Healthier Kitchen

I have Nothing For You but a Reminder

2011-10-20T07:37:00.007-04:00

It's been about six weeks since I last wrote and though time generally flies, this time has not. I had a busy week or two at the end of August after my mother fell during a blackout caused by Hurricane Irene. She is OK now and comfortably resettled in a new place with many more eyes on her, hands able to help her and activities that she both enjoys and that stimulate her.

It's the period after that that really rankles. I feel like I fell into a haze of dizziness, medication and headaches that has lasted for over a month now. What began as a viral inner ear condition causing dizziness, turned into weeks of headaches which are only now starting to be under control. At least I can drive some, and sit at the computer without seeing cross eyed. I still feel like there's an alien living in my head some of the day (and night) and by 9 pm I'm exhausted.

I think I've turned a corner, because after weeks of just-get-it-on-the-table dinners, I made a favorite from food52 last night, alongside some roasted local rockfish and some pasta for my non-fish eating daughter. This morning I slow roasted some tomatoes to freeze for the winter and roasted a piece of salmon to use tomorrow in some easy salmon cakes. To top it all off, I even broke out the wok and used up some vegetable odds and ends and some leftover rice and actually made myself some fried rice for lunch!

So, instead of further whining and complaining that I have no new recipe for you yet (I hope to get to that point soon:)), I'd like to remind you of a terrific recipe I linked to last year at this time. These are great cookies, easy to make and not too terrible on the health scale for a cookie that is truly a treat. Head over to Coconut and Lime to check out these pumpkin oat chocolate chip cookies! You can also read my post from last year on these cookies here. Just a thought - I use white whole wheat flour to great effect in these.

Happy Halloween!

Chiles and More Chiles

2011-08-22T10:23:00.003-04:00

We just returned from a trip to New Mexico where we ate chiles everyday, often at every meal. Green chiles, red chiles and sometimes, a ladle of the sauce of each, side by side, which is known there as "Christmas." We enjoyed a string of casual, local meals including huevos rancheros, enchiladas, chile rellenos, and burritos, punctuated by sides including posole, polenta, and blue corn muffins. We feasted on carne adovada, blue corn and pinon pancakes, migas, and blue corn muffins.

In Chimayo, a town along the High Road to Taos, we bought some local chile powder after visiting the Santuario. I'd been to Chimayo 21 years ago, and though there are many more people coming through now, Vigil store is still there selling chiles. I bought some ground, sun dried red chile powder and some ground green chiles as well. We were days too early for the fresh New Mexico chiles, though they seem to be becoming available as I'm writing. They also sell local pinons, but there were also none to be had yet, as harvest is still a couple of months away, and there were virtually none last year.

It's funny, I took the same picture of Vigil Store 21 years ago!

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Many thanks to Maddy for her lovely photos!

I used some of my red chile powder to make this chorizo. Don't get scared off - this is no more complicated than making meatballs! No need to stuff the meat into a sausage casing as Mexican (or New Mexican, in this case) is often used outside of the casing anyway. This style of chorizo is not cured and dried like the Spanish type of chorizo. It's left raw until cooked for your recipe.

I used most of this batch in this delicious recipe of Pati Jinich's, and then used the rest for a New Mexico style breakfast of scrambled eggs with green chiles and chorizo.

I'm also thinking that this would be great using ground chicken if you don't eat pork. I will try it soon and report back. I use pork from locally raised, grass fed pigs so I'm not sure there's much fat differential between the two meats.

Also, please notice that there is virtually no salt in this recipe and you will not miss it!

New Mexican Style Chorizo

(with thanks to Mrs. Wheelbarrow, and several New Mexican cookbooks)

1.5 pounds pork shoulder, coarsely ground (you can ask your butcher to do this for you - Whole Foods' in-house ground pork is shoulder meat - or you can grind it yourself if you are so inclined. If you'd like to grind the pork shoulder yourself, I recommend checking out Mrs. Wheelbarrow's advice)

1 small white onion, minced

1 fat garlic clove, minced

2 Tablespoons New Mexico ground red chile (I know that most of you do not have this, so sub 1 Tablespoon sweet smoked paprika and 1 Tablespoon hot smoked paprika. Do not use commercial chili powder!)

