Bagels and Lox

Happy Saturday Party People! Woo, am I glad that holiday is over...and I'm glad that I am not hungover this morning and so am able to fully enjoy my bagel and lox!

Thanksgiving was a blast, but I drank too much and urgh...yesterday was a long painful day, most of which was spent sleeping. Except for the parts that were MORE entertaining and eating. For Che's birthday lunch we had all of the thanksgiving leftovers wrapped up in tortillas and cooked enchilada style in gravy with leftover fennel and orange salad. Delicious, but not light.

Dinner was

LINGUINE WITH CLAMS

for 4

3/4 box linguine
3 bags of clams
1 1/2 c chicken broth
1 1/2 c water
1 1/2 c white wine
5 cloves garlic, smushed
olive oil
4 T butter
red pepper flakes to tasted (optional)

to finish:

a handful of parsley, a few lemon slices, 2 cloves garlic chopped together, this is gremolata, except for the fact that you've used lemon slices instead of just the zest.

to begin:

Start the pasta water. While it is coming to a boil rinse the clams. A trick for ensuring that you will have no sand is too scrub them, and then immerse them into a warm salt bath and leave them for a half hour or so. Lift them out and rinse again, leaving the sand behind. This is one of Dana's Italian Tricks.

If you're going to soak the clams, wait to start the pasta water!

melt butter in olive oil in a saucepan big enough to hold the clams. After the butter foams add the smushed garlic cook and let cook slowly. The garlic can turn golden, but not brown as that will cause it to become bitter. After the garlic is soft and has begun to color add the liquids and red pepper flakes, if using. Let simmer for 15 minutes, this allows the alcohol to cook off and makes a rich broth. Add the clams and cover, the ones that are not covered by the liquid will steam open.

Add the pasta to the water after it reaches a rolling boil - about the same time you add the clams. You may or may not add salt to the water. Salting the water does give the noodles a nice depth of flavor to the finished product.

Cook the pasta til al dente, if done before the clams toss it with a little oil and set aside.

When the clams have opened, remove from heat and toss with gremolata. Then distribute pasta between 4 bowls.

Remove any clams that have not opened and discard. Distribute clams among the 4 bowls, discarding empty shells and fishing out the escaped clams with a slotted spoon. Pour broth over clams and noodles.

Serve with bread and salad. Pass red pepper flakes on the side. Cheese is generally not passed with fish pastas.

Eat up, drink some white wine and go off the theater like grown ups!

Except you arrive after the play has started and are horribly embarrassed in front of occasional co-worker who works with the theater. And you had no idea.

Come home, eat turkey sandwiches with dijon mustard and cranberry mayo, drink apple cider and go to bed.


AHHHHHHHHHHH.

Wake up, refreshed and have bagels and lox!

Hope your thanksgiving was as swell and chaotic as mine!

Thanksgiving n'at

Please excuse the wonky font. I give up.

Hi all! Thanksgiving is in two days and I am extremely excited. No, really, I am. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Yes, slaughter of Indians and all. The origin of the holiday is horrible, I will not argue that. But a holiday that requires no buying of gifts? And lots and lots of food with people you love, be they friends or family? That's my kind of day.

And then there's leftovers!

And this is what we plan for our leftovers! Che and Victor will be coming over Friday for those and birthday cake, as it is Che's birthday.

And then! There will be naps followed by Linguine with Clam Sauce and Neighborhood 3: REQUISITION OF DOOM!

So spoiled will I be, two consecutive all day Fridays spent with J, just eating and kicking it. Nice life!

This is what's on the menu for this evening:

Pumpkin and Bacon Soup

from the Whole Beast, Nose to Tail Eating. By Fergus Henderson

Olive Oil
3 Onions, peeled and chopped
3 Leeks, peeled and chopped
5 Garlic Cloves, peeled and chopped
2 1/4 lbs Streaky Bacon
4 Canned Whole Tomatoes
1 Pumpkin, peeled and seeded and cut into 1" chunks
3 Bay Leaves
a bundle of Thyme and Curly Parsley
at least 3 3/4 qts Ham or Chicken Stock
salt and pepper

Ok, Streaky Bacon is a British Thing. I used house-cured bacon from Parma Sausage down in the Strip. (I also got their mild Italian Sausage for Txgiving stuffing...!) And I only used a pound.

