeds, and Coconut-topped White Chocolate Mint. (Something for him, Something for her, Something to Share! And we look forward to an adventure with you...)
Terry, Lanie, and Caitie Scopes- Vanilla White Chocolate with Cacao Nibs, Cinnamon Cayenne, and Cranberry-White Chocolate ( A bit of a sweet, crunchy, spicy treat for whatever artistic endeavor you are currently undertaking, Hope you are all well)
Kate and Rob- Vanilla with Cranberry and White Chocolate, Cayenne Sunflower Seed (I know, clearly his and hers. Feel free to switch it up and you guys...Congratulations!)
Al- Vanilla Coconut with Lavender ( Intriguing and sweet she is- yet somewhat nutty)
Nate- Cayenne with Cacao Nibs (Bold and Brilliant Bike Rider)
Claudia and Larry- Ginger Vanilla and Peppermint with White Chocolate (looking forward to meeting you some day. Be Well)
Ruth and Darrell- Coconut-Mint, Lavender-Mint, and Vanilla-Cinnamon (Merry Christmas! I loved the time we spent together this year. Thanks for that )
John and Trish- Cranberry-Mint, Cacao Nib, Coconut-Vanilla (Merry Christmas to you and the kids)
Greg and Eva- Spiced Cranberry, Coconut, White-Chocolate Cacao Nib (Don't get too cold in Chicago and have a great holiday)
Andrea- Spiced Ginger-White Chocolate, Spiced Coconut (Hope you and Jaeger, Yikes! I can't remember your boyfriend's name, but I hope you are all well)
Lindsey and Kyle- Spiced Ginger-Coconut, Lavender White-Chocolate (Merry, Merry Chirstmas)
Janet and Don- Spiced Ginger, Spiced with White Chocolate (A little adventurous for the duo who served my parents a now legendary filet mignon)
Clayton, Dale and Heidi- Spiced Clementine Zest, Spiced Lavender and Spiced Coconut (respectively)
Max and Debbie- Dark-Chocolate Clementine, Spicy Cocoa (Cute, but adventurous, like you too are, and expressly gluten-free)
Deb- Peppermint with Cranberry (Cool, sure of yourself, and handles things with a tart sass)

Merry Christmas and Happy Everything to everybody out there. May you feel peace and joy and taste some truffles. I am going to be starting on my third batch shortly.

Chocolate Truffles
From www.wholefoodsmarket.com

7 ounces heavy whipping cream (Organic or Hormone-Free)

7 ounces bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, excellent quality (Scharffen Berger, Ghiradelli, Green & Black's Organic were the kind I used. The better the chocolate, the smoother, and better-tasting the truffles.)

1 tbsp. Rum, Brandy, or other liquor. ( In my first batch: I used mint extract 1/3 of the chocolate ganache, vanilla in another 1/3 and sprinkled 1/2 tsp Cayenne in the other 1/3. In my second batch: I let an India Spice tea bag from Yogi tea steep as the cream was heating)

Finishing touches:

chopped White Chocolate
melted White Chocolate
chopped Sunflower Seeds, salted or sprinkled with sea salt
Sesame Seeds
Cacao Nibs
Finely chopped dried Cranberries (Sprinkled in flour to keep from sticking)
crystallized Ginger
shredded Coconut
Clementine Zest
Unsweetened cocoa powder
Cinnamon
Dagoba Xocolatl Hot Cocoa powder
And your own ideas!
In small heavy saucepan, heat cream slowly until almost boiling. (If flavoring with tea bags, or tea, now is the time to infuse the cream)
In the mean time, shave or break apart the chocolate into very small pieces and place in a medium mixing bowl.
Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. (If adding a liquor, do it now)
Stir with spoon until chocolate is completely dissolved.
Using a hand-held electric mixer, beat the chocolate until it is smooth and firm, about 10 minutes. Chill until firm. (At least 1 hour, can be chilled longer)
When you are ready to make the truffles, assemble all of your ingredients, ready-to-go, right near you and your bowl of chocolate. Have a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper ready.
With a melon baller, small scoop, or your fingers, shape the chilled chocolate into small bite-sized balls, Roll them in your choice of finishing touchws and place them on the baking sheet.
Makes 25-35 Truffles. Can be kept at room temperature for up to a week.
**I''ve heard rumors of the the truffles losing their flavor if they are kept in the fridge. Generally speaking, keeping chocolate in the fridge is not a good idea.

Things to Come...

2007-12-17T23:45:00.000-08:00

Chrismas! (And Family from the Intermountain West)
Chocolate Truffle Recipe- Oh boy have I been having a good time making these.
The Next Daring Baker's Challenge. (Watch out, this one's a doozy. I actually don't even know how I'm going to manage...
A hopeful Excursion to the Oregon Coast on Christmas Day!
The end of my show on the 30th! (That's me up there as the silliest silly girl with a whole lot of curly black hair in her dressing room above) This means I'll have much more time to post on I Can't be Good All the Time
AND SO MUCH MORE!

A Study in Kitchen Habituals: The Meat Cooker and the Sweet Monger

2007-12-08T09:11:00.000-08:00

Once again the man proves his skill with things savory....

We are establishing our kitchen rules, Robert John and I. He is the Chopper, the Meat Cooker, the master of the savory. I am the Baker, the Sweet Monger, the one fascinated with many things yeasted. (Also, as pictured above the wonders that come with those chemically complexes, baking powder, and baking soda, and the way that they transfix me to the oven door)

These rules are made to be broken and they are at times. But, mostly, this is the way things roll. He normally gets stuck with such tasks are separating the leaves of spinach and washing them in the colander and then putting them back on the cutting board to chop them (which he doesn't seem to mind). I find that process rather a tedium I cannot take.

I prefer REAL messes (Ex. Tender Potato Bread) and the magical baking process. I generally stay out of cleaning meat, fish, poulty or fowl, I leave that to him in favor of making dessert.

Two Examples.

Exhibit A:

Turkey Tetrazzini-
An amazing Thanksgiving leftover tour-de-force created by the boy with hints of a certain girl's mom's tuna casserole of (sort of) long ago but with succulent turkey. The girl coming home after a harrowing scuba-driving trip down the I-5 strait, to this casseroled, cooked-in-wine wonder. Its certain to become a classic here.

Turkey Tetrazzini
Adapted from cooks.com
4 cups mushrooms, sliced thin, about 4 cups (Any variety, portabellos were delish)
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/4 cup All-Purpose flour
1 3/4 cup milk
2 cups turkey broth
1/4 cup dry white wine
10 oz. of whole wheat spaghetti (about 3/4 of a package)
3 cups coarsely chopped, cooked turkey
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan (Reggiano, if possible)
1/3 cup fresh bread crumbs (Or, we used up this kind that was hanging out in our cupboard)

Preheat oven to 350º

In a large saucepan, cook the sliced mushrooms in 1/4 cup butter over moderate heat, stirring until most of their liquid has evaporated.

Stir in the 1/4 cup flour and cook the mixture over low heat, stirring for 3 minutes. Add the milk, broth, and wine slowly, in a stream. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring and then turn down and simmer the mixture for about 5 minutes.

In a pot of boiling, salted, water cook the spaghetti until al dente. (My Al Dente def: still has a little chew) Drain it well.

In a large bowl combine the spaghetti and the mushroom sauce and turkey, plus salt and pepper to taste. Stir in 1/3 cup parmesan. Pour mixture into a buttered, shallow, 3 quart casserole.

In a small bowl, combine the other 1/3 cup parmesan, the bread crumbs and salt and pepper. (To taste) Sprinkle the mixture over the tetrazzini and dot the top with 1 tbsp of butter, cut into bits.

Bake for 30-40 minutes.

Enjoy with a green salad and definitely some red wine (but sample the white you used to make it for sure). Serves 4, with ample leftovers. Or two with leftovers only fit for hectic weeks with 7 shows and a hot water heater that breaks.

Exhibit B:

Another thanksgiving leftover miracle created by the Senorita of the household... (aka yours truly) Mmmmmoist....and spicy, these little jewels were good to the last crumb. Sometimes I have to throw out well over half the batch because we can't stomach all of them in time. Not so with these gems made from our leftover baked pears.

Spicy Ginger-Pear Muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
2 tbsp. very soft butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup plain yogurt (whole-fat will be better, but low-fat will work)
2 baked pears, peeled and diced.

Oatmeal-ginger topping:

3/4 cup oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 crystallized ginger- diced

Preheat oven to 350º.
Use a paper towel or your fingers and some shortening and butter to smudge the hollows of a muffin tin (Unless of course, you've got baking cups- which I didn't- but, if you do, go ahead and knock yourself out- well not really...)

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and ginger.

In a medium bowl, cream butter with brown sugar. Beat in eggs, one by one, following by yogurt. Pour egg mixture into flour mixture stirring until just combined. Mixture will be very thick. Add pears and stir until just distributed. If the mix seems too much like cookie dough, it is ok to thin with a 1/4 cup of so of water.

Fill up muffin tins.

Mix together oats, sugar, and ginger. Sprinkle over muffins.

Bake for 17-20 minutes, until a fork stuck in the top of one of those babies comes out clean. Cool on wire rack, or for the less-gadget fortunate, a plate.

Serve warm. Broiled with butter for a decided treat- or cold during the middle of a show, or in the morning after the boy had made a completely artful mess of staying up all night to work on school work.

I'll Muddle through it with some Pears

2007-12-03T07:55:00.001-08:00

My Grandpa Al was a quirky character.

He had a tattoo of a rooster on leg.
and he was a expert cornmeal flapjack maker. (The secret was part-jiffy mix)
He did aerobics nearly every morning to 'Mary Parry' video exercise tape.
Once he was hit by a car early in the morning and lost an ear and had a metal rod put in his leg.
While he was recovering from his accident my grandmother taught him to crochet doilies.
He served in the Navy, owned his own plumbing business and then retired at age 55.
I remember him once telling the gullible me that he ate corn cobbs.
We used to play the card game Skipbo with him when we visited.
He sometimes called my Dad Charlie instead of Chuck.
He wore Charlie's, his son-in-law's cast off clothes, sent to him by my mom, his daughter, from Utah.
He and my Grandma Chris drove a gargantuan motorhome from Seattle to their winter home in Desert Hot Springs, a bunch of bobble-headed knick-knacks bobbing up-and-down on the dashboard.
He canned pears from a tree in the backyard of their Seattle house by Haller Lake.

The memories I have of him are strange to me. Seemingly random. It feels odd that he is gone. Just as he always said, We just have to muddle through it.
I wasn't there when he passed. He made the decision to stop. Stopped taking the blood thinners and under 12 hours later he had the biggest stroke yet. It put him into a state of few senses. Seeing and hearing muted. But he squeezed my Aunt Janet's hand! Some of his spunk remained.
On the Monday after Thanksgiving, he stopped. He passed.
This is the first time I've ever really lost anyone. But, what happened next was a celebration. Grandpa Al was celebrated for his life. His quirks, accomplishments and pride in his family. There was a party at my grandparents home after his memorial service with champagne and singing and Grandma playing her organ.
I visited Seattle, scuba-driving through the wet from Portland to Seattle on I-5. While I was there my uncle's childhood friend brought over a whole rack of B-B-Q Ribs with homemade sauce as a gift. My parents sang and played in honor to him at my Grandparents Church. I read my grandma Chris some of the sympathy cards and showed her my can-can dance. When I left Seattle, there was a break in the rain, and I sped south on 1-5 with a former tartar sauce jar full of pears in my backseat.

And even though its a bit belated. I would like to dedicate the Thanksgiving Dessert that we ate this year to you. These pears were not much like your canned version. (The process by which I am fascinated and must learn soon) I halved pears and roasted them with butter, lemon and vanilla sugar. I learned about this from Splendid Table and Orangette.

Roasted Pears
Adapted from Sally Schneider's The Improvisational Cook

4 Pears , halved.(Comice or Bartlett, not quite ripe- though mine were)
3 Tbsp. Lemon juice
11/2 cups of evaporated cane juice (or other natural sugar)
2 Tbsp.-3Tbsp Unsalted good-quality butter- I am sure plugra would be divine
1 Vanilla Bean split
1) Preheat oven to 400º

2) Arrange pears, cut side down on a baking sheet.

3)To make vanilla sugar- scrape out inside of vanilla bean and disperse evenly through sugar. (This can be saved for later use as well by covering plastic wrap or closing container; You can also make vanilla sugar by putting a vanilla bean in a canister of sugar and forgetting about it for a few days or better yet, weeks.)