3/4 teaspoon cumin seed (or sub 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin)

1 Mexican cinnamon stick (or sub 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 whole cloves ( or sub two pinches of ground clove)

10 whole black peppercorns (or sub a few grinds of fresh black pepper)

pinch or two of salt

1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 - 4 Tablespoons water, as needed

1. If you are using the whole spices, not ground, toast the cinnamon stick, cumin seed, cloves and peppercorns in a dry pan over medium heat. Shake the pan frequently until you can smell the spices, about 2 or 3 minutes. Don't walk away - you don't want them to burn!

2. If using the whole spices, grind the spices in a spice grinder or clean coffee grinder or with a mortar and pestle.

3. In a bowl mix the spices with the meat and add a pinch of salt, the oregano and the vinegar. Mix using a large spoon or your hands until everything is well combined. If it feels very dry, add the water a little at a time.

4. Heat up a skillet and make a tiny little meatball out of your mix. Cook it until cooked through so that you can taste for spice. If it is not as spicy as you like, add a pinch or two of cayenne or some more hot paprika.

5. Keep refrigerated for one day for flavors to build, but use within the next day or so. You can freeze the chorizo for a month or so as well.

Loss and Cooking and Peanut Butter Pie

2011-08-12T15:06:00.011-04:00

I don't really know Jennifer Perillo, though I met her briefly during Eat, Write Retreat, and there heard her speak from the heart about blogging. But, I feel I know her much more intimately than that limited contact, as I've read her blog for years and she's a person who shares herself on her blog, much more than I tend to do. I've made her recipes (she cooks everything from scratch) and I've read her posts about her family: her challenging relationship with her now deceased father, her two sweet little girls, and her husband, Mikey, and how his love has helped heal her childhood wounds.

I feel all the more involved in her life since Monday morning when I learned via Twitter, that her husband had died the night before, of a sudden heart attack. It was, as she put it on Twitter, a "sucker punch." I felt for her, for the loss of the man who helped her so, whom she loved so deeply and with whom she had every expectation of spending the next 30 or 40 years.

I haven't inserted my story into any notes that I've sent her or posted on food52 or Twitter as this is her pain and it's not about me. I don't presume to know how she feels as everyone's grief is different and every unique person handles grief differently. And I haven't lost a husband, in my thirties, with two little girls who've lost their very special dad. What I do know is the kick-in-the-gut shock of an unexpected loss that changes your life. Sitting on a kitchen stool eating lunch on a sunny afternoon, still in the no longer sweaty exercise clothes from earlier in the morning, when a phone call comes and it's like the Towers fell right in your house. Worrying how other loved ones will react, cope, worrying how your children will react.

And Jennie's loss brought me right back there, to a place I remember with a physicality that surprised me. The teary eyes, the constant weight on the chest, the effort it requires to take each breath. And yet, amid her grief, Jennie paused to write on her blog, a tribute to her husband and a regret that she had not yet had time to make his favorite, peanut butter cream pie. She asked that others make this pie today, Friday, the day of his memorial service, in support of her and her girls, and as a symbolic gesture of carpe diem love and appreciation for loved ones.

Though I didn't make that pie, I did cook for my family, as I do each day, with the same love and as mindfully as I ever have. Hundreds of other bloggers made, photographed and blogged about that pie. There are links to posts on CNN, food52, Food Network and all over Twitter and Facebook. Jennie's post was a reminder to show our love and live fully every day, the blogging community has shown that it heard her and that for most of us, we show our love through sharing our food.

How Jennie was able to write, let alone think up such a lovely tribute to her husband and a reflection of her love is astonishing and a testament to her strength. I can only thank her for her most meaningful message and hope that this community outpouring helps buoy her through this time.

Summery Salads

2011-08-11T09:09:00.000-04:00

I thought I'd take this opportunity to link to some cool, summer salads appropriate for a lighter dinner. One of my all time favorites is Salade Nicoise. There is a little stove top simmering involved, but no need to heat up the oven. Just make sure to buy a jar of really top quality tuna in oil - this is not the place for Bumble Bee solid in water. Really.