Chop bacon and saute in soup pot until fat is rendered. If you have more than a tablespoon of fat or so, pour it off. Add onions, leeks and garlic and saute until soft. Add tomatoes. Either squish up whole ones or use crushed, a generous spoonful per tomato. "Let all this cook down until you feel that they have really got to know each other."

Add pumpkin. Add broth. I used a qt of chicken stock and a couple cups of water. Let it simmer away for about 1/2 hour.

Delicious.

With this we had

Haluski

1 onion
a sprinkle of sugar
1/2 head of cabbage
1/2 package of egg noodles
1/2 stick of butter
2 T caraway seeds (optional. I love caraway, but some people, HI DANA!, do not.)
salt and pepper

Put 1/3 of the butter in a big pot, melt it and add the onion. When the onion is soft, sprinkle it with sugar, this will help the onion to caramelize. After the onion has started to brown, add the balance of the butter and the cabbage. You may need to add the cabbage in stages, if so, add the butter in stages as well.

When the cabbage has started to soften, add the caraway.

Meanwhile, cook egg noodles.

When the cabbage is melty soft, toss with cooked egg noodles, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and VOILA. You have made a traditional Pittsburgh Polish dish.


And as an extra added bonus today, you get Regan's Family's Wicked Easy

Microwave Marmalade

2 oranges, ends cut off and discarded (1 orange usually makes 1 cup chopped)
Equal amount of granulated sugar

Slice and chop the oranges, rind and all, very fine.
Measure the sliced and chopped oranges, stir in an equal amount of sugar. Mix well in a large glass measure, and zap on high for 6 minutes. (Sometimes it take a couple of minutes more)
Stir once during zapping to make sure it's well blended.
While the marmalade cools down on the kitchen counter, stir a few more times to make sure the orange pieces are distributed throughout the marmalade. Cover and refrigerate. Sets up as it cools.

So, my Christmas lights are up, my wreath, the first one I've ever bought! is hung in the window, the lone candle is in the upstairs window and I am ready for Thanksgiving!

Did I say I'm hosting? I'm hosting. My parents, my brother and his wife, J, Regan and my downstairs neighbor. We believe in Pot Luck over here!

And this is what we're having:

A Big Turkey
Oyster Stuffing
Sausage and Apple Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Brussel Sprouts with Walnuts
Cranberry Sauce with Pears and Ginger
Sis in law's Family's Broccoli and Cheese Casserole
Squash
Kielbasa
Salad

Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Homemade Vanilla and Pistachio Gelato
Carrot Cake

And lots and lots of wine.

My brother is doing the turkey. I have been permanently removed from Turkey Duty because I can never get the damn thing cooked on time.

And I will be making that marmalade to have on toast Friday morning!

Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet

but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat...yesterday I felt like a lemon tree. Or a lemon. My metaphor might need some work. My simile rather. HI! Have been a bit off lately, a bit blue and edgey* which culminated, as it so often does, in me getting a bit drunk and quite hysterical.

I know that I am not alone in this, but wow, it would be nice to not keep my emotions so squashed down and inaccessible that I need to get drunk and then explode in order to express and purge them. Just saying.

So, the sadness was an amalgamation of all sorts of sad, some immediate, and some rather more existential. Re-read Raymond Carver's story, "What we talk about when we talk about love," earlier in the week. To refresh - two couples sit at a kitchen table and get drunk and talk about love. Specifically that the tragedy of love is that as complete and perfect and forever that you think it is, most likely, love will fade, promises will be broken and eventually both parties move on to love someone else. The tragedy is not in moving on and loving someone else, it is that love seems perfect and eternal in the beginning. And that the other kind of love, the passionate all consuming ideal of love is not sustainable, and really not very healthy for all parties involved.

So, have been thinking about the nature of love and friendship, and promises made and broken and oh, all maudlin. Not in the sense of, "oh, why bother, it all goes to shit," but rather in the, "holy shit, am I letting someone this close to me again? Yes, I am," way.

And there is also the sadness of friendships that you think will be there forever, but no. These, too, crash and burn. So, you know, all the sadness in the world exploded from me last night in the form of hysterical sobbing.

Fortunately, J took this all in stride, and listened to me, told me to stop apologizing and then put me to bed and told me that it was all going to be ok.

It's disconcerting to have someone in my life again that does make me feel like just maybe, it might all be ok.

Tonight we are playing cribbage and drinking this:

Apple cider, Reed's Ginger Brew, and spiced rum, more or less equal parts, with ice if you like, I don't...and eating some sort of lovely salad that will feature walnuts and gorgonzola.