4) Place about 1 Tbsp of butter on each pear half. Sprinkle with lemon juice and spread sugar liberally over pears.

5) Bake for 20-40 minutes, turning once midway through, until these reach desired state of carmelization. Really...longer is better in my opinion.

Serve immediately with homemade raspberry ice cream.
Serves 4, or more if an entire Thanksgiving meal plus a second course of potato bread has been consumed already.

I am glad you had such good taste in fruit. Pears are worthy of extra attention sometimes. Be it jarring or roasting.
This girl intends to continue to do both.

I'll miss you grandpa, but I suppose I'll have to muddle through it.

In Memory Of:

Alvin Vernon Pride
***1924-2007****

The Big Time: Daring Bakers- November 2007

2007-11-24T08:07:00.000-08:00

I've been Thankful lately. But I have Big-time sadness at such quick visit and at a family member struggling to remain in this world. Family was here and gone again in two days, not even a few days.
A couple.
Just a pair.
A jam-packed weekend at the end of the week. Two days crammed with unplanned excursions. Wine tasting with wines we were not too fond of, but then again, tasted at the end of a mischievous adventure to find the end of the suburbs. We took them to this place with smoky baba ganoush, played music, played with neon water-weenies in their hotel swimming pool, had a glorious collaborative Thanksgiving, introduced them to just two of our favorite people(Max and Debbie), and laughed(a lot).

And it was Thanksgiving. Brined turkey that really paid off, not to mention the first turkey since my middle ages. (Due to my vegetarian phase) So much scrumptious food that the tupperware containers are stacked high in the refrigerator, filled to the point of bursting.....
I will be dreaming of turkey soup(with wild rice) and turkey sandwiches(with cranberry)for probably nigh a month...

Now it is back to reality. A big-time work week for both Robert John and I. Happily though, if we get through our finals, show openings and class presentations there lies December, sparkling in the near future, with all of its hot cocoa, holiday parties, gingerbread men, and more loved ones coming to visit!

But more on all that later. Because, dear readers, I have big news. This blog marks my first entry into the Daring Bakers, that intrepid internet society of fearless baking mavens(and men). I have reached the Big time.

Because this month I have been thankful to participate and I eagerly look forward to the months ahead. Tanna at My Kitchen in Half Cups hosted this months challenge: Tender Potato Bread. This means that over 300 hundred new and old members mashed potatoes(of the large floury baking potato variety), and waited expectantly for the yeast to burp and bubble so they could fight with a challenging mass of wet dough, in many kitchens around the world. In my case, late into the night and in the wee hours of the morning.

Oh yes, that potato bread. It was an adventure filled with explosive late-night door-slamming, dogged second tries and then utter eurekas. But, suffice to say, I made it.

I present a very gorgeous Chive-and-Asiago topped Foccacia and a dramatic Russet-Yukon- Potato-Loaf.

The former was an soft and salty, round beauty and the latter a veritable monolith with terrifically toothsome, crispy crust and and oh-so-soft interior flecked with whole wheat.

It was a romantic unveiling when these were pulled out of the oven after we had eaten our Thanksgiving meal. That's right, these did not actually make it onto our Thanksgiving plates, due to...um complications with my first attempt.(Very, very, very sticky, almost liquidy dough, perhaps not enough flour, and my overnight night trick of sticking it into the fridge to rise did NOT work, In this case I believe killed the yeast, not enough sweetener in the dough etc....Oy vey) In my second mad attempt, the dough kneading happened in the midst of all of our final frenzied Thanksgiving meal finishing touches.

But this Big Time challenge was the 2nd time round A Big Time success with witnesses to back it up. My mother seemed a bit flabbergasted, "Nice bread." She uttered this as I wrestled with the dough on a corner of the kitchen counter.
Why, Thank you Mom. It is nice. So glad that you were all here to share it with me. Mostly just glad that you were here.

Russet-Yukon Potato Bread
adapted from Home Baking: The Artful Mix of Flour & Tradition Around the World by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid.

Ingredients:

2 medium to large floury (baking) potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks.
(Yukon Gold and Russet- you could also use Idaho, or another floury baking potato. You could also use as many as 4 potatoes, but the more you use- the stickier and harder the dough will be to navigate so watch out)
4 cups(950 ml) water, reserve cooking water
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
6 1⁄2 cups to 8 1⁄2 cups (1 kg to 1350g) unbleached all-purpose
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (130g) whole wheat flour

Topping:
1/2 cup Asiago Cheese
1/4 cup chopped Chives
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Making the Dough (For making by hand):

Put the potatoes and 4 cups water in a sauce pan and bring to boil. Add 1 teaspoon salt and cook, half covered, until the potatoes are very tender.

Drain the potatoes, SAVE THE POTATO WATER, and mash the potatoes well.

Measure out 3 cups(750ml) of the reserved potato water. Add extra water if needed to make 3 cups. Place the water and mashed potatoes in the bowl you plan to mix the bread dough in. Let cool to lukewarm (70-80°F/21 - 29°C) – stir well before testing the temperature – it should feel barely warm to your hand. You should be able to submerge you hand in the mix and not be uncomfortable.

Add yeast to 2 cups all-purpose flour and whisk. Add yeast and flour to the cooled mashed potatoes & water and mix well. Allow to rest/sit 5 minutes.

Note about Adding Yeast: If using Active Dry Yeast or Fresh yeast, mix & stir yeast into cooled water and mashed potatoes & water and let stand 5 minutes. Then add 2 cups of flour to the yeast mix and allow to rest several minutes. If using Instant Dry Yeast, add yeast to 2 cups all-purpose flour and whisk. Add yeast and flour to the cooled mashed potatoes & water and mix well. Allow to rest/sit 5 minutes.

Sprinkle in the remaining 1 tablespoon salt and the softened butter; mix well. Add the 1 cup whole wheat flour, stir briefly.

Add 2 cups of the unbleached all-purpose flour and stir until all the flour has been incorporated.
At this point you have used 4 cups of the possible 8 1⁄2 cups suggested by the recipe.

Turn the dough out onto a generously floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, incorporating flour as needed to prevent sticking. The dough will be very sticky to begin with, but as it takes up more flour from the kneading surface, it will become easier to handle; use a dough scraper to keep your surface clean. The kneaded dough will still be very soft. Place the dough in a large clean bowl or your rising container of choice, cover with plastic wrap or lid, and let rise about 2 hours or until doubled in volume.

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead gently several minutes. It will be moist and a little sticky.

Separate 2/3 of it from 1/3- this is for the loaf and foccacia respectively. Flour or oil a loaf pan- and place the 2/3 in it to rise for about 40 minutes. Set Aside. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

Take the 1/3 section place on a piece of parchment paper on an edgeless baking sheet.
Spread it out into a large rectangle on the parchment. Brush with olive oil. Spread Asiago and chives over top. Shake salt and pepper liberally over top as well. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until puffy, about 20 minutes. Bake for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees and cool on a wire rack.

Serve these up then and there if you can, but rest assured these will keep keenly, and will taste. all the better if there a story of their creation that keeps people rapt.

Cheers. And thanks to Tanna of the Daring Bakers for this deliciously hard, yet delightfully tasty challenge. Go here: The Daring Bakers Blogroll, to read of others spectacular feats. And come back here in about a month- where this girl will post another challenge.

Half-Baked in a POT

2007-11-15T17:04:00.000-08:00

Ah....
Beauteous Things.
Waterfalls. The crashing surf against the Oregon coast. Care Bears and Chocolate Cake. Of course salted caramels and Love.

And now....my Caribbean blue Le Creuset stockpot.
(Angelic choirs singing Beatles songs can be heard)

It was the most ultimate of impulse buys, my friends. A itch that I scratched good- and I feel much better now that it is sitting on my stove.

And then I used it to scratch another itch I've had lately: No-Knead bread. Maybe you will remember that recipe posted in the New York Times. I found it while compulsively making my rounds to the blogs of my food maven colleagues, just about a year later than it actually appeared. I clicked on one of those 'One year ago....' links and the rest is history.

That's right, a crusty and airy wonder that seems as if it should have sprung from a fiery, open hearth from the middle ages. But you too can achieve this medieval masterpiece from your good old surburban or urban modern household. And folks, No Kneading. At Last! Not so much touching of the dreaded bread goop. No need to knead. (Ha)

But, the point: I needed the pot. The recipe specifically calls for a cast iron, or otherwise heavy pot to bake this bread, after 20 hours of rising. That's right, 20 hours. So when I saw it at Whole Foods on my mad dash between one job and rehearsal, I jumped
It just sat there on the corner of the bulk foods aisle, looking so boxed. And on sale. And I simply couldn't resist. Plus I needed it to finish said No-Knead bread, which at this point had been rising for an agonizing 18 hours.

Unfortunately, due to the cartwheels my schedule was doing that day, I somehow confused all the time constraints. I thought that 12 hours was 24 and so on. (Insert Exasperated huff) So my poor bread dough ended up spending a whole day alone in the refrigerator, as I tried to slow down the yeast's growth and prolong my baking window.

Finally, into about the 22nd hour after creating the dough, I was into the final recipe steps. Dum da dum dum. It was rising on the stove nicely, wrapped snugly in a towel and the oven was heating up my gorgeous pot and--

Oh. Ooops.

I sheepishly realized that the dough was cooking on the stove! The heat from the oven was rising and beginning to cook the dough on the stovetop. Damn it.

Thus followed a mad dash of getting the portion of dough that was un-stove-top-cooked into its proper place in the pot. This involved flailing arms, touching hot things, and group-decision making.

Well, eventually, what was left of the dough went into the pot, was plunked in the oven, and the baking began. Sweat was wiped from our brows and we threw up our hands, and left the product of my madness to fate. And about an hour later after the whole baking with the lid on and off business that you will read about below, the boule of bread below was produced. It was amazing! Despite all the rumpus, the crust of this bread turned out crusty and craggy. It was unbelievably crispy, especially for being baked in a pot. Flavor-full it was too, what with the many hours of rising, it had a little sourdough tang to it. Yes, this bread not only had crunch, but zip and zing. And a good story behind it at that.

I am certain that another go at this will yield a more glamorous loaf of bread, but all things considered in its mad inception, I appreciate the beauty of it. It is a fitting welcome for the Caribbean blue Le Creuset Stockpot.

No-Knead Bread
As seen in The New York Times on November 8th, 2006
And adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 1 1/2 hours plus 14-20 hours rising time
Yields one 1 1/2 pound loaf

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

The first soup in the stockpot was a butternut, and I threw the recipe in below. It is fair to say now- what with all the pumpkin carving and other squash roasting of the past month, Robert John and I are now officially squashed out.

Ginger-Spicy Butternut Squash Soup
Serves 4-6

3 Cups roasted butternut squash, diced, seed, peeled as much as possible
3 cups of water
1 vegetable bouillon cube
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 Tbsp Fresh ginger, minced
nutmeg(preferably fresh-grated, but not imperative)

Whack Butternut squash into four sections. Drizzle with olive oil and roast until squash flesh is very tender.
Scrape enough squash off the skin to equal about 3 cups, and set aside. (You don’t have to really measure it, just give it your best shot)

Sauté onion until soft in heavy saucepan(Le Cruset- he he), until soft. Add 2 Tbsp ginger. Mmm….I do so love the ginger, but if its not your bag you may want to add less.(Maybe 1 Tbsp?)

Add 3 cups water and boullion cube to pot. Stir until dissolved. Add reserved squash and season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

Take off the heat and use blender, food processor(want one), immersion blender(want one) to blend until smooth. Pour it back into pot and reheat gently. It will be a very thick, puree-like soup. Add more water to thin out as you like.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt and a sprinkling of nutmeg.

Stay tuned for 2007 Thanksgiving week projects which are slated to include:

Fig Cake with home-ade ginger ice-cream
Some sort of a brined turkey(Anyone have any ideas? I've never made a turkey myself, and I've not eaten any on Thanksgiving for about 4 years, due to my vegetarian phase.)
Gluten-Free stuffing of some kind, wild rice, or maybe cornbread.
The latest Daring Baker Challenge (I've not done one of these yet and I'm very excited)

The tale of Equal Opportunity Pumpkin Carving and other Squash

2007-11-05T07:38:00.001-08:00

That's right- we carved this pumpkin in partnership. Mmmm hmmmm. Robert John did the eyes, I did the nose, and the mouth was half and half. The pumpkin has sat prestigiously on our front porch, through early November.