Last night I served two salads alongside each other and they really complemented each other well. The first, a Spanish flavored chicken salad, is one that I've made numerous times since Amanda first posted it on food52. The mix of artichoke hearts and peppadew peppers with the almonds is irresistible. Last night, I improvised a little, adding the kernels of a leftover ear of corn, as well as some sliced heart of palm for some of the artichoke after I ran out. If it's hot and you don't want to roast a chicken, just use a store-bought rotisserie chicken. Some stores sell "naked" or seasoning free roasted chickens, which are preferable here.

The second was something really different. I pulled it out of the New York Times the day I made a dish requiring the tops of the broccoli. I eagerly cut out this recipe using the broccoli stalks in a lemony salad with creamy avocado. Together, this and the chicken salad made a delicious summer meal with a piece of garlicky bruschetta and a glass of vinho verde.

Enjoy and stay cool!

What to Do With Those Preserved Lemons

2011-08-02T09:00:00.003-04:00

I was recently speaking to a fellow food blogger about preserved lemons. Not usually a topic of conversation with friends, but it seemed perfectly normal with a foodie friend. We discovered that we had both made 2 quarts over the winter and neither of us had used them yet. Preserved lemons are a specialty item that most of you will never desire and never miss, but if you ever have a good one quietly mixed into a dish, you'll notice a more concentrated essence of lemony flavor than even fresh zest can provide.

I had also preserved two quarts last year, but had to throw them out after we had an extended power outage. Although the lemons are preserved in a ton of salt, the recipe I used specified to keep them refrigerated, and I just wasn't sure they were still OK after a being unrefrigerated for so long in the summer heat. This year, I vowed not to waste these golden orbs a second time. Like last year, I used Meyer lemons from California, which are a little sweeter than the usual lemon we get around here. They are actually a hybrid between a lemon and an orange or tangerine.

I hadn't had home preserved lemons before, just packaged ones from the specialty store, so I wasn't completely sure how they would taste. Some of the jarred ones I'd had before were rather bitter and not particularly appealing.

I am happy to report that mine are delicious and I can now imagine a myriad of uses for them.

The first taste test occured when I made this recipe using a really fresh piece of wild Alaskan halibut that I lucked in to at Costco, of all places. I adapted what Goin calls the "salsa," really more of a vinaigrette, and got creative with the leftover vinaigrette the next day. I had a couple of cups of cannellini beans I'd cooked from dried a few days earlier, and some beautiful French green beans or haricots verts from the farm market. I also added some yellow grape tomatoes and some thinly sliced, red cippolini onion. I didn't add any other herbs as I wanted to be able to really taste the lemon vinaigrette.

So while I realize that many of you will never make this recipe, I'm posting it for those of you still hoarding quarts of preserved lemons in your fridge. I'm talking to you, Kim! Even if beans are not your thing, if you've got the lemons, try this on fish, pork, beef, chicken, or even vegetables such as spinach and peas.

Bean Salad in Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette

vinaigrette adapted from Suzanne Goin

(serves 4)

For the vinaigrette:

1 Tablespoon finely chopped shallot
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 preserved lemon, lightly rinsed and flesh discarded, rind thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon agave nectar
1/3 cup olive oil
freshly ground pepper

For the salad:
2 cups cannellini beans, either cooked from dried or from one can of no sodium added beans
1 dry pint French green beans (haricots verts), stem ends trimmed and cut in two
a handful or two of yellow or red cherry or grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
3 Tablespoons thinly sliced red onion

1. To prepare the vinaigrette, place the shallot and vinegar in a bowl and let sit for about 5 minutes. Whisk in the agave nectar, and then the oil. Add in the preserved lemon rind and a couple of grinds of pepper. Set aside

2. Combine the two kinds of beans, the tomatoes and onions in a serving bowl. Spoon about half the dressing over top and mix gently to combine. Add more Tablespoon by Tablespoon until you achieve a balance you like. You might not use it all and can save the rest in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

Time Well Spent

2011-07-29T14:29:00.002-04:00

Sometimes you do things you don't expect to find yourself doing, and which virtually nothing in your life suggests you'll either be good at or even enjoy, just to spend time with your teenager. I'm not talking about skydiving here, just making a cooking video, but still.