Tomorrow we are having Potted Shrimp and Butternut Squash Risotto.

It is raining, I overcooked my Hot Milk Sponge Sheet a little bit, but my lemon curd is delicious.

Time to wash the dishes and go to work.

love you to the max!

*living proof that being properly medicated does not turn one into an emotionless** zombie.

** problem with shoving emotions down and not expressing them predates medication, and is more of a symptom of the problems being medicated, rather than a result of being medicated.

Whipped Cream and Other Delights. Take 2.

I hate the touch pad on my PC. It is extremely sensitive and prone to uncontrolled cursor jumping, which leads to irritating typos and occasionally the deletion of entire posts. As happened this morning...GRRRRRR.

Valuable lesson learned: don't type in the shortcut on igoogle, it doesn't autosave. Ok? Ok!

Moving right along. We left off with some leftover whipping cream. A hand mixer is an extremely useful item to have around, and especially useful for whipping cream. A stand mixer with balloon attachment is also useful. Hand mixers are cheaper! Ok, so the important thing to remember is that you want the cream to stay as cold as possible so that it incorporates air and gets all fluffy and doesn't turn into a feh greasy mess.

I don't chill the beaters, although many do. I do keep a metal bowl in my freezer especially for whipping cream because a) I whip a lot of cream and b) I live alone and happen to have a fair amount of available real estate in my freezer.*

So, put your straight out of the fridge whipping/heavy cream into a chilled bowl (15 min in freezer is fine), add some vanilla, a little bit of sugar depending on how sweet you would like your cream, and whip it to desired consistency. Keep in mind that firm peaks are about as far as you want to go, unless you want to make butter.

Which is another thing you can do with your leftover cream! Add a bit of salt, or not, and whip away. My mom used to make butter with her kindergarten kids - put a cup of cream into a mason jar, add salt, or not, and shake. And shake! And shake some more! For this method it is useful to have several young children who will find this amusing.

Or a bunch of tipsy adults.

Did you know that a little glass of bourbon goes quite nicely with a ripe pear?

Well it does. Jack (my dad), prepared this delightful nibble for us the other night while we discussed Pawn Stars.

He is doing extremely well, radiation is over! He gets a couple weeks off now and then a couple more rounds of chemo.

Ok, what you've really been waiting for -

Chocolate Ganache. What happens when heavy cream meets semisweet chocolate and both achieve their highest purpose.

3/4 c. whipping/heavy cream
8oz chopped semisweet chocolate or semisweet chips

bring cream to boil in small sauce pan. Remove from heat. Stir in chocolate. Keep stirring until chocolate is melted. Let cool a bit. Stir in some booze. A couple tablespoons...orange liqueur, rum, bourbon, scotch...

Chocolate Ganache has many uses. You can let it cool until it is thick but still pourable and pour it over cake. You can cool it to room temp and whip it and use it as for frosting, or you can cool it to room temp, then put it in the fridge until chilled. A couple of hours or so. Then you take it out, roll it into little balls and then roll them in cocoa, or fleur de sel, or coconut, or chopped nuts, or whatever flits yr fancy, and you have made...truffles.

Yep.

It's that easy.

ok babies, I got a six lb mocha cheesecake I need to take a look at. Much love!


*My freezer contains: a bag of ice. I hate to make ice. 2 forms of frozen potato. Blame this on Jeremy. An ice cream freezer. A bag of frozen shrimp. A bag of edamame. A ziploc bag with overripe bananas for the banana bread I will never make. A bag of decaf french roast from Presto George. Just in case I feel the need for coffee taste later in the day! And a metal bowl for whipping cream.

Ultimate Chicken Soup

For one person, maybe 2.

Ok, the first secret is to use Marzano tomatoes. They are an Italian import and are, hands down, for whatever magic Italian reason, the best canned tomatoes out there. Yes, they are a little spendy, but well worth it. The second secret is to cook them down. You should do this with all canned tomatoes, simmer them for 20 minutes or so, it takes the canned taste away, but especially in this case. Just put them in a little saucepan or skillet for at least 20 min, a half hour is preferable and let them simmer gently.

1 can of chicken stock. Or if you are a superstar and have homemade on hand you can use that.

A big handful of spinach.

A little carton of whipping cream. This is Ultimate Chicken Soup! Don't skimp!

Toasted almonds, preferably slivers.

Some shredded chicken. This is a good thing to do with left over chicken!