It did greet well the three darling minors who brought their trick-or-treating business to our house. In addition, it lit up the porch for a unexpected visitor the day after All-Hallows Eve. (My long, (not lost) friend, who draws a mean map and is game for everything, even a sushi-train restaurant and salted caramel macaroons.)

Oh and when the week was through, I managed to give one of the lonely, kitchen counter-dwellers a purpose. See below.

Roasted Winter Squash with Smoked Mozzarella

Turn your oven on to 350 Degrees. Cut Squash into serving size portions. Brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with fresh herbs. (like maybe, majoram, basil? up to you).

Bake for an hour or so until tender and toothsome.
Take out of oven. Set the oven to broil. Then drape squash with(the good stuff) smoked mozzarella. Back in the oven it goes! Keep a watchful eye on it, and yank it when the cheese starts to get all bubbly on top.

Eating Quiche while(almost) in Line at Airport Security

2007-10-30T20:36:00.000-07:00

So, to set the scene.

Its 5:30 AM. We are UP. And on a mission. We've got a bus-to-catch to the train , a train-to- catch to the plane and a plane-to-catch to our homeland. The generosity of our folks in Salt Lake City were bringing us home for the weekend. There was a surprise birthday and a wedding to be in attendance at. But its going to be a long day, indeed, before we will exhaustedly drink pumpkin beer, eat buttercream frosting and sip cold-busting red wine with our families. And its early. And Robert John's nasty cold is on its way out, and mine is on its way in, but we are both afflicted.

And to make matters worse, there are many forlorn vegetables in the crisper. (Lately, I've been impulse-buying MANY vegetables and then scrambling to make something out of them before they go to the veggie afterlife- ahem- trash can(soon to-be-compost heap) Well, only one solution: We Made a Quiche. Crustless and chock-full of delicious dregs and eggs. And it was easy-peasy, mushroom-cheesy to boot. Plus, we left town knowing that would not have a bunch of sad and lonely vegetables waiting for us upon our return.

We took it to the airport and reveled in opening our foil-wrapped creation amongst the sea of pitiful airport food. Before we went through the security checkpoint, (did not want to risk it being snatched away without eating) we dove our disposable forks into it, unearthing a plucky, plump, particularly tasty mushroom with every bite.

This proved to be a highly portable dish. Effectively protein-packed and palatable. Alas though, it was not photogenic. It seems neither the ambiance of the airport, nor the florescent lighting of my new kitchen do it justice. Ah well... It still deserved a blurb. One day it will be caught with a smile on its face.

Swiss Cheese, Mushroom and Leek Quiche

6 eggs (preferably cage-free, free-range, organic)
3/4 cup grated swiss cheese
1 large leek (white part only, diced)
1 1/2 cups mixed mushrooms, chopped. (I used shitake and maitake)
1/4 cup olive oil, (or grapeseed oil)
sea salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
While the oven is heating, saute leeks in oil on low to medium heat for about 10 minutes or until softened. Add mushrooms and cook until wilted. Salt and pepper as you go.

While the leeks and mushrooms are cooking, crack 6 eggs into a medium bowl. Whisk together with a shake of salt and pepper. Add swiss cheese and beat until
combined. Add sauteed leeks and mushrooms. (and we also threw in some chopped radishes, add other vegetables at your discretion)

Pour mixture into 9-inch cake pan or pie tin and cook for 20 minutes or until mixture is golden around the edges but not completely set in the middle.

Serves 4, or 2 who gobble it down with glee, because they are doing it in front of airport security.

A slice of our weekend- which included all three coffee shops we used to frequent, family, friends, and ended with a bottle of champagne and a loaf of banana bread

Dear Parentals: So....We're considering urban chickens

2007-08-26T16:25:00.000-07:00

Dear Momma and Daddy-
At this moment, upon viewing this veritable caprese feast, I am excruciatingly jealous of your bountiful tomato crop. I only wish that the same burst of sun-riped greatness could befall my next lunch. This bounty is glorious and plentiful I am told. Alas the only tomatoes I can claim are the ones that I pick up and scurry to the front of the store with and buy, not any flaming jewels that I've grown.

But I have good news!
Robert John and I are fleeing are closet for a place with more square footage, and a whole backyard.
That's right, we are MOVING. We are EXCITED. The new place is a house, with an enclosed porch, a basement for me to fling paint around in and tap dance in ,and a shed for the man to use his power tools. Oh, and the kitchen is LARGER. Double the size, and - ooooohhhhhh- that's right- it has counter space. Best of all, there is a backyard with a few garden beds and room for more- and there are already a few tomato plants- but soon- when I get in there, there will be more, and radishes and kale besides.
I'm stoked about my own future Caprese empire there in that 1-bedroom mansion. I will sew my clothes, dye my own hair, pull my own mozzarella, all before lunchtime.
I will be a Do-it-myself wonder!
1 year here in Portlandia- and sprinting forward. It feels good.
Oh yes, and there is room for a chicken coop- So, we're considering urban chickens!

Remembering by Ratatouille

2007-08-18T18:17:00.000-07:00

This stew was prepared courtesy of my recent acquisition of my mother's vintage Laurel's Kitchen book. I carried the dog-eared book back with me from my recent excursion to Utah-land.

Ratatouille from Laurel's Kitchen

1 Large onion
1 green pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large eggplant
2 medium zucchini
3 tomatoes, chopped
or
5 Tbsp tomato paste and 3 Tbsp water
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp fresh garlic, minced

Dice eggplant into 1-inch cubes and slice zucchini into 1/2-inch rounds. Chop onion coarsely and cut green pepper into squares.
Ideally in a heavy-bottomed saucepan with a lid, Saute the onion, garlic, and green pepper until they are soft; stir in eggplant and zucchini and saute a few minutes more. Add tomato and seasonings. Cove and simmer gently for 30 minutes or until all the veggies are well cooked.
Uncover and turn up heat to evaporate some of the liquid.

Serves 2 with many leftovers.

The Best Yet

2007-08-11T18:05:00.000-07:00

Oh, success is sweet. These rolls however, were not. They were not sweet, they were slathered in butter and rolled out several times in my first baking experience with crossiant-esque things. Not to mention, my most advanced yeasty baking experiment to date.

No, Rather than being sweet, they were decidedly salty, and marvelously rich with cheese on the inside. The shiny, egg-washed outside, jeweled with sesame seeds made for an impressive look. But these gems had the taste to match up and garnered a statement of "delicious" from Robert John's buddy.

Success is sweet. But these Eygptian Cheese rolls were more salty.

Egyptian Cheese Rolls (Rarif al Rarif)
from Maggie Glezer's A Blessing of Bread

1 tsp. Rapid Rise Yeast
3 3/4 cups bread flour (I used Bob's Red Mill, organic)
1 1/4 cups warm water
2 tsp. fine salt
1 tsp. granulated sugar
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 stick (8 tbsp.) unsalted butter
8 ounces Monterey Jack or Provolone cheese
Chopped fresh mint
1 egg (to glaze with)
Sesame seeds

Make the yeast slurry:
Whisk 1 tsp yeast and 1 1/4 cup flour together in large bowl, then whisk in warm water until smooth. (Use instant-read thermometer: A TOTALLY WORTHY INVESTMENT, to make sure the water is over 110 degrees) Let the slurry stand for 10-20 minutes until it puffs up.

Mix up the dough:
Whisk the salt, sugar, and oil into the puffy slurry. With a wooden spoon, stir in the remaining 2 1/2 cups flour all at once. When the mixture is a shaggy ball, scrape it onto a floured work surface and knead until well-mixed, smooth, and firm.
(Soak the mixing bowl at this point- otherwise it will get irreparably crusty, and soaking in warm water now will assure a warm bowl for later rising) Dough should feel firm, stick to itself easily but not to the work surface, and be easy to knead.

Fermenting the Dough:
Place dough that warm bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave alone until it has at least doubled, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Rolling the Butter into the Dough:
Don't punch down the dough. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough into a thin 16-inch square. Smear it with 3 1/2 tbsp of the butter. Fold it into thirds, just like a business letter. Rotate it a quarter turn and fold it into thirds again. Return the dough to the bowl and let it sit (in refrigerator) for 30 minutes. Then repeat the rolling, buttering, and folding. Let it rest again, this time for an hour. (This ensures extra flaky rolls)

Rolling out, Cutting, and Filling the Rolls:
Heavily butter a 13-by-9 inch baking pan. (I don't have that- so I punted with a pair of springform pans) Cut cheese into eight 4-inch wide sections.
Roll out the dough again into a 16 inch rectangle. Cut the dough in half, the cut each half into 4 equal rectangles, 8 inches-by-4 inches. Arrange the cheese blocks on the dough, sprinkling with salt and the fresh herbs. Fold the side of each dough rectangle over the cheese and then roll each piece into a cute cylindrical bundle. (Make sure cheese is completely enclosed, although oozing cheese created delicious cheese crisps on the bottom of the pan in my experience) Place these bundles seam-side-down in the prepared pan..

Proofing:
Cover the pan well with plasticky wrap. (I refrigerated them at this point for 24-hours because I had to go to sleep) Let them rise until tripled, about 2 hours or 3 hours if they've been in the refrigerator.
30 minutes before baking, take all the racks out of the oven except one in the lowest position and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Beat a pinch of salt into the one egg to prepare the glaze.

Baking: (Finally!)
When the rolls have tripled and do not push back when gently pressed with your finger, but remain indented, brush them with egg glaze and then sprinkle them with sesame seeds. Bake for 30-34 minutes until very well browned. After 20 minutes of baking turn the pan for even browning. When rolls are done, remove from oven and transfer to wire rack to cool. (Or in my case, one of the oven racks I took out earlier) Do consume while warm.

Crystalized Ginger Cookies fit for a gluten-free King

2007-07-29T17:31:00.000-07:00

Cookies without flour and chock-full of ginger were created in these turbinado-sugar-filled gems.

3/4 cup non-hydrogenated shortening
1 cup turbinado sugar
1 Egg
1/4 cup molassses
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup millet flour
1/4 cup teff flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. Xantham gum

1/2 cup crystallized ginger pieces

Preheat to 375 degrees

Cream shortening and 1 cup sugar. Add the egg, molasses, and vanilla and mix it well. Combine the dry ingredients and add the creamed mixture. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
Chop crystallized ginger and incorporate into dough.
Place 1 inch balls of dough on a ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees farenheight or until slightly cracked and golden brown. Cool on wire racks or a wooden cutting board. Store in an airtight container.

Carpaccio of Raw Zucchini

2007-07-29T17:20:00.000-07:00

Carpaccio of Raw Zucchini

Zucchini, sliced into paper-thin rounds (I used the skinny side of my box grater for this, sure not quite as pretty as a mandoline's results, but nearly. And safer. And cheaper.)
kosher salt or other chunky, fluer de sel, maldon-esque salt and freshly ground black pepper
extra-virgin olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 chopped fresh herbs (like dill, chives, chive blossoms, chevril, etc.)
1 young leek, white part only, sliced paper thin

1 cup of ricotta cheese
fresh mint leaves to garnish

Shingle the zucchini slices on a platter. I made some interesting designs with mine. Dust with salt and pepper, then drizzle with a three-count of olive oil and the lemon juice. Sprinkle with the herbs. Scatter the leek over. Put in fridge for at least 10 minutes to allow the flavors to sink in.

Garnish with the mint leaves and ricotta.

A Fantasy Foccacia

2007-07-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

Above round of rosemary-scented, fleur de sel studded foccacia loaf was a decided success, and for thank god for it, too. Any diversions these days, particularly successful and tasty ones are welcome.

Especially yeasted doughs. I attempted to proof yeast to make this particular foccacia not once, my friends. but three times. Please take note however that I have not made a multitude of yeasted doughs and did not know with certainty that the water in the bowl with the goo on the surface had worked its magic. Needless to say, I think that all three yeasty waters that were thrown out with the dishwater were alive and well.

However, on the bright side, because of this experience, I became convinced that I need a kitchen thermometer, and procured one, the instant-read variety which is super helpful and highly recommended for many culinary projects. And this project though it was 4th times the charm, was also 4 times the fun when I finally rose that flour, water, yeast, and salt into a fantasy of a foccacia.