Making the video was my son, Ted's, idea. He is a musician (and college student), who not only writes his own music, but performs it, records it, mixes many tracks of himself playing multiple instruments, films video, and puts the finished products up on his You Tube channel. Working with a bare bones set-up in our house, and sometimes with a band he put together this summer, he has created a body of steadily improving works. While he is a great guitarist, singing is only a relative strength (think Bob Dylan or Neil Young) of his. Yet, he continues to record, finding songs that he can cover in his range and writing others that play to his strengths. He's always improving and just doesn't let his singing hold him back.

His idea was to film me cooking and put it up on You Tube and then here, on my blog. He suggested that this would be a good tie-in with my recipes and blog and make me more marketable. Since I'm a little camera shy, I was hesitant about a video. I worried that I'd be nervous, speak too fast and look completely ridiculous. I finally went ahead with the idea not because I think my future is in tv cooking, but because it was a great opportunity to work on a creative project with my son as his peer, rather than as his parent.

Our first attempt was not quite a polished Food Network product, but not completely horrible either. My eyes darted frantically from side to side as I improvised the opening lines and then there was the nervous shoulder-shake and hair flip, which we have, thankfully, removed. On Ted's end, he found that filming a subject not anchored in front of a mike was somewhat more challenging than filming himself sitting on a stool in front of a strategically placed camera tripod. We've decided to make another video together before he goes back to school, to work out some of the kinks in the first, sort of practice video.

So, while he works on camera angles, moving with me, close-ups that don't make me look ten years older and ten pounds fatter, and smooth transitions, I'll be learning to keeping my eyes steady and not smack the cutting board with a knife while I'm talking, and not to care that I look my age and not 25. Most importantly, I'll be appreciating what I can learn something from my amazing, creative son.

So, here is the result of our collaboration. I hope you'll take it for what it is and know that we spent some quality time together filming it.

You can find the recipe on which I based this summery pasta with fresh tomatoes here. Just add the kernels of two ears of corn if you like.

Also, since the margins on blogspot seem to cut off the right side of the video, just double click on the video to watch it in full screen.

It's Cooler!

2011-07-26T15:50:00.005-04:00

Not until I was leaving the house this morning full of energy with three errands to accomplish before my exercise class, did I realize how completely lethargic I've been for the last week. I really didn't even want to cook, grill, drive, it was so hot. So, though I made it to the farmstand on Sunday morning before the heat was too oppressive, by the time I got home I was didn't even have the motiviation to admire my market finds. Whatever had I been thinking as I bought a couple of pounds of Persian cucumbers? I could barely make dinner that night, let alone make pickles.

It took until today, a beautiful sunny, humidity-free day, for me to finally get out the Ball jars. Last year, I made some unbelievable tangy, sweet and sour pickles that crunched when you bit in even months after I made them. But those take 8 days to make, not even counting sitting time, and although I've regained some of my heat-suppressed energy, I haven't regained some of my much needed ability to focus on something for longer than a couple of minutes. So lacto-fermentation it was, with food52 to the rescue with the perfect recipe. Lacto-fermentation sounds scary - it conjures up pictures of bulbous, cartoon like, blue-green-purple bacteria (and what's with the "lacto"? Milky?), but it seems to mean that I just put the cucumbers in a jar with some garlic, dill and salt water and let them sit for three days. At the end of three days, I am supposed to check the jars and make sure the water seems fizzy, which will indicate that lacto-fermentation is successfully underway and that I can refrigerate my pickles for later use. Piece of cake on an 85 degree day!

Summer Fancy Food Show 2011

2011-07-19T15:45:00.004-04:00

I spent the better part of three days last week at the Summer Fancy Food Show at the Washington Convention Center, tasting olive oils, sampling cheeses (I will mention one, a thistle rennet ewe's milk cheese from Casa Lusa of Portugal) and seeking out healthier foods that might be headed our way. The summer show is usually in New York but was in DC this year and will be again next summer while the Javits Center in New York is under reconstruction.