After the tomatoes have ceased to taste like can, add the chicken broth and a few tablespoons of cream. Let simmer away for a bit longer, say, 10 minutes.

Add chicken and spinach and simmer until the spinach has wilted.

Make some buttered toast on nice dense bread.

Pour soup into bowl and top with toasted almonds.

Pour a nice glass of white wine and ahhhhhh....

This can be made vegetarian, with the obvious substitutes. You can add cooked rice, or other grain to it. You can pour it over a cooked grain and add a poached egg!

And you can make it without cream. But it will not have the lushness that lets your weary soul know that you are taking care of it.

And what to do with the whipped cream?

hah! Whip it. Whip it real good!

xo

Keeping faith

hey you guys? I've been baking. Like, sort of professionally. For the restaurant. And? It is so much fun. I'm not a baker. Well, I seem to be now! But historically my baking has been limited to occasional obsessive bursts. Like with the macaroons! But now? I bake all the time and I LOVE IT.

And I'm good at it! My pumpkin cheesecake? Makes people melt. As does my chocolate mousse. Dana has declared it therapy in a bowl. One of my co-workers has declared that she could live in it.

And the secret? Uh, just follow the recipe and watch the oven temperature. My oven runs about 5o degrees hot. I heart my oven thermometer.

And most of the recipes I follow? Joy of Cooking. No, really. The mousse is from the New York Times cookbook. Everything else? Joy of Cooking. Who knew? Not I.

I am not good at following recipes. I am more of a, "ok, this tastes like this, and that tastes like that, and this is how you cook these things, hey, LET'S THROW A PARTY!"

So, I've had to train myself to TRUST THE RECIPE.

One thing that has perpetually frustrated me is that while I've always made amazing pie crust, I make crappy pies. Still working on that. But now I have not one, but two amazing pie crust recipes. Again, the Joy. The cream cheese pie crust recipe will fool people into thinking it's puff pastry. But no. It's not. It's so much easier!

Flaky Cream Cheese Pie Crust

One 9" pie crust

1 c + 2 T all-purpose flour

1 T granulated white sugar or 2 T powdered

1/4 t salt

Cut into 1/4" pieces and add:

6 T COLD unsalted butter

3 oz COLD cream cheese

cut butter and cream cheese into dry ingredients until the the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Drizzle up to 3 T COLD heavy/whipping cream.

ONLY ENOUGH CREAM TO COHERE THE DOUGH. Pat it into a circle and wrap in plastic.

LET CHILL AT LEAST HALF HOUR! before forming. For best results, chill again for at least a half hour after forming and before baking @ 350. Make it the day before you need it in other words.

You're on your own for the filling.

Ok, so in other news. My dad is almost done with the five and a half weeks of radiation, and he is doing great. I stopped by the gun club today to say hi while he was shooting skeet. Shooting skeet! Five weeks into radiation! I was so happy. I wished I could have hung out longer and watched, but I had to go to work. He was shooting well! His hands shake too much now for pistol shooting, I kicked his ass a couple weeks ago when we were target shooting. He then wanted me and my sister in law to have a shoot off. She informed me of this while they were out there a week or so ago. She told him that we were a team, not rivals, and that it wasn't going to happen. She thinks that he wanted to redeem himself through me. She kicked both his and my brother's ass earlier in the fall. I think she's right. But it's really just enough to know that both of us are better with a handgun than either of them! That said, I suck with a shotgun. When I was in Jr. High I tried to shoot trap, and the kick was just too much.

In other news, very recent news! College kids moved into the house next door that has been being rehabbed since I moved back in. Like, yesterday. Initially I was all grumpy old lady about it, the previous owner of the house was some very damaged dude, older, but nice and harmless. I never thought he was looking in my windows, and if he was? Eh, whatever. But now, as of yesterday, I have college kids. Across the street, too! Boy Howdy has my neighborhood changed. Hell, my street has changed! I am now old school! WTF?! When I moved in here 7 years ago? I was incomprehensible to my neighbors. I'm positive that they thought I was a lesbian witch. No kids?! No man in the house?! Dress kind of funny?!* So, yeah. DUDES. There are YOUNG PEOPLE living next door to me. I'm over being grumpy old lady about it and am now kind of intrigued.**

So, yeah. Dad doing well. Hello?! AWESOME.