Fantasies aside, this loaf is possible. With it I pay homage to my Dad's rosemary and my own obssession of creating yeasted doughs. The practice is beginning to pay off. My obssession thus continues, but from now on with a more airy crispness and tasty results.

A certain Robert John just ate the dregs of it, still considerably moist from its olive oil content, as a grilled provolone sandwich for lunch.

Foccacia with Rosemary and Sea Salt
from Food Network Kitchens Cookbook

1 3/4 cups warm water (110 F)
1 package active dry yeast

4 1/2 cups bread flour plus a tad additional for kneading
2 tsp fine salt
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbps coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt

Put water in a medium bowl, whisk in 2 Tbsp of flour, then sprinkle the yeast over the surface. Set aside until foamy. About 10 minutes. (Having instant read thermometer helped me immensely. I was very intimidated by judging if the yeast had proofed or not without it.
Put the remaining flour and fine salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Make a well in the center of your flour with a wooden spoon. Pour in yeasty mixture and 1/4 cup of the olive oil. Gradually incorporate the flour into the liquid, stirring with a wooden spoon, to make a loose, shaggy, scraggly dough. Turn dough onto floured surface, look at clock, and knead for precisely 10 minutes. Add only enough flour as you need to make it manageable and elastic. (But it will be very sticky- Remember less added flour means a more airy crust and lighter chew...which is muy gooood) Form into a ball.
Lightly oil a large bowl and put dough in bowl, make sure the dough is good and coated. Drape with a moist kitchen towel and set aside to rise at room temperature for 45 minutes.
Turn dough onto lightly floured work space, punch it down, and knead it briefly before reshaping into a ball. Return to bowl to rise for 1 hour.
Pour remaining olive over a baking sheet and over the lump of dough. Turn dough out of bowl and cover all areas withe the olive oil and then flatten by hand onto the baking sheet. Spread it out so it is about 11 by 17 inches.
Make evenly spaced indentations in the dough with your fingertips and sprinkle with the rosemary. (Salt is good. Do not skimp) Cover and let rise for about an hour, until puffy. (Or alternatively, you can do this overnight in the refrigerator, just let dough sit out at room temperature for 1/2 hour to an hour before you bake)
Preheat the oven to 425. Sprinkle the dough with the sea salt. Bake until golden brown, 20 -30 minutes. Slip off of baking sheet to cool on a wooden board or wire rack.

Pancakes and Portabellas

2007-07-07T00:17:00.001-07:00

In the midst of my mid-summer craziness, one show closed, trips gone on, but more to go on, new job starting....
There is no time or mind-space for long posts or recipes....
I will have to content myself with pictures and anecdotal memories or times recently past.
Not to mention my recent bread crises and the fact that I am in an audition result waiting room.

Oh papa! It was wonderful to have you come to Oregon and bring your basil and green beans and your hands which lovingly helped me to prepare above portabellas. Buckwheat pancakes of my Salt Lake City childhood were were also collaboratively created in Robert John and I's clapboard kitchen.

This particular time...we made them from scratch. But, I always enjoyed the Krusteaz mix kind growing up as well...

Buckwheat-Molasses Pancakes

1 1/4 cup buttermilk
3 Tbps. butter, melted
1 large egg
2 Tbps. backstrap molasses
1/2 c. buckwheat flour
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Whisk buttermilk, butter, egg, and molasses in bowl until blended. Combine flours, soda, and salt in another bowl. Whisk buttermilk mixture in dry ingredients until just blended. Heat skillet, grease lightly with butter or oil. Cook about 1/4 cup at a time (or your own size preference) until bubbles form on one side. Turn over and cook an additional 1-2 minutes more.

Serve with butter, maple syrup, maybe yogurt, and definitely fresh berries.

Thank you.

The portabellas were so deliciously seasoned that someone at the party that we went to ate half of it, raw, straight from the tupperware.

BREAD

2007-07-01T12:44:00.001-07:00

Several weeks ago. IT happened.
This loaf of bread was created by me.
And thus it was consumed. A late-night indulgence smeared with brie and enjoyed with a totally delicious chardonnay and a totally delectable companion.

But now.....

After said below success- I find myself stuck.
Packet upon packet of regular yeast will not proof for me. It clings sadly to the sides of the stainless steel bowl. The rosemary foccacia recipe I am hot to make yet eludes me.

Thus I poured the flour back in the bag and put away my kneading hands for now. At least until I get a thermometer.

On Paella and Pie...and Funny Friend Dates

2007-06-26T21:59:00.001-07:00

VeggiePaella, originally uploaded by melindy.

Finding a good place to eat is just not that hard. Finding a FANTASTIC place to eat, now that takes work. Finding an acquaintance in a new town where you don't know anyone is not that hard. Finding a good friend you can cook with with IS. It takes work and slight wooing.

Wooing? Consider: The Friend Date.

Upon our first scheduled meeting, myself and one of Sojourn's former apprentices hung out at Laughing Planet and then played a little guitar, both remarking at least once on the slightly awkward quality there was in our conversation. But can you blame us? We didn't really know each other...

But we've been doing a show, we've gotten to talking. We've given each other CD's. She has been following me around with an electric pitch pipe trying to get me to sing middle C on command. She plays the fiddle for me during my tap number and we have a delightful moment. That's right, folks. It might seriously be the beginning of a good friendship.

She can even hold her own when cooking with Robert John and I in our crackerbox kitchen.
I'll you what, that girl is a veggie chopping machine. She also kept up in the eating department. All us spooned up a about three bowlfuls of the magical stuff above before delving into this woman's fantastic Strawberry-Rhubarb pie.

We sat around the table in the corner nook, in the glow of the blue Christmas lights, (of which one whole strand of lights was burnt out, having been crushed by opening and shutting the window-) we have not yet taken down.

Oh, well. It was appropriate.

The three of us sat in the breakfast nook at 10:30pm, jovially lapping up this delicious concoction we had all created in a bustling whirr of motion just before in the kitchen.

Before there had been artichokes, jovially split by the three of us, used as a vehicle for the accidentally-good sauce that I made to go with it. Also wine. Oooohhhhh wine. A red cabernet-merlot variety that Al purchased because she liked the label. I liked the label too. That's my kind of gal.

But upon finally sitting down to our mess of vegetables and rice and shockingly-green, yummy garlic sauce, we all agreed that this Paella was tops. It is certain to be made again in our respective kitchens' and maybe in yours, If my description of the good times that Paella can bring has so enticed you.

I wish for many more evenings, with many other recipes, and no more friend dates. We're past that stage in our relationship, and we've got leftover Paella to prove it.

Al's Mom's Paella

Serves 6-8 (We halved the recipe for our late-night eating orgy)

For Paella:

a medium zucchini -- slice in quarters the long way, then slice up
2 cups spinach
2 medium bell peppers, one red, one yellow, chopped up
4 tsp finely chopped hot pepper
1 can chickpeas
2.3 cup mushrooms chopped up
6 cups veggie broth
1 tsp turmeric
8 Tbs olive oil
1 can of tomatoes
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp paprika
2 Tbs minced parsley
3 cups short grain brown rice

Combine zucchini through scallions in large bowl. Start warming broth
on stove. Heat oven to 400*F. Need a really big pan (or casserole).
Put oil in the pan and get it hot. Add all veggies from bowl and
saute on high heat for 3 min or until slightly softened. Add tomato
through parsley and cook 2 more min. Add rice and stir until well
integrated. Put in all the broth and bring to a boil. Continue to
let boil for 5 min, stirring now and then. Taste to see if needs
salt. Until rice is no longer soupy, but lots of liquid remains for
cooking rice. Add garbanzo beans. Put whole thing in oven. Cook 15-25 minutes
min, or until all of the liquid has been slurped up by the rice and veggies. Take out, put lid or foil on top, let rest 5-10 min.

For Spicy garlic sauce ingredients: (Make while Paella is in the oven)

1/4 cup finely chopped yellow bell pepper (for pretty color)
1 tsp finely chopped hot pepper
1/2 tsp cumin (we forgot this- but plan to use it next time)
1/2 tsp salt
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried oregano
4 Tbs minced parsley
1/3 cup of olive + enough water to make saucy

Put all ingredients in food processor or blender.
Blend. Gaze on in awe as the sauce turns beautifully green. You might have to scrape down the blender a few times with a spatula to incorporate it all.

Serve up Paella in bowls, spoon green garlic sauce over it.

Be liberal with salt.

Fathers Day Fiber

2007-06-18T11:06:00.001-07:00

Fathersdayfiber, originally uploaded by melindy.

(Dads, pardon the one that is missing. No, you did not get the whole batch, but what do expect? Well, we had to test it out, you know- Thats what the one missing is- the one that Robert John and I split. Ha!)

Got Fiber?

Out of love for those who have sustained us as we've grown up...our Dads...I cleaned out the last of the silver canisters that Rob's Mom gave us. The wheat bran and the spelt, leftovers in our quest to try as many grains as possible, have now been stirred into a Fibrous Father's Day muffin, that we packed up and sent off to our respective fatherly figures.

These babies are packed with everything that is good for you and especially your pop. I improvised and dolloped some blackberry honey on these halfway through their baking process in the oven to sweeten them up. They are bubbly with backstrap molasses on the inside, but I felt the need to glaze them on the outside.

BUT the health factor on these beauties holds.....
No processed sugar, no eggs, no milk, and fiber to the tune of pumpkin seeds, raisins, wheat bran, spelt.......I don't think a little honey topper is going to spoil their nutritional value.

Happy Father's Day!

Carrot-Pumpkin Seed- Raisin Bran muffins

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup wheat bran
1/2 cup spelt
1/2 cup golden flax seeds
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cup apple cider
1/4 cup backstrap molasses
2 Tbsp. canola oil
3/4 cup shredded organic carrots
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup raisins

Oil muffin tin and set aside.
In a large bowl, place wheat bran, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and nutmeg. Stir well to combine.

Place apple juice, molasses, and oil in small bowl and whisk to combine.

Add remaining ingredients and gently fold them into the muffin batter. Fill each of the muffin cups 3/4 full of batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until toothpick or fork comes out clean.

Remove from oven and allow muffins to cool before removing from tin.
Store in an airtight container to prevent eating them all at once and that damn stale factor.

Serves several fiber-loving fathers, with an extra for their crazy Oregon children.

Fig cookies extroadinaire for my Gluten-Free Friend

2007-06-11T13:20:00.001-07:00

IMG_1775.JPG, originally uploaded by melindy.

Figs are my not-so-secret obsession. I eat figs compulsively. When I was in Italy, I tried to bite into a unripe fig that I found on the ground and was bit taken aback by its extremely unappetizing unripe-ness. BUT that experience has not quelled my urge for figs. Specifically dried Calmiyras. Although lately I've been fond of the the dried white Turkish figs they have at Whole Foods.
I am delighted that fresh figs are appearing on the shelves of Whole Foods and the Farmer's Market, but although I may eat many a fresh fig this summer, maybe stuffed with goat cheese and drizzled with honey- I will not lose my need for the dried variety. I buy bagfuls of them from the bulk food section at the store and then savor until they are gone.
But a good fig cookie, now that is a species that does not really exist, especially in the land on pre-packaged Fig Newtons. Now Fig Newmans are okay, but these are a breed entirely their own. Plus, they are gluten-free.
Hopefully they will bring a big smile to Max- who is away from his family and friends. Enjoy that luscious port-soaked fig confection.

Fig Cookies

Adapted from Gluten-Free Girl's recipe here.
Fig Spread: (let marinate for at least 24 hours)

1/2 pound dried figs (combo of white Calmiyras and black Mission)
1/2 cup cranberry-grape juice
1/4 cup port
1/4 cup lemon juice

Chop figs into quarters- put in large bowl and cover with liquids. Stick in the fridge for at least 24 hours, before you make the cookies- drain the figs of the liquid- except a few tablespoons. Blend up the figs, plus the few tablespoons of liquid in the blender or food processor. Blend it to the consistency of olive tapenade.

Cookie Dough- Gluten-Free

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup evaporated cane juice
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons molasses

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cup of white rice flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup teff four
1/4 cup millet flour
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum
Lots of nutmeg- (fresh would be tops)

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

Mix all dry ingredients together in bowl and set aside.

Melt butter on the stove. Mix the sugars into the melted butter until thoroughly blended and then add the egg, vanilla, and molasses.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until the dough is throughly blended
Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour.