I saw many familiar, healthier brands: Cucina Antica tomato sauces, Lotus and Lundberg whose whole grain rices I love, my favorite special olive oil from Robbins Family Farm in California, organic acacia honey from Italy, Larabars and Kind bars.

In stopping at booths of other brands I recognized, I came across some new products that I'm looking forward to seeing in the stores. Lifeway Kefir has a new frozen kefir that tastes like froyo and will soon be available in stores. I sampled this product at Eat, Write Retreat (EWR) and trust me when I say that it is a winner. I tried the original flavor both times and it is just a little sweet, plenty tangy, totally delicious and low calorie and natural to boot. I also really like another item I had at EWR which is made on a Native American Indian reservation - a dried snack bar of buffalo meat and dried cranberries made by Tanka. Oddly delicious. Late July, whose cheese crackers I used to buy, is coming out with a multigrain snack chip that is as satisfying as a regular tortilla chip yet has some fiber and protein and is also low in sodium and gluten free.

Another brand of rice, Village Harvest, was featuring cooked and frozen whole grains and rices such as a quinoa and brown rice mix, farro and red rice, wheatberry and barley and a mix of brown, red and wild rices. I was particularly pleased to see these, as I have been boycotting Trader Joe's, my usual source of frozen cooked brown rice. Maya Kaimal, maker of delicious Indian simmer sauces that I do not use any longer as they are pretty high in fat and sodium, has a new spicy ketchup that I loved. It would be unbelievable as a dip for baked sweet potato fries, as a topping on sandwiches, or as the base for a sauce. I also noted that another jarred Italian tomato sauce brand, La Famiglia Del Grosso has revised its recipes to make them lower in sodium. Pearl River Bridge, a Chinese company whose dark soy sauce and dark vinegar I've used, is now offering a low sodium soy sauce and told me they will have a gluten free version soon, too. Pereg, a kosher brand, now has a quinoa and mushroom boxed mix with very little added sodium.

I spent quite a bit of time at the booth of Isela Hernandez of Hernan Mexican Chocolate. The Mexican chocolate she sells is far better than the brands I've used before when making mole. She also sells prep ware such as wooden molinillos for frothing Mexican hot chocolate (one of Maddy's favorites!), as well as a type of ceramic pot called "ollo de barro" which she used for making hot chocolate. I'm looking forward to making some of Isela's hot chocolate for Maddy when it cools off.

I was really impressed with one of the many teas I saw and tasted at the show. I have been very loyal to Taylor's of Harrogate Afternoon Darjeeling and Scottish breakfast teas, and have never before given any thought to using organic tea. However, after speaking with the representative of the family run, organic Teatulia, I plan to investigate further. After all, I buy many organic fruits and vegetables, I'm not sure I'm happy about pesticides sprayed on my tea leaves. Teatulia's teas are fresh and clean tasting and are strong without being bitter. I was able to use one of the Earl of Bengal (their Earl Grey) tea bags to make not just one, but a second perfectly well brewed cup of tea. I also tasted the lemongrass herbal tea, which Teatulia suggests you can also use to infuse a pot of rice. The best part about this tea is the company's mission to help raise up the area in which the tea is grown in Bangaladesh.

I also tried out some items I've never seen before such as popped sorghum which looks just like tiny popcorn and tastes just like popcorn but as it's a grain has no kernel to get stuck in your teeth. This was pretty tasty, but I found the tiny, bead-like size a little awkward for eating. I also came across an umami paste made from a tomato base with just about every umami rich food thrown in: mushrooms, anchovies, parmigiano, olives and balsamic vinegar. It was a little fishy when I sampled it plain, but I think it will have a myriad of uses in cooking whenever a dash of fish sauce would come in handy. I added it to a ragu last week to great effect. It's called Taste 5 Umami Paste and is made in Italy for a British food personality, Laura Santtini.