Thanksgiving is at my house this year. My mom was a little put out, cos she is in charge of the turkey, and thinks that hauling the turkey and gravy will be a pain in the ass, and why is at my house? Uh, cos me and sis in law think it will be fun. And the old broad, as my mom said, doesn't get a say. Nope! Been out voted via text by me and sis in law!

So, yeah. It will be fun. Person I Have Been Dating is in charge of cranberry and may take over my dessert duty.

It is strange, this Person I Am Dating. I am turning into a WE. And I have been a ME for a very long time, and wasn't really looking to turn into a WE. But I guess it's true, what they say, when you're not looking for it, all of a sudden, THERE YOU ARE.

Our dating life involves a lot of eating. Mostly eating in. He works days, I work nights, we're tired. We eat in a lot. I have an edge in this vaguely competitive situation as I have been obsessed with food and cooking for most of my life. He can hold his own though. And he makes a wicked martini.

So, here I am. In Pittsburgh. And yes, somehow our idiot mayor got re-elected. I am not registered in PA cos I just registered my car in WA. And I just realized today that I SUCK, because I didn't absentee in WA, and they had the everything but marraige addendum on the ballot. I'M SORRY. It didn't even occur to me to absentee. I'm glad it passed without me. And the 48% of WA that voted against? What the hell is wrong with you?!

Ok, babies. Much love.

*ie, wear a lot of skirts, no Steelers' gear, no jeans, no sweats...yeah. For a little street in Bloomfield, that spells Lesbian Witch. Spelled. Now I'm just part of the scenery. And there's college kids! In the houses where old people used to live! I'm not engaging in hyperbole. When I moved out, I could see the curtains twitching.

**I still have Washington plates on my car, which makes it unsual on the street. See above. But this morning I was driving down the street and some young boy was checking me out. Like, hey, that's the lady with the WA plates Suburu...hey, uh, so, anyway. We checked each other out. He was cute. That's when I called Dana and told her about the college kids, and hey, it might be ok. This conversation was followed by a conversation about how we just can't deal with the college kids, and how we try to keep in mind that we, too, were super obnoxious self-absorbed babies ourselves, once upon a long time ago. And try as we might to keep these facts in mind, GODDAMN. College kids are annoying!

Tahini and Miso are BFF

Dudes. I have had this blog since 2006 and average 3 posts a year. Jeez. That's terrible! How are you going to learn how to cook if all I can manage is 3 posts a year?!

That said, I have nothing to offer you. I am still playing with almond macaroons. I made some meringues the other day. I did not whip the whites to sufficient peak stiffness, nor did I have granulated sugar. So I used powdered. Note to self: FAIL. Also? I was too impatient for the "Forgotten Cookies" to be done. So instead of shutting off the oven and leaving them there for, "2 hours or overnight," I turned the oven back on and they browned. They tasted like burnt marshmallows with almonds and chocolate chips. Which is to say, not bad, but not...right.

I also made a delicious marinade for tofu (or whatever) but didn't pay attention to amounts.

Siracha, Tahini, Miso, Soy Sauce, rice wine vinegar from the pickled ginger I made. Tahini and Miso? Together? OMG.

Must give props to cookbook called something like, "Vegan Cooking for Students," or some such. The only recipe I remember from said book was for grated carrots tossed with equal amounts miso and tahini.

And that is where I learned that Miso and Tahini are BFF.

Now you know.

Extra added bonus? I just realized that I do have granulated sugar. Now I just have to wait for the humidity to back off again.

White Russian Cake

Had to check back to see where I'd left off. So, the cancer and the dad. First round of chemo done. Surgery, done. Second round of chemo, done. Nothing now for three weeks. And then, well, and then, it gets awesome - five and a half weeks, chemo/radiation, everyday. Not sure about weekends.

It is a goddamn good thing that I am not in school this semester. School started the week after I got back, yes, I have moved back to Pittsburgh - and my bunny brain could not handle it. I moved back into my old apartment. Through a sad circumstance, but, here I am. In the apartment I lived in for 3 of the years I was here before.

It is, without question, my apartment. I did a dance when I first walked in - I love this apartment. It loves me. I feel badly for the girl who thought it was going to be her apartment. But she got arrested with several bags of heroin in her purse and is now in rehab. Her dad is a lovely person. Her stepmom, I'm not so sure. She'd never seen the place. M was here for 2 months and they live 7 minutes away...a bit of me wishes that this space could have been the safe haven for M that it has been for me. The other part of me is glad that I'm here.