After it has chilled, roll out 1/3 of the dough to 1/2 inch thickness. A long rectangular shape worked for me. (Flour the board with white rice flour first- oh and if the dough seems too crumbly add some liquid- some leftover fig marinating liquid perhaps)

Spoon some of the fig spread down onto the middle of the rectangle- and roll it up into a log. Do the same with the remaining ingredients.

Place the three logs of figgy delight on parchment paper covered baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes. Watch out for browning them too much. Once they are done- let them cool- and then slice them into inch-thick cookies.

This made 20-30 cookies- the 2nd to last of which is now gone, because I got fiercely hungry for a fig cookie after typing about them for twenty minutes.

Calling all Caramel Loving People-

2007-05-31T10:38:00.000-07:00

Make your way over to this site
www.bequetconfections.com

Or go out and find one of these. Or call them on the phone and order one.

Hurry up and do it. Its worth it- I promise.

Here in Portland, Oregon, they carry these at Cacao. I had the Vanilla butter caramel with Celtic sea salt.

Oh my Lord- the sweet and salty glory that was this smooth, soft, buttery caramel simply cannot be expressed in words. You must taste one for yourself. They also have espresso and habanero varieties.

I Crave Squash Blossoms Stuffed!

2007-05-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhh! Ahhhhh! Hear the different timbres of the various angels that I imagine singing their glorious songs of praise to these delectable morsels of beer-battered, cheese- stuffed heaven.

I knew when I saw them at the Portland Farmer's Market that they were meant for me. Yes, these prodigal vegetable blossoms beckoned me from the their corner of the
market that fateful Saturday. Spurred by a long past experience at a chef-in-the-market demonstration in a far-off land (Well, not really just in my prior life in Salt Lake City, UT), and therefore nagged with an impatient itch to gussy up a squash blossom for myself, when I saw them perched in that market stall, I nabbed them.

The next evening, I set to work on these beauties. We embraced the chaotic sizzle as well as the caloric punch of these pan-fried morsels...and turned out quite a success. Definitely in the category, of a foodstuff that in the future, I will crave.

INGREDIENTS:

4 squash blossoms, stamen removed
3 ounces goat cheese ( I used an applewood smoked variety)
2 clove garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup Thai basil chopped

Beer Batter:
1/8 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup cold flat beer
Vegetable oil for frying
Gently swish the squash blossoms in cold water to clean. Carefully twirl to remove most of the water, then drain thoroughly on paper towels. Set aside.
Blend goat cheese, garlic, basil and salt and pepper. Gently fill each blossom with about 2 teaspoons of the cheese filling. Very gently use the ends of the petals to tie up the blossom. Refrigerate while making batter.

In a heavy skillet, heat 2 inches of oil to 375 F over medium heat.

While oil is heating, whisk together cornstarch, flour, salt, pepper, baking powder, baking soda, egg, and beer until combined.

Carefully dip a stuffed blossom into the batter, covering the entire flower, and ease into the hot oil. Brown on one side, then turn to brown the other. Cook only a few at a time so they are not crowded. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining stuffed squash blossoms.

Serves 2-4

A little note** Me and my guy ended up using the leftover beer batter (of which there was a plentiful amount if you are just cooking this for 2) to batter and fry the fennel that we had with our halibut cheeks and squash blossoms. This beer-batter would be amazing on most veggies. Highly recommended.

Maybe in my Memoir...

2007-04-24T21:52:00.000-07:00

Hello one! Hello all....whether anyone out there is actually reading or if this is just for my own benefit, well babies, I'm back again. Life has been thrush with a thousand things to be done and no time to do them in.

Debbie came to visit, and then Chris Bro two weeks later and now Debbie is in Portland again and her hubby Max is away. I made these muffins the first time Debbie was here- this presents a disturbing time line of my apparent lack of interest in cataloging all the food I eat through many mediocre(though not all) pictures and overly serious, very thought-out stories. Just kidding. (Well, sometimes...)

Ah, well. Believe me that manic, obsessed girl went nowhere. She just had to go to work. Yes, folks it is true. A new job I've been doing. A hard job that involves a whole load of behind-the-wheel alone time, and a lot of loud voices.

So, no story this time. Maybe in my memoir. I'm too exhausted to make it all make sense in some grand way.

Just know this: These muffins were a hit.

Flax-Currant Bran Muffins

1/2 cup unprocessed wheat bran
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup prune juice
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons light olive oil
1 large egg
1/2 cup golden flaxseed
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup currants

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1. Place wheat bran in large bowl and add boiling water. Stir to combine and set aside.
2. In small bowl, combine prune juice, molasses, oil, and egg and beat lightly.
3. Add flaxseed to the wheat bran mixture, along with flour, cinnamon, ginger, soda and salt. Mix well.
4. Add prune juice mixture and raisins to wheat bran mixture and stir to combine. Let batter sit for 10-15 minutes.
5. Divide batter between 12 paper-lined muffin cups. Bake for 14 minutes.

(Serves....well now that really depends entirely upon you hunger level, your need for fiber, how many other people are watching you make the decision, etc.) (Okay- Makes about 12 fairly-large muffins with an extraordinary moistness longevity)

Five Fervent Lessons

2007-04-02T22:05:00.001-07:00

Picture this: Me in my tiny 5ft by 5ft kitchen, 'pilin the whole mess a' flowah'(as Jamie Oliver recommends) on the itsy-bitsy kitchen-cart thing, creating a well in the center, and subsequently, very gingerly pouring the yeasty water mixture into that well, which promptly overflowed its floury shores and oozed stealthily over the edge and down to slather my feet.

Those of you who have been reading long may remember by 'bread proclamation' a while back. Well, that desire has been saited by successful slab of pizza dough. A recent evening at this fantastic local place- lit my non-existent wood-burning oven with a passion for pizza-making.

Attempting to re-create this charred chic without the right equipment and in my postage-stamp kitchen was part of the problem and this success, was not serene. Without delving too much into the whole mess,(both figurative and the literal yeasty debacle that was my kitchen) I will say this: It involved fire alarms, five-hundred degree ovens and flames and remarkably... no finger-pointing, but five fervent lessons on cozy-kitchen safety.

Make sure that unidentifiable substances get removed from the bottom of the oven before the 500-degree baking project is attempted.
Befriend your oven mitt, and remember where it lives.
Chopping up various elements of said recipe and placing them is neat little piles is extremely helpful.
Don't wear special shoes when dealing with gooey things.
Try to enjoy the way various vegetable look after they've escaped from the cutting board and tastefully decorate the floor.

And the list could go on infinitely. But, that my friends, is not the point. So, we have cozy kitchens, yes, does that mean we have to shirk from advanced baking projects? No! I urge all of you out there to every nook and cranny, try baking adventures you never thought it probable or possible for you to attempt. Keep the window open, the phone close by, an escape route clear- and go to town.

Pinnacle Sicilian-Style Pizza Dough:

About 3 cups all-purpose flour (a little more for flouring your hands)
1 cup semolina flour
1/2 Tbsp fine sea salt
1 tsp active dried yeast
1 tsp evaporated cane juice
a little over a cup of luke-warm water

Add the yeast and sugar to luke warm water, mix it up, and leave sitting for about five minutes
On a clean surface with plenty of room surrounding- pile the flours and salt and make a large well in the center.

Pour a little water into center, carefully folding in flour around it to contain the water, follow with all the water and once you have a wet sticky mass begin kneading with your hands. Knead for 10 minutes, until it becomes a smooth springy dough.

Cover in plastic wrap and let set for 15 minutes before you roll out. Or you could also freeze at this point and use at a later date. (To use frozen, first allow to thaw for 3 hours to 1 day)

Heat oven to 500°

Roll out dough using your hands stretching the dough, and if you are one of those illustrious types, a wine bottle or rolling pin. Pile on your choice of toppings. Less is more. We used goat cheese, arugula, swiss chard, chickpeas, capers, red onions. Accouterments I will try next time are fresh mozz, fresh tomatoes, basil. Make sure to use a healthy dose of sea salt, pepper and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake on pizza stone if possible, or directly on lowest rack in oven.

Serves 3. Maybe.

Our delicious, near-disastrous delicacies. Note fire alarm.

Leftover Zen

2007-03-25T09:54:00.001-07:00

You wouldn't think that salsa verde would taste out-of-this-world in a salad dressing, but, it did. Yes, believe it or not that tiny tupperware full of the spicy stuff was an integral part of the balsamic infused olive oil sesame seed mixture that was spooned onto to a fading bunch of arugula, spinach, and a sad half-piece of matchstick-chopped jicama. Mixed with some small creamy rectangles of last weeks avocado, it made quite the inventive concoction of edible veggies.
Really, these throw-together meals as we like to call them, end up being the best ones. Last night we sat admiring our intriguing salad and marveling at the fact that we had had this pesto two weeks ago and were still eating it, not to mention is was so much better with age, and there are still enough leftovers for at least three more meals...
Around here we have really been getting into our leftover Zen.
The chi of using up our purchased resources to the utmost has sent our imaginations into overtime. My flippant foraging in the fridge leads to boyfriend at the bamboo chopping block, endlessly chopping the lonely vegetables in the crisper. Last week this pursuit yielded a kicky Asian salad. It had the other half of the Jicama, before it got so sad, leftover lo-mein noodles, ancient carrots, of course that weeks avocado and sprinkled sesame seeds.
Needless to say, I was a big fan of this salad and ate it at various lunches throughout the week, even though it was not very substantial.

Being unconventional in the length one stores things in the fridge is daring. I am not advocating playing Russian roulette by eating thing after they've gone to pot, but I am just saying....

Adjust you thinking...and perhaps...find your Zen.

The Lovely newness of spring and...of Plugra

2007-03-23T12:21:00.000-07:00

Life has been humming by here in the rainy spring of the rose city.

Friends M and D who lived in 'the Couv' (Vancouver, WA) are off until August to take care of some business, leaving said boyfriend and I here, resolutely holding down our corner of our ever-expanding Portland world
This blog which I not-so-long-ago vehemently wrote about continuing its steady ascent into a higher standard of operation has unfortunately fallen by the wayside. However, all that has been a deception, and is a problem I am set on rectifying, beginning with this post.

It seems appropriate to give myself some grace as I believe all things come in cycles. All of the rotating burning passions (Ex: Guitar, journalistic endeavors, acting, painting, knitting, whistling, cooking etc.) that have alternately taken hold of me are important in my growth as an artist and a human being. Plus the business of life and the ongoing procurement of income have weighed heavily on my blog writing time.

'Hard' and work and taxes and my car not starting, the perpetual messy state of the apartment, the burning of the oatmeal because of trying to do five things at once have all been in my caotic world.

However has also been newness. Yes, amongst all the seeming kernels of doom and gloom, a new job has popped into the picture one that basically came to me if you can believe it after all my relentless craigslist hunting. And or course there have been delicious meals with Rob and I cultivating our leftover zen. But more importantly my friends, I/we have discovered Plugra.
This is not your ordinary butter. It hails from New Jersey, an unctuous European-style butter that I heard about during one of my weekend jogs listening to Jane and Michael Stern on NPR's Splendid Table. It has a butterfat of apparently 2-3% more than that of regular butter, and I can now say with an experienced air that it is magnificent.

The occasion was the visit of Rob's Salt Lake City friend, Jen. (Who is my friend too) Having this I-might-to-move-to-the-Northwest-to-pursue-my-law-degree college checker-outer around for a few days was a great excuse to make sushi(again, this time with Sushi-grade salmon from Anzen), to go to our favorite brewpub for the 2nd time in two weeks, visit the Pearl Bakery(where I finally indulged in the fig cookie of my dreams) and to purchase salted caramels late at night from Pix Patisserie, and to introduce a friend to my beloved radishes with butter and salt, but this time using Plugra. I hope she wasn't too shocked by our apparent obsession of gustatory delights, but she did initiate a cheers of the tiny, fleur de lis caramels on her departure, so I'm not too concerned.

Plugra comes from the French word meaning 'plus gras' or more fat. This knowledge, coupled with my delight of finally eating a salted butter, and sharing it with such worthy friends created delight in the mouth and in the mind. You see, for many years I shunned butter, feeling it was surely fat-depositing, weight-tipping and not knowing where it was exactly going in my body. But now, I can't seem to stay away. The delight of a tiny, spicy radish sandwich with a dollop of softened, creamier-than-creamy plugra inside lures me back again. The very thought of going back to eating Earth Balance is preposterous. We tried to make the radishes with butter and salt with that stuff, once, before I way completely on board the butter train, it wasn't pretty.