There was a pop-up restaurant powered by Korean chefs at which I received a sample of dried kim chi which can either be reconstituted or crumbled as is. I'm curious to see how it matches up to fresh. Olivia's croutons, which are the house croutons at Fresh Market, which is soon coming to Rockville, were tasty and consist only of the ingredients I use when I make my own. They are made in the barn of a family farm in Vermont. Himalasalt, from Great Barrington, MA, had some beautiful and useful products made from Himalayan Pink Salt.

Some of the foods I liked were international and not yet distributed in the DC area. A company from Italy, called Pedon, is trying to get more distribution in the US for its sodium free, grain, rice and legume mixes. Although I did not have a chance to taste the end product, the packages included quick cooking farro, 5 grain mix and barley with pulses (lentils). I also tasted some delicious soft cheese from Serbia that ranged in creaminess from yogurt-like to fromage blanc to creme fraiche. I tasted an interesting oil, Sacha Vida, from the Sacha Inchi seed from Peru. Supposedly, this oil is as high in Omega-3 as fish oil. Fillette bottled water from Italy tasted much like Pellegrino, but with no sodium. I really liked a new soy and potato pop style chip from France called Too Good! Very lo cal, but I couldn't tell what the sodium content was as it was a French label. I liked both the tomato and herb flavor as well as the bacon flavor. I was surprised at how much I liked a mead (wine made from fermenting honey) from Poland after being very underwhelmed by mead when I tried it in Chinon, France many years ago.

A few very small, new companies had some interesting products to share. A product I really liked was an Ethiopian simmer sauce from Satisfy Your Soul out of Burlington, North Carolina. It had a complex spice without overwhelming with heat. One of my show favorites was Sallie's Greatest Jams from South Carolina. In a hall filled with hundreds of jam purveyors, Sallie's flavor combinations stayed with me. Her use of herbs with each fruit is what I would do if I was more motivated and are just what I like to eat. I particularly liked her strawberry basil which I tasted with some goat cheese. Another new product, Bagel Spice, is basically selling the toppings of an everything bagel in a shaker jar. Very creative and clever, but I'm not sure how much I'd use such a product without an accompanying bagel.

I mostly avoided sweets but the Tate's Bake Shop booth drew me in with its signs advertising its Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Chip cookie. I've had great success making Kim Boyce's version so I was very interested to try this one. This is not health food by any stretch with its buttery crisp bite, but it is made with the healthier whole wheat and dark chocolate and worth an occasional splurge. Tate's is a shop in Southampton, NY which also sells by mail order.

And, on the completely non-healthy side of things, falling within the category of a deliciousness that should be experienced but a little goes a long way, are 1) Skillet's Bacon Jam bacon spread which was amazing on a cracker with a little Brie and arugula and would be even more amazing on a burger; and 2) Fermin's Jamon Iberico de Belotta which comes from acorn fed black footed pigs from Spain. If you ever have the opportunity, especially for free, just try it!

Amidst all the food there were also a few booths of non-food, but food related products. Paper Chef makes unbleached, compostable parchment paper baking products such as cupcake cups, parchment paper, and pre-made parchment bags, which avoid the need to crimp and twist when cooking in parchment. Toastabag, a completely ingenious product if it works, is a sleeve in which you can make grilled cheese or pizza in a regular slice toaster. Since I just retired my old toaster oven in favor of a slice toaster, I'm very curious to see how these work. Supposedly, each bag can be used up to 50 times and can even be washed in the dishwasher. I'll keep you posted on these as I try them.

As I had other commitments the morning of the last day of the show, I ended up arriving in the afternoon and so, was just leaving as the show ended. I was warmed to see that within minutes of the announcement that the show was officially over, black and white tee shirt clad volunteers from the DC Central Kitchen fanned out through the rows of booths, to collect leftover food. I have since read that they gleaned over 100,000 pounds of usable food that will either be donated to other needy groups or turned into meals for the homeless of DC!

A final note about the above opinions - these are just things that struck my fancy as I wandered through the show. Other than the samples at the show which were available to all attendees, I've received no compensation to provide these opinions. Just my two cents, and mine alone, for anyone who cares to read such a long post!