It may have been a safe haven for M. I know that M being here wasn't good for the other tenant of the building. And that makes me feel a bit less empathetic towards M. Nancy fr does not deserve drama and drugs and strange threatening people around. Nancy deserves cats that will come visit her, and open invitations to come up for a chat. Nancy deserves someone that she can trust with the key to her apartment should she go into diabetic shock. Nancy deserves someone that keeps fruit punch in the fridge, just in case.
This is not to tout my own horn. I didn't know enough about diabetes when I lived here before. I know a lot more now. And now that I have keys to her apartment the paramedics won't have to break the door down.
The re are many things.

I have no recipe for you right now, although I have been cooking a lot. But I will pass this hint along:

I worked for an amazing woman who made the cakes we served to raves. Her secret? Duncan Hines + alcohol + fresh whipped cream.

To this end, I have two layers of chocolate cake in the freezer waiting to be doused with Kahlua, and frosted with vanilla whipped cream. I am calling it a white russian cake and it is a belated cake for Becky who reads tarot cards where I now work.

Expect much more.

Th

Brandade de Morue

Today is the greatest day I've ever known. Not really. It's wintermixing. I haven't been feeling well. Some sort of minor irritating bug going around.

Been a little lax on yoga and gym as a result.

So my dad has been diagnosed with cancer. Apparently he did not get the memo about no cancer in 2009. I am in a quandry. Half of me feels that I should move back to Pittsburgh immediately, the other half is more practical and selfish and feels that I should stay here.

I have a job with health insurance here. The chance of that happening there, oh, about nil. I need to take care of my wrists. I don't want to lose prescription coverage, even though I take generics, it's still expensive.

This is what I get for declaring that this is the most stable I've been since I was 7 yrs old.

But I'm worried about my dad, obviously. I'm worried about my mom. She is taking a leave of absence to take care of my dad, the second in 4 years. He almost died in a motorcycle accident 4 or so years ago. While he was still in a coma we had to commit my mom's mom. She was talking to walls and convinced that there were gun fights in the halls of the nursing home. She had quite an elaborate narrative worked out. It was fascinating when you could step back and watch how the narrative worked and how she was using language as she was losing it. Otherwise it was horrifying.

My dad can tough it out. I'm afraid my mom might crack.

My parents don't have friends like I have friends. I don't know who my mom will talk to.

I always figured that when my parents started to fail that I would move back. I didn't expect it to happen so soon.

My dad has been worrying about his throat and esophagus for years now. Funny how your fears can seem prescient.

Am I really the spinster daughter?

This is the second time in those 4 years that my brother will have to try and save my dad's business. My dad is the only engineer. My brother is working toward it, but he's not there yet.

Lordy, what a mess. I am a bit clinically curious to see what foods my dad will be able to stomach during chemo.

He has gone on record in the past as preferring "b" foods: beans, bananas, bread, bacon, beer.

I've been planning to make quinoa and chard and mushrooms, but mostly I feel like eating grilled cheese. Tillamook sliced cheddar on 9-grain with tomato. I like tomato on my grilled cheese. I also like pickles, but I don't have any.

Last night I stayed in bed and read James Beard's Menus for Entertaining and the New York Times Cook Book. I would like an excuse to make brandade:

1 1/2 lbs dried salt cod
1 lb potatoes
2 c. milk
1 bay leaf
1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 whole cloves
1 1/2 T minced garlic
salt and pepper
Pinch of grated nutmeg
Pinch of cayenne
1 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 c. cream

Place the salt cod in a pan and add cold water to cover. Let soak, changing the water every 3 - 4 hours for 12 hours of so.

When ready to cook, bake the potatoes.

Drain the fish and put it in a casserole. Add cold water to just cover. Add milk, bay leaf, onions and cloves. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 - 4 minutes.

Drain the fish and discard cooking liquid. When cool enough to handle remove the skin and any bones. Flake the fish and add it to the bowl of a food processor. Use only the white flesh.

Scoop out the potatoes and add to the fish. Add garlic, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne.

Heat oil and cream separately to just short of boiling.

Start blending oil and cream, adding each alternately.

Taste, add salt if necessary, serve with toasts and or bread.

...

I've never made this. But I remember the first time I had it. I was extremely excited as I'd read about it. I was working at Work of Art with an amazing chef. Her name was Dina. I learned a tremendous amount from her. But! It was garlicky and rich and delicately fish flavored.

...