There is far more freedom in being able to eat the Plugra and still feel healthy and sexy. And I can! I mean I jog while listening to a food show on the radio. No, but really, I am choosing to embrace my body the way it is when I eat these delicacies and others. I refuse to forfeit my opportunity to experience culture and community through food. With this spring comes the continual challenge to myself to balance exercise and yoga, biking and working, thinking and sleeping and allowing myself enough chocolate and buttered toast to keep myself sane.

I overheard a woman at Grand Central Bakery the other day say to a customer who joked about her weight in relation to the blackberry danish she was buying. "If we weren't meant for deliciousness, we wouldn't be able to taste it."

How true.
I say: Eat the Plugra. Enjoy the Spring.

Plugra is available in salted, and unsalted varieties at specialty food markets like Whole Foods and Trader Joes.

Sunday Night Sushi

2007-03-03T20:52:00.000-08:00

We fanned the rice. (It was too wet- woops)

We laid out sheets of seaweed on the new-from-Christmas bamboo mat.

We then rolled...and rolled...and rolled...and rolled...and rolled, until there were five distinct sushi rolls, all uniquely beautiful and seemingly a mouthful of DE-licious-ness.

Who knew that it could be so easy?

Truly. This sushi-making experience had been a heady goal for sometime with my man and I. We hemmed and hawed about it quite a bit, but always ended up going out for it instead. But then, he bought me some sushi mats for that holiday back in December, and I knew that we needed to make it happen soon.

I must say, that our saving grace was Adrienne. This intrepid Guam-born and raised co-worker surfer girl friend of mine, knew the ins and outs of sushi-making first hand. In my last-minute excitement I announced to Rob that we were going to have sushi on Sunday night, and that I had invited our friends, the adorably affectionate Max and Debbie, as well as Adrienne over on Sunday night. Thus Sunday Night Sushi.

My darling boyfriend chopped many different edible accouterments, entertained M and D with his fine knife-manship in the breakfast nook, while Adrienne and I fanned the rice, and transformed the kitchen into a sushi-making station.

The plates ofmatchstick-sized pieces of fillings completed the picture. Three-quarters of the way through our first bottle of sake, we began the actual rolling process with Adrienne as our director. The first roll brought exclamations for it was so simple. Not only that but it looked splendid. The others soon followed with even better rolls. We allowed our imaginations to run wild and put everything from jicama to kiwi to sweet potato in our rolls. The next run at this art will include sushi-grade fish, as this time we stayed away from that and instead focused on mostly vegetarian rolls with a small supply of smoked salmon.

We discovered that it is all in the preparation of the ingredients.

It is very important to cut pieces of innards uniformly and take care when assembling the roll. On the horizon, we will move into the more advanced stages of sushi preparation. We have dreams of tackling the inside-out roll, (putting the rice on the outside of the seaweed instead of the inside) and of course, RAW fish.

But, for this Sunday-night, our gathering and the sushi that we made was grand. Adrienne kept our sake warm consistently through the entire evening. (Thank you!) Max was fascinated by the sushi and had seconds and thirds. Debbie took many of my food photos this evening. The two of them also brought Miso Soup and Ice Cream. (Sweet!) Rob and I realized to our delight that making sushi really is FUN and MUCH EASIER than we thought it would be.

I think Sunday night sushi may need to become an institution.

Beginner's SUSHI for a Sunday night

equipment:
bamboo rolling mat
wooden paddle
chopsticks

2 cups sushi rice (I bought in bulk section at Whole Foods market)
Rice Vinegar
Rice Wine (Mirin)
1 package toasted Nori (sheets of pressed seaweed)
Assortment of fruits and vegetables
may include:
jicama, mango, avocado, sweet potato(boiled and blanched), carrots, cucumber, lettuce, radish, asparagus, etc.
Smoked fish(We used smoked salmon-lox)
Cream Cheese
Pickled Ginger*(home-pickling recipe below)
Wasabi (Buy in powdered form)
Soy sauce

Rinse rice three times.
Cook rice in a pot with a tight fitting lid for about twenty minutes in 4 cups of water. You will have drier rice if you don't peak at it while it is cooking. Let rest for five minutes, transfer it into smaller bowls and stick in refrigerator.

Chop all inner ingredient into uniform-ly sized pieces, about the length of two match-sticks that are placed one after another. Make sure there is easy access from all ingredients to where people will be rolling their sushi. Take out rice and add 2 Tbsp of Rice Vinegar and 1 Tbsp of Mirin to the rice. Stir it with wooden rice paddle.

Place seaweed on bamboo mat and spread rice over about the first two inches of seaweed that are closest to you. Follow with ingredients to your discretion. This can't really go wrong. Leave the exact combinations open to your guests as it makes for a livelier dinner party.

Now for the elusive rolling part. Begin to roll the edge of the bamboo closest to you, way from you, folding the seaweed over the rice and fillings. When seaweed is wrapped entirely around the rice innards, SQUEEZE. This is very important to keeping roll together and making it look nice. Continue to roll up.

Serve with soy sauce, wasabi, and plenty of sake.

Feeds five friends hungry stomachs and creative impulses well on a Sunday night.

*Pickled Ginger- you need ginger root, vinegar, salt, water and evaporated cane juice.

Cut ginger into extremely thin slices, use mandoline if possible, along fibers.
Spread on cutting board, sprinkle with salt. Let stand for 25 minutes, until soft.
Pour 3/4 cup vinegar into small pot. Add 2 Tbps of EVCJ and 4 Tbps water and bring to a boil. Let cool.
Blanch the ginger in hot water, put in colander and drain.
Cool by fanning.
Soak ginger in sealed container, in the sweet vinegar mixture. The longer it soaks the more seasoned it will be. (We made ours a good three weeks before Sunday Night Sushi) Store in refrigerator in sweet vinegar in a sealed container to maintain its freshness.

Bran Muffins for the Road

2007-02-22T19:49:00.000-08:00

It all started with bran muffins for the road.

Road-trip Ginger-Bran muffins

2 ounce piece of unpeeled ginger root, diced small
3/4 cup evaporated cane juice
1/4 cup molasses
2 Tbsp tangerine zest (or citrus zest)
8 Tbsp butter at room temperature(1 stick)
2 organic eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 cup wheat bran
1/2 tsp sea salt
3/4 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 375◦

Cut ginger in very small chunks, use food processor if possible. You should have 1/4 cup.
Put ginger and 1/4 cup evaporated cane juice in small skillet. Cook over medium heat until sugar has melted and mixture is hot. This will not take long. Remove from stove and let ginger mixture cool.

Add tangerine zest to mixture, stir and set aside.

To make buttermilk, add 2 Tbps lemon juice or vinegar to whole milk and set aside for 5-10 minutes.

Put butter in mixing bowl and beat for a few seconds. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of evaporated cane juice. Beat until smooth. Add the eggs and beat well. Add the buttermilk and molasses, mix until blended. Add flour, bran, salt, baking soda and beat well until smooth. Stir in the ginger-tangerine zest mixture.
Spoon batter into muffin tins, filling to brim of muffin well to create big, scrumptious muffins.

Bake 15-20 minutes until a fork comes out clean.

Serve warm to road trip participants and hungry boyfriend. But however you consume, enjoy the ginger.

Road trip to San Francisco with some of my theatre colleagues. This trip was chock full of indie rock, various snack foods and three people in the back seat. Well, on the way back one was dropped of to her beau, so we had two, and someone managed to sneak in some NPR podcasts. The bran muffins were gobbled by the end of the day, known for their extreme moistness and ginger-y bite.

We went for a theatre conference. It was a three-day workshop that left little time for any thing else, except for several good dinners and one fantastic one in North Beach with Tara that ended in this tart.

The dinners included senagalese, vegan, a delightful wine bar, the only still-unionized bar in San Fran, and the rest of my meals included all the the delightful treats that Rob encourage me to bring from home.

On the way home, there were no muffins, but there was the blissful realization that I was going home. I knew that night, I would not be sleeping at the traveloge no, I would be home in Portland. Upon my arrival, some guy who lives at my apartment welcomed me in, pulled out this heart-shaped cheese and rose petal jelly, poured me a glass of vino, and continued to work on his homemade teriyaki sauce for the stir fry he was making. There was also a bag on the table that contained these beautiful earrings that reminded him of me.

You know when you have such a perfect end to an experience you want to tell everyone about it? For me, this was one of them.

It rained...but we did NOT get rained out

2007-02-12T11:06:00.000-08:00

There was rain in the Amy's canned chili, and the 6 dollar bottle of syrah. There was delicious green & blacks hot chocolate with home-made style, non jet-puffed marshmallows. Drinking this wine and falling asleep in the car, only to transfer to the tent at 2 am.

The night before we stayed in a strange, Eugene hostel with a wierd diaper-y thing covering the bed we were sleeping on. Seriously. Imagine that sound all night long.

These were defining features of our adventure in camping this past weekend.

It was 4 hour search for elusive Umpqua hot spring 59 miles east of Roseburg, Oregon in the dusk. The dark crowding ever closer as the minutes strung across into the evening.
We did find it. Yes, with a very fateful run-in with the Southern Oregon University's Geology club, and their very gracious help. we ended up in the elusive hot spring parking lot. We followed these crazies across logs that were strewn across the river. Apparently the regular foot bridge had been rotted out. This brought out an amazing amount of freaking out on my part as I looked down at the thrashing river and felt surrounded by dark, and towering trees. I sniveled all the way across the river and upon making it had cathartic gladness. True enough, these guys knew where the hot spring was. We followed them up the side of this very steep dark hill, complete with guard rails and emerged on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Umpqua river and with several hot pools settling into the rock.

Clothes were torn off and all of our bodies emerged in the dark 8 o'clock pm of the Oregon night. The stars shone and we were in shock of this place we had somehow been able to find.

Later on there would be delicious, organic chili, olives, cheese, rain, wine, rain, rain in all of it, and the subsequent several hours spent in wine-induced sleep in the front of the car. Also, the early morning hours spent in our brand new spring tent, that we had out in the winter, without any pillows. But, the morning would bring a fire, a little lighter rain, oatmeal, and hot chocolate and a triumphant realization that it had rained....but we did NOT get rained out.

Everyone should try camping in the winter.

Isn't it great to get a fantastic idea about a specific food creation that I must try? Yes. Yes it is. What's even greater is when Rob humors me and in many cases is the metaphorical 'brawn' behind my cooking 'brains.' When I presented my idea for this sandwich using some of our trip leftovers, he jumped on board and handled the assembly.
It s nice that we could come home from this trip and be in good spirits, if a little tired and wonky feeling, and unpack a few camping supplies, pop a few beers and eat these sandwiches.

Valentine Tribute
Thank you Rob, for your cooking 'brawn', and for helping me learn how to whistle. I love you

Grilled parmesan and sauteed leek sandwich
** I originally became entranced with making grilled cheese out of parmesan cheese and parmesan-reggiano at that, because of Amanda Hesser's Cooking for Mr. Latte. This is my adaptation.

4 slices kalamata olive bread (Ours was from the Eugene City bakery)
1/2 cup Parmesan Reggiano
1/2 cup Parmigiano
1 Leek
4 Tbps butter
freshly ground pepper

For leeks:
Make sure to wash well, as dirt hides in the vegetable quite well. Chop the white to light green portions of the leek into rings.
Heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. When hot, add leeks and saute until beginning to brown. Set aside on a plate for further use.

To assemble sandwich:
Butter one side of each slice of bread. Don't be afraid to use copious amounts. It will make it better. Take one slice and sprinkle half of each cheese on top. Top with half of sauteed leeks, sprinkle with pepper and place another slice of bread on top, buttered side up. Repeat to make another sandwich. Grill until slightly brown and crispy.

Do enjoy.