Gardening and Squash Blossoms

2011-07-06T15:00:00.006-04:00

With gardening, as with many things, my reach often exceeds my grasp. I envision a lush, loosely landscaped edible garden just outside my back door, yet the measly effort I end up expending generally leaves me with a half-assed, scraggly imposter. I don't have a brown thumb, exactly, more a lazy thumb with high hopes. I start out with the best of intentions, and I'm great at the obsessive reading and purchasing part of the garden. But once the miasma of humidity and mosquitoes descends on DC like a dust storm in Phoenix it's all I can do to provide a little water first thing in the morning.

I should mention that I do very well with hardy herbs that require little or no human intervention to thrive. I love a plant that demands little of me yet yields great rewards. I've found that sage, thyme, parsley, mint, oregano, marjoram, tarragon and parsley fit the bill in my garden boxes and pots. Most of them survive the winter here quite nicely, sprouting forth again in spring. I added a few new herbs this year, lemon verbena and sorrel, as well as cilantro, epazote and shiso which I'm growing from seed. I'll see if these are as easy to grow as the rest.

This year, my desire for vegetables that I can't easily acquire in a local store or farm stand led me to go beyond the herbs. I bought organic seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom and Johnny's and started them on my kitchen window seat in cow pots. I then bought Smart Pots and a raised bed planter to keep the plants up off the ground.

And so I find myself the caregiver of a tomatillo plant as well as four varieties of tomato. Only time will tell whether these plants are hardy enough to withstand the DC heat and my erratic attention. I suspect I will do a much better job with the fall plants that I've not yet had a chance to traumatize, such as Chinese broccoli, kale and lettuce.

My father-in-law's garden in Western Massachusetts, on the other hand, benefits from the heroic efforts he and his friend, Susan, have been lavishing on the terraced, hillside beds running up to the woods behind the house. When we visited last weekend, we dined on squash, zucchini and lettuce from the garden thanks to their efforts. They also gave us some lettuce and squash and squash blossoms to take home with us.

Squash blossoms are just the sort of thing that brought me to gardening. If you try to buy them in a farm market the price is ridiculous. Yet, if you have just a few backyard plants, or your father-in-law does, you have more than you know what to do with. They are irresistible with their saffron hued, trumpet like flare and subtle, yet delicious flavor.

Yesterday, I spent a chunk of the afternoon thinking about what I'd make with the squash blossoms, never considering that I could have spent some of that time taking care of my lagging San Marzano tomatoes. One of the most popular preparations is to stuff them with a mixture of ricotta cheese and herbs, then bread and deep fry the blossoms. While I love them this way, I don't deep fry. Sara Jenkins has a recipe in her Olives and Oranges in which the stuffed blossoms are simmered in tomato sauce, and though this sounds delicious, it just didn't speak to me yesterday. Plus, I had no ricotta cheese. And, as we'd had eggs a couple of nights earlier, I also crossed a frittata off my mental list.

Finally, I decided on risotto to accompany the rockfish I'd bought earlier in the day, but rather than use rice, I thought farro would make a hearty complement to the squash and fish. As I had a load of blossoms and only a few little sprouts of baby squash, I added some shelled peas to the mix. I used a basic risotto style to cook the dish, though I have found with farro that it is better to add most of the stock at once rather than in the cupfuls as you would with a regular risotto.

Farro and Squash Blossom Risotto (or Farrotto)

(serves 3 - 4 as a side dish)

1 - 2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 fat shallot or 2 smaller ones, minced
1 nice sized clove of garlic, minced (I had some green garlic so used that this time)
1 small zucchini or yellow summer squash, diced small (or two if you'd rather omit the peas)
1 cup semi-pearled, or perlato, farro
1/3 cup dry white wine
3 cups homemade or no or low sodium chicken stock or broth
1/2 cup shelled peas, from about a quarter of a pound fresh peas in the shell
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
about 2 ounces of squash blossoms, cut in a chiffonade, reserve a pinch or two for garnish
1/4 cup basil cut in a chiffonade, reserve a pinch or two for garnish
1/2 cup shredded or shaved Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, reserve a pinch or two for garnish
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a sauce pan, bring stock to a simmer.