D and I went out for dinner and movie on Saturday. We went to a fondue restaurant. It hit the creamy cheesey rich that I've clearly been craving, but it wasn't that good. The cheese had a harsh bite from the wine, and the accompaniments were a sad little bowl of chopped raw cauliflower, baby carrot and celery, a little bowl of too tart for the cheese granny smith apple, and some mediocre bread cubes. But the wine was delicious. Some Cab - Malbec blend. It made my teeth gray.

The movie was Waltz with Bashir. Which was incredible and amazing and beautiful and a total head fuck. There's no relief from the horror, it just keeps going, layer upon beautiful layer of horror. Building to revelation, but with that revelation comes no catharsis.

...

On Sunday, prior to the Emerald City Kennel Club dog show, I made a delicious grilled cheese:

Tillamook Med. Cheddar, bacon left over from saturday breakfast with CV, avocado and tomato on sliced 9 Grain. With a big cup of cheater miso soup.

...

The end. It is Monday morning. I am playing hooky from work this am. On my way to work I will stop at the cheap veggie stand and buy the ingredients for a spinach salad for Vegan Sunday tonight. I am going to cheat on the dressing and use the bottle of Annie's ginger sesame I have already. The weather has been crap it is sapping my will.

hearts out!

Red Chile, Dim Sum, A day in the life

Dan'l the Tiger and I made Red Chile last night. The chiles came from New Mexico and Mexico compliments of Dan'l's brother.

We didn't toast the chiles because we'd been warned of the toxic chile fumes, and the way that my house holds cooking odors...ai. I grew up in a relatively non-chile sort of area, and haven't been that interested in what I understand to be the wide variety.

I think that has all changed. The complexity of the flavor and heat is fascinating. One chile in particular, I think the one from Mexico, add a smoky depth. And while it was tears running down my face hot, it was delicious. The heat was a steady slow burn, that was hottest initially. It took a bit for us to realize this, as we were both bracing ourselves for the sort of heat that initially is, "eh, whatever." and then burns like hell. Mostly asian chiles do this I think.

So it took a few bites before we realized that this was not going to be the case.

Earlier in the day David and I went with Chieu and Scott to Dim Sum and then to the best asian market I've been in, and Chieu showed me all the things she uses in her amazing food.

Dan was in charge of the chile, so I don't have an exact recipe. I used pork butt for the meat, and it came out super juicy and succulent. I am still feeling quite proud of myself for that since I don't cook a lot of meat! I am feeling much more confident about stews now.

Otherwise, here is what I like to think of as Vegan Mac and Cheese, even thought it's not anything remotely like it, except for the comfort factor. And it is extremely comforting.

1 portion soba noodles
1/2 an avocado - or one small
1/4 block of firm tofu (optional)
1/2 carrot, shredded (optional)
Sesame and nori gomaisho
soy sauce
rice wine vinegar
toasted sesame oil

Boil noodles.

Grate carrot, slice avocado and tofu

Drain noodles and toss with veg and tofu. Add soy sauce, rice wine vinger, toasted sesame oil and gomaisho.

Crawl into bed, snuggle your cat and read a good book.

Oatmeal

I've been on this huge oatmeal kick. I like it cooked in water with a banana and raisins and dried apricots and topped with walnuts and almonds.

MMMMMMMMMMM. It's so easy and delicious! Especially at work. Zap it for three minutes and it's done. 1/2 as much oatmeal as water. More or less! The other beauty of it.

And again, I am off the cheese, more or less. My housemate has gone vegan so he doesn't buy cheese, so I don't buy cheese, and all of a sudden no more quesadillas in bed!

I am trying to lose some weight. I hate saying that, because I really want to be ok with my body. But I'm not.

I'm going with the "reduce your calorie intake by 500 calories a day, 1/2 in food, and the other 250 in exercise, lb a week" technique.

The elliptical is my new best friend. It is very pleasant to not think about ONE GODDAMN THING for a 1/2 hour. Be still rabbit brain!

Have been quite consistent with the yoga. And am seeing progress in strength and balance. Nice things both.

Quick and dirty Miso Soup

Put 1 T White Miso in a mug. Fill with boiling water. Voila!

Nice all the time, but especially when you're sick. A squeeze of lemon is nice as well.
Don't boil the miso in the water, it will destroy the happy enzymes. At work I just use the hot water from the water cooler. Cooler/Heater I suppose is more accurate.

Read this blog.

I am going to have some miso now.