Makes 2 sandwiches for savoring at the end of an adventure

Soup in a time of sickness

2007-02-06T14:02:00.000-08:00

OH, to be sick within the first week of February. To actually utter, "I feel like I've been hit by a truck" and be burning up with fever all night long. To realize with a sinking feeling that whatever that nasty thing is that is going around, you've finally got it. Well. That was not me. No, folks I cannot claim having yet survived this sickness which has recently been visiting boyfriend Rob.
Indeed, it was superbowl Sunday, and instead of jubilating over beer and hot wings with friends, Rob got sick and stayed in bed. Now neither of us are that really the superbowl type, I did end up going to the superbowl party we were invited to for a little while, but I brought a book. (Thanks to a certain Sojourn artistic director for that idea) Then, I drove home to find my babe in bed, in torture and made some soup.
I felt marvelously productive as I simultaneously cared for the moaning man upstairs and created this sophisticated, gingery, and downright stimulating soup. Well, stew, I suppose if you want to be particular about it. Even though he had dramatically stated, "I'm not going to be any fun tonight. DON'T stay here! I don't want you to get this. Its AWFUL." I actually quite enjoyed the time I spent with him that night, although it was not in direct contact, which I'm sure was a good thing. Dashing up the stairs with a cool cloth and bolting down to check the tenderness of the beans and the consistency of the butternut squash simmering away was quite an entertaining way to spend the evening.
For one, I have never cooked beans before, from their dried form. I had soaked these hard white beans since the night before and had been ecstatic when they actually plumped and enlarged. For another, it was sweet to take care of my boy while engaging in the thrill of cooking up something new. Well, at least, new to me.
No, I do not wish sickness upon my boyfriend. But I was happy that he found his bed, bottle of Chinese herbs, tea, and commenced the 'get well' process. I am happy to report that this soup aided in the recovery. If not physically, then mentally, for the heady scent of rosemary and butternut drifted upstairs to the sickbed, to the sick one (who could not taste) and at least, I hope, provided entertainment.
Not to mention the soup, that was not-so-bad, for my first big leap in cooking with dried beans from the bulk section, rather than beans from a can, and like my downstairs neighbor Kate told me, it is very important to soak them. I look forward to my next bean-cooking adventure.
Oh, and the soup did provide sustenance as well as scent, for it had a sweet gingery heat and sustaining meaty-bean texture, perfect for the sick one's throat the next day for lunch, as well as mine. He ate two bowls. Away sickness! You are not welcome here.

White Bean Butternut ginger stew

1 cup uncooked white beans (soaked overnight)
10 cups water (give or take- including bean soaking water)
1 pound peeled, seeded, diced butternut squash
2 Tbsp canola
1 cup chopped leeks
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
4 Garlic cloves
1 Tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp dried Rosemary
black pepper

Take seeded. diced, peeled butternut squash and 3 cups of water, bring to a boil and then simmer until squash is tender
Add soaked beans to pot and continue to simmer
In a frying pan, heat oil and saute leeks, ginger, and garlic until slightly brown. Add to soup pot
Simmer for 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours until beans are soft, but not mushy. Add water as needed to maintain soupy consistency
Stir often, and add nutritional yeast and salt and pepper to taste

Serves 4 in smallish bowls, or 2 with leftovers

Bamboozle them with Basboosa

2007-01-28T07:44:00.000-08:00

"Let them eat their Eggypt Kake." An undisclosed child at the Emerson school wrote when I asked him to make a sign. I brought these little crazies a whole load of sugar on Friday. They were hyper and they hyped me up.

I dutifully trucked to work bearing my tray of Egyptian Basboosa. We study a different country every month with the kids, and this month is Egypt. I had purchased semolina and honey at the store, and that morning I had created this Egyptian cake. Well, Rob helped a lot. He orchestrated the whole cool water bath for the pot holding the syrup. I am sure that this was a positive thing because otherwise, I am afraid that the loosely-held together, just-baked cake would have fallen apart.

It is a strange cake. No eggs in this cake. It just contains semolina, flour, baking powder, oil, milk, honey, lemon and between the syrup and the cake, three cups of sugar. I did use whole wheat flour, and evaporated cane juice, but still.... ah well.

When I served up this cake at the school, I had two remarkable under-age helpers. We put on some Egyptian music and spooned a bit of this cake onto each plate. One of them made me that sweet sign, and they dragged the lamp to near where we served the snack so we could have soft, restaurant-quality lighting. The other kids trooped in from recess. "Where's the cake? What is it?!" Thus began a flurry of hand washing, offing of the coats, and a plunk-down of 25 little tushies on the seat of the table.

An array of opinions began to arise from the table as to just what this tasted like.

"Lemon cake"
"I think its too sweet."
"I want some more!"
"Its good, Mindy!"
"I think it tastes like bananas."

I thought it tasted like honey-lemon tea myself. It was sweet, almost cloying, but...that didn't stop me from devouring the crumbs that were left from the pan with my two sneaky co-workers in the Emerson school kitchen. Ehhhh.....semolina does have possibilities, but maybe next time, less sugar.

Egyptian Basboosa- Semolina Cake with Honey and Lemon

Syrup:
2 cups evaporated cane juice
2 cups water
1 whole organic lemon
3 tsp honey

Basboosa:
3 cups semolina
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder(non-aluminum)
1 cup evaporated cane juice
1 cup canola oil
1 cup milk

For Syrup:
Peel lemon with vegetable peeler to get strips of lemon peel. Juice lemon. Bring water, lemon juice and sugar to a boil. Throw in the rind of the lemon and boil until the lemon rind is hard or the mixture is a runny syrupy consistency. Add honey. Set aside to cool while who make the basboosa. (Don't make the mistake I did and make it after the cake, I had to cool it down rapidly, and it was a slight bit of undue stress)

For Basboosa:
Preheat to 350º
Mix semolina, flour, sugar and baking powder. Add oil and mix until the batter is well blended. Grease a large cookie sheet. (10 by 16 inches). Add the milk just before baking. Drop mixture onto pan by the spoonfuls. Level the mixture with your hand (pour milk in a shallow bowl and dip your hand into it before smoothing.)

Bake for 30 minutes.

Cut into squares and return to oven for 5-10 minutes.

Take out and pour lemon-honey syrup slowly over cake, pausing to wait for the liquid to absorb in the cake. As the cake cools it will set to a more solid consistency.

Makes 30 squares, or serves 25 kids and 3 teachers as part of an odd cultural experiment.

2007-01-26T12:38:00.000-08:00

It appears I should clear up a few things...

I have started this project as an outlet for all of my pent-up creative energy. This being my third attempt at starting a blog, I had no idea how it would all turn out. It appears that it is beginning to gain speed. Yes, I may have only 105 hundred profile views, BUT I continue to want to come back and post. For like 4 months now, I have been working on it. I even now, have an anxious feeling as I have not posted for almost a week-and-a-half. Yes, I can't be good ALL the time is revving up and getting ready to take off.

John and I are developing a routine in the kitchen of setting up for the most flattering shot of whatever usually-edible thing we are creating. Boyfriend is a great collaborator in the kitchen, and humors me when I stand staring at the vegetables in the produce section and say solemnly, "bok choy." (We still need to make something out of that bok choy, it is looking rather unhappy in the refrigerator, if anyone has suggestions, don't hesitate to contact me.) He eats my un-popped popovers and tries my gritty, cornmeal-sand bread, and today, he helped me make Eygptian Bamboosa. We make neon-green arugula pesto (pictured above) and are currently puzzling over the creation of pickled ginger. Now he has agreed to help me with this blog, too. There have been suggestions about color, link lists, picture composition and e-mails to our family and friends to entice them to read it, and an agreement to proofread my posts before I post them.

This exposure has resulted in several comments, albeit mostly from family and friends, but a few from the world out there on the internet, who must have stumbled across my own little bizarre food blog. How thrilling. Several undisclosed family members have continually inquired about the way in which I changed John and I's names. I did. I mean, not drastically. 'John' is boyfriends middle name, and 'Melindy' is a combination of my nick name and real name. Initially I did this as a way to protect the innocent. However, it now is frankly downright annoying and I grow weary over the prospect of changing everyones name in my life before I post a story with them in it. I'll call people what I want, but from now on will probably lean towards first names. ( By the way-My boyfriends first name is Rob)

I must continue my adventure into cooking and writing about it. I will bravely go where some have gone before, but none-the-less, I will go with vigor.

Happy eating...continue reading..

It rabed me...again+ chocolate chip cookies

2007-01-17T12:29:00.000-08:00

"I am going to go downstairs and use the leftover rabe, and the cheddar, and make an omelet for us for breakfast. That's what I'm going to do."

John informed me of this on our 2nd snow day,(yes indeed 2nd) here in Portland. "Do you want help?" I chirruped. "Not necessarily..." He replied.

I took that as a no and instead spent a while listening to NPR's Splendid Table, stretching out in some yogic postures and being amazed that yet again, I did not have to go to work because the schools were closed. while my boyfriend went to work on Broccoli Rabe: Part II.

Broccoli Rabe and White Cheddar Omelet

Ingredients:
1/2 pound of Broccoli Rabe,(about 1/3 of a typical bunch) include leafs torn into 2-inch pieces, florets, and discard stems*
1/4 cup chopped green onions
4 eggs(beaten)
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp Extra-virgin oil
Aged white cheddar cheese (4 or 5 slices)
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

*The stems were a little too bitter in our experience.

Directions:
Steam Broccoli Rabe for approx 3-4 minutes, or until wilted.
Add olive oil and onions to skillet and saute until fragrant. Set aside. Melt butter in crepe pan(or saute pan, but the crepe pan makes for a very thin, foldable base of eggs). Pour beaten eggs into pan, and pick up pan and rotate your wrist around, allowing eggs to coat to bottom of pan. When top is not quite set, lay rabe and onion mixture on one-half of pan. Lay the cheese slices over that and season with salt and pepper. Use spatula to flip the other half of the omelet over. Cut in half and serve, preferably with good, buttered whole wheat toast.

Serves 2, as a remarkable 2nd snow-day breakfast.

PS- The day before, John and I had had a rambunctious time, being that that was the first snow day, we had had this pizza at three o'clock in the afternoon. We bundled up in our big coats and ventured out, walking the snowy streets to pick it up at Pizzacato. We got some Oregon Honey beer at the store and cackled on the way back, seeing person-after-person getting around on cross-country skis.
Being that we are from Utah, we couldn't believe this city's reaction to this amount of snow, but that's not to say that we weren't absolutely enjoying it. We jaunted back to our apartment devoured the pizza tipsily. Then when we came to later, I made these....

We ate them in addition to half a bag of baby carrots before we climbed into bed. Clearly we we in need of some unadulterated butter and vegetables. What a delightful day.

Chocolate Chip cookies with Fleur de sel

Ingredients:
1 cup+6 Tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp of Fleur de Sel
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter(1 stick; at room temperature)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup evaporated cane juice
1 egg(room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips(I used Whole food bulk dark chocolate chips)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Use parchment paper or wipe a cookie sheet to prepare for baking. In a medium-sized bowl combine flour, salt, and baking soda. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and combine thoroughly. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the sweetened butter, on the mixers lowest setting. Once combined add the chocolate chips and mix in with mixer on lowest setting until chips are evenly distributed . Drop 1 tsp full of cookie dough down on cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Press down with back of a spoon. Evenly sprinkle a tad Fleur de sel on top of each cookie.

Bake for 12 minutes or until light brown. DO NOT be alarmed if cookies do not look completely done when you take them out. THEY WILL set as they cool. (Speaking of that: Make sure to use a spatula to get them off of the baking sheet before too long, or else they will be difficult to get off)
Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies

PPS- Please don't be concerned by the amount of butter in these cookies, believe me they are good. Its best to not think about it too much. But anyway, butter is a natural fat and here at I can't be good ALL the time, we stockpile butter. It is a must for inducing satiety. It is all a necessary necessity. I am sure my mother is weeping with joy and pride as she reads this. And John... he ate four of these cookies. Enjoy.

It rabed me....

2007-01-14T16:41:00.000-08:00

From The Food Lover's Companion...
Broccoli raab (rabe): A vegetable related to both the cabbage and the turnip family, the leafy green broccoli raab has 6-9 inch stalks and tiny clusters of tiny broccolilike buds. Is is also called broccoletti di rape, rape, and rapini. The greens have a pungent, bitter flavor, that not particularly popular in America where, more often than not, there used as animal fodder. Italians however and very fond...

It is official. I've been rabed. I really actually quite enjoyed the experience. Not to say that this was not a harsh experience. It was a little rough and tumble. A stikingly tartly bitter force met my tastebuds,when this leafy veggie came in contact with them. As with normally embarking upon something new, this was a somewhat startling experience.

Another startling experience was that of moving out. Setting out on my own, post-college, out of my parents house and seven-hundred miles to a brand new city was a big kick in my pants. Tentative-ity wore out my tenacity at first, but you know what, my adventurous spirit is returning. I am ready to greet the world and the world of unknown vegetables.

This vegetable, apparently, as Food Lovers Companion states, beloved by Italians, used by America as animal muck, show much promise for my consumption. John and I both marveled at the striking bitter taste, that is beyond spinach. In fact, spinach is training-wheels compared to this member of the leafy green family. But, think of how that taste can stack up in the force of other ingredients. John and I sat and ate our Broccoli Rabe, while visions of pairings with cheeses (perhaps the 2-year aged white cheddar), eggs (omelets), and with our vegetarian sausages. (I don't eat meat, save fish, although I am curious about foie gras...)
So, dear reader, my tenacity has returned, albeit not really in the form of cooking up some Broccoli Rabe, but my decision to plunge headfirst into all things new.

Sauteed Broccoli Rabe with garlic

Ingredients:
2 pounds broccoli rabe, hollow or coarse stems discarded
2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp fleur de sel
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup water

Directions:
Separate broccoli rabe leaves from florets. Tear any large leaves into 2-inch pieces and chop remaining stems coarse. In a skillet large enough to hold broccoli rabe (I used a wok), saute garlic over moderate heat until fragrant. about 30 seconds. Don't brown garlic. Add broccoli rabe and stir, turning off with tongs, or long-handled spoon for about 2 minutes, until wilted. Stir in salt and black pepper and saute, stirring for 1 minute. Add water and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until tender, 5 minutes.

Serve with lemon wedges, and drizzle with additional oil
Serves 4, or two curious hungry people

On the creation of a deceptive failure...

2007-01-12T10:30:00.000-08:00

It looked like bread, it scent wafted through the apartment like bread, it rose like bread and every other indication pointed towards the inevitable creation of good bread. I was ecstatic.

Well...

Not so much. My brave proclamation of productivity to create a loaf of bread sadly ended in failure. Although as a certain boyfriend said, "Well, its not, as they say, unedible. Plus its an experimental process...a learning experience." Oh, he is so wise.

And no. It was not unedible, but my cornmeal-lavender brioche is certainly not good, toothsome, or delectable. In my book, it was a far cry from any of those expressions, and it was all my fault.

You see, when I had finally broken the spell of internet surfing stupor and headed downstairs to concoct a loaf of bread, I was slightly giddy. I suppose this comes from some sort of unexpected-day-off syndrome. I threw the yeast in a bowl and decided that it would be okay if I used more cornmeal than was called for in the recipe. (I only had about 1 cup of flour, and it called for four) I mixed up my gargantuan amount of cornmeal, tiny bit of flour, salt and lavender and thought nothing more of it.

I continued with my unexpected-afternoon-off haze. I mixed the dough together and took the necessary steps the recipe requested. I, not yet accustomed to how raising process of dough go proceeds, (Important: Learn how to proof yeast) peered anxiously at the lump of lavender-flecked yellow dough that I had set in a 'warm spot' to see if it was rising.

It did. I punched it down as instructed and watched with glee as the dough mass crept upward and outward over the course of a few hours. I was becoming thoroughly convinced that this was truly going to work. My non-bread baking days were about to end and soon there would be loaves overflowing from the itsy bitsy kitchen with barely any counter space on Everett St. My excitement mounted as the yellow cornmeal-laden loaf went into the oven and the entire apartment began to smell of baking bread.

"Were going to have fresh-baked bread with dinner!" I squealed to John as he arrived home, " I'm making bread! Isn't that fantastic." I was beginning to feel like a bread goddess. All must be right with the world and intense fumbling funk I had been rambling in for the last few days was vanishing and in its place would be a marvelous loaf of bread. What's more is that I was going to be a genius with bread. This bread-making experience could be the beginning to discovering what it is I want to accomplish with my life.
HALT!
The loaf that came out of the of the oven was nooooot fantastic. It did look beautiful with several slashes across the top, and speckles of sea salt and rosemary, but sadly, taste nor texture matched up. Of course the problem was obvious, now. Too much cornmeal. The texture was not the airy softness that we had been craving but rather like biting into some dense, sandy, bitter lump of unsweeted cookie mass. We still ended up munching on about half of the loaf. We managed to salvage some slices by broiling them with some good, unsalted butter.

So, I have now learned that substituting a lot of cornmeal, especially at my stage bread knowledge, is not such a good idea. Of course, I should have surmised this with common sense, but obviously life was trying to illustrate a culinary truth for me. This early bread attempt of mine was, alas, a failure. However it has whet my appetite for more forays into bread-baking world. Oh yeah, I plan to go there. Those visions of loaves stacked in the kitchen are not squelched, oh no. Those visions are ignited with and even more fiery passion than they would have been were the damned Lavender-cornmeal brioche bread to have turned out. I am discovering that some amount of failure in all things is necessary. Imagine what I can create with the knowledge that I now have. I will leave you with that thought.

Portland Public Schools is closed! To the post-it note wall I go...

2007-01-11T12:12:00.000-08:00

Today, is a rightfully amazing day.
Today is a day when Portland Public schools has closed for... snow.
Okay...so, its not snowing here. It was earlier, I guess...er...a little. But it is now, in fact, sunny. A call from my boss this morning suddenly alerted me that they had canceled school...for a flurry. What?
I understand that snow is scary around here, but really?
Let me explain. I grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah on the benches of the mighty Wasatch mountain range. I don't think people really understand the extremities of coldness and snowiness, or of heat that take place there. To me, especially now residing in Portland, Oregon, in Utah there is a gamut of weather. In Portland, definitely not so gamut-like. The other night, I heard the director of the play I'm currently in talking gravely about what would happen to the show if it snowed. Someone one said that 2 inches was expected to slight gasps and concerned nods all around the room. That is, except for my concerned nod. My action was that of a sarcastic scoff. Two inches? Two inches? If these people only knew how many times I drove down the freeway in Utah, pushing through almost an inch of snow. Or the time last year when John and I got stuck on the freeway in the mountains trying to get to Park City to have Thai food on New Years Eve? Oh well. I guess these Oregon people just don't get it.
Anyway, Portland Public schools are canceled today, which means, that I don't have to go to my job as an after-school arts teacher. This is good, I guess. Except that it leaves me sitting here in my apartment in a slight state of restless agony pondering all the different things that I could do. I don't want to waste an unexpected day off. I don't want to spend the entire day reading food blogs, which like so many others out there, I certainly could do. As it always is, I feel slightly overwhelmed with the interests in my life. As I look up from my dell laptop, (ugh, click this link to see what I'd rather have...ooh and see what John is in love with and wants, in the form of the new Iphone) I see a wall strewn with post-it notes. Among the information contained on them is names and phone numbers, quotes, to do lists, places I want to visit, passwords, and up at the top there is a lone post-it that says two words, Bake Bread.
Well, baking bread. YES. I think that is a viable course of action for the days events. A doable goal. The experiment is below. Hopefully, this, umm... I think third time I have tried to use yeast to make a loaf of bread will pan out. Otherwise, oh hell, I may be stuck reading food blogs.
I let you know how it works out...
If all goes well...I will overcome the fumbly ineptness that has crept over me these past few days and be brilliant in the kitchen and get myself excited about something. This will provide me with a enough momentum to continue to pursue and peruse the pastimes of lives until I find something I can do that will make me a comfortable living. I know, I know I sound like I am very dramatic and intense. Don't worry. I've gotten that before. I'm probably worse in person.

Lavender Cornmeal Brioche
Source: Ursula Taylor, Seaford VA

Oven: 350°F Pans: Baking sheet Yield: 2½ lb loaf

Ingredients

4 cups unbleached flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 tsp salt
1 tsp lavender
8 oz warm nonfat milk (85 degrees)
1 tbsp fresh yeast
1 tbsp honey
2 whole eggs, beaten

Add yeast to milk and honey and let sit in a warm place till foamy; then add beaten eggs. Combine wet and dry ingredients and knead for 8 minutes. Set in a warm place and allow the dough to rise till it doubles in volume. Then punch down and form into desired shape. Let the dough mixture rise again till it has doubled in size, then bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Baking time will vary depending on the shape and size of the loaf. It is done when it looks light brown and sounds hollow when tapped.

The tomato soup is finally gone and oh my my Polenta Pie...

2007-01-06T18:33:00.000-08:00

Oh that man! And his Polenta Pie.
"What would you call this dish?"
I ask him inquisitively,
"Well....." He hems and haws for moment and then looks up, "I don't know."
He said that will a shrug, and the casualness of someone who has just been extremely well fed, and is rightfully proud of their creation.

I had left him earlier that day in the kitchen. Him and I had been on a mission for the last few days. Eat everything out of our refrigerator and avoid going to the store. This made for some strange meals. There was this tomato soup left over from Christmas that was turned into a strange sauce for pasta. We ate the last of our mini bagels from Christmastime with cream cheese and the last dregs of lox. Then, there was the polenta pie.
My mother gave us a basket full of foodie accouterments for Christmas. There was olive oil, roasted red pepper, artichokes, polenta, and two big bottles of sake. John and I like Italian and Sushi nearly equally. She also included a bunch of shells from a shell collection that I had left at my parents house for a reason... but anyway... (but its okay mom they are decorating an end table)
Thank god for that basket. The artichokes were opened post haste. We made polenta porridge for breakfast one morning. Then John was off work and our refrigerator was really empty. I had mentioned making 'something with the polenta'. Well, I went off to work and apparently John set to work, and when I returned from out of the cold and off of my bike, I was dazzled by this bubbling polenta pie. There were also extremely delicious potato wedges, that John claimed to have overcooked, but I liked them crispy. The polenta was a lasagna-like creation with artichokes and red peppers, tomato soup and polenta. It was not thrown together, no. It was artfully constructed in layers. There was also a delightful layer of mi amor, Parmesan reggaino melted on top. Of course, HE(meaning John) was there as well. That was wonderful.
The tomato soup, having gone into pasta, polenta, sour cream dip, our bellies on Christmas eve, is now finally gone. We did a great job getting rid of all the freaky ingredients out of our fridge and cupboards, if I do say so myself. Of course, today, we went to the store again and now we have refilled our supply of weird ingredients. Well that is all the better in my opinion because it means more creating of deliciousness in my kitchen. Maybe John will make something again soon too....actually I am sure he will...

My oh My: His Polenta Pie!

Ingredients:
2 tbps olive oil
1/2 cup artichoke hearts
1/2 cup roasted red peppers
1 cup chopped onions
1 tbps minced garlic
1 container of Imagine creamy tomato soup
1/2 cup red wine
2 cups milk
Salt and pepper
3 cups instant polenta
1 cup grated parmesan reggiano

Directions:

For polenta:

Heat milk on med high heat stirring until almost boiling. Add polenta to milk and stir for 3 minutes or until creamy. Pour into a loaf pan and refrigerate for at least an hour.

For the PIE:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Saute artichoke hearts and peppers until brown, over medium heat. Turn down heat and add tomato soup. When soup is warm pour in some red wine (1/2 cup) and allow to simmer covered for 10 minutes. Stir in salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.

Grease a three-quart baking dish.

Take out polenta pan and slice into 1-inch thick slices. Spoon some sauce into bottom of dish followed by a layer of polenta slices. Add a layer of sauce and cheese. Repeat until no more polenta layers remain. Be extra liberal about the parmesan on top as this will create a delectable crust.

Bake for 1 hour covered, and then turn on the broil and uncover for the last five minutes. (To ensure creation of said crust)

*Just a note- As I said earlier, John and I were on a crusade to use up everything in our refrigerator, and that being said, we didn't have much. Other veggies like spinach, broccoli, carrots, etc, would all make good additions to this recipe. However, the soup was really good in it, and though you could use some other tomato-y sauce, this may be good way to help you not waste food in your refrigerator.

1 cup uncooked white beans (soaked overnight) 10 cups water (give or take- including bean soaking water) 1 pound peeled, seeded, diced butternut squash 2 Tbsp canola 1 cup chopped leeks 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced 4 Garlic cloves 1 Tsp sea salt 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast 1 Tbsp dried Rosemary black pepper Take seeded. diced, peeled butternut squash and 3 cups of water, bring to a boil and then simmer until squash is tender Add soaked beans to pot and continue to simmer In a frying pan, heat oil and saute leeks, ginger, and garlic until slightly brown. Add to soup pot Simmer for 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours until beans are soft, but not mushy. Add water as needed to maintain soupy consistency Stir often, and add nutritional yeast and salt and pepper to taste
Serves 4 in smallish bowls, or 2 with leftovers