2. Heat a small Dutch oven or high sided skillet (not non-stick!) over medium heat and add the oil.

3. Cook the shallot for a couple of minutes over medium heat until it starts to soften and become translucent. Add a pinch of salt and a grind or two of black pepper and mix. Add the garlic and zucchini or squash and cook another minute or two, stirring often.

4. Add the farro and stir to let all the farro get a little coated with the oil.

5. Add the wine and raise heat so that the wine simmers in the pan. Mix.

6. When the wine has cooked off, add 1 cup of the stock to the farro pan. Add another pinch of salt and grind of pepper. Make sure the stock comes to a high simmer - not quite a boil, but a good bit of bubbling. Stir often until the stock cooks down and the pan is almost dry. Then add the rest of the stock and let it bubble, stirring often, until about two thirds of the liquid cooks down. At this point, add the peas and stir again. This step should take about 20 minutes.

7. When the liquid is just a think coating on the pan, lower the heat to low, and swirl in the butter.

8. When the butter is fully incorporated, add the squash blossoms and basil and mix gently.

9. Add the cheese and continue to mix gently. Taste and add more salt and pepper to taste, if you like.

10. Arrange in serving bowl with the remainder of the squash blossoms, basil and cheese on top.

Rhubarb Strawberry Refrigerator Jam

2011-06-14T11:50:00.001-04:00

I'm typing fast here as I can feel the rhubarb and strawberries slipping away. There are thousands of strawberry rhubarb jams out there and I never thought I'd be one to add to the morass, but this is so easy to make and the taste rewards are manifold.

I'm getting braver, really I am. Thanks to Mrs. Wheelbarrow, the queen of canning, and her calm guidance at canning events, I know I could have processed this jam and had rhubarb strawberry jam year round. But it was such a small batch that I knew we'd go through it quickly enough that I could just put it in the refrigerator. So I did. And so you can too! All you need is some farm fresh rhubarb and strawberries. This type of jam, especially on this small scale need not intimidate. In fact, it's so easy that it's a shame not to do it when the fruit is at its peak.

I saw some rhubarb and strawberries at the farm stand on Saturday and quickly decided to go for one last batch. I'd canned several different combinations of rhubarb products at a DC food52 rhubarb canning event hosted by Cathy Barrow, aka Mrs. Wheelbarrow, a couple of weeks ago (pickle, chutney, preserves) so I guess I was feeling bold. But the recipe I located called for 2 pounds of strawberries and I was just shy of one. When I couldn't find any more on Sunday morning, I adapted the recipe to fit what I had - an almost even amount of rhubarb and strawberries.

This smaller batch size was actually perfect for refrigerator jam, as it yielded about 2 pints which I put into 1 pint jar and 2 half pint jars. The jars you use do not need to be canning jars, as you won't be processing them. However, you'll want them really clean so run them through the dishwasher and turn them upside down on a clean paper towel or dish towel to drain. Then dry them thoroughly with a clean towel.

I added a little sprig of the lemon verbena I have growing in my garden which I've seen Cathy do to add a little different type of lemony flavor. And, I added crystallized ginger, in part because I love the zingy taste of ginger, and in part, because I thought that the little extra sweetener on the ginger would be fine in this not-too-sweet recipe.

This is a lovely jam, not too tart, and not too sweet. I have had it on toast and plan to serve it with some brioche French toast tomorrow morning. I'm also looking forward to trying a couple of spoonfuls into my morning yogurt as well.

If you move quickly, you might still find some rhubarb and berries around. You don't need much!

Rhubarb Strawberry Jam

(adapted from localkitchenblog.com)

makes approximately two pints

1 pound rhubarb, washed, ends trimmed and cut into about 1/2 inch slices. With really fat stalks, halve lengthwise, then make your horizontal cuts.

2/3 cup filtered water

1 pound strawberries, washed, hulled, and cut into half or quarters depending on size. I kept the really tiny ones whole. These are really nice to find in your jam

1 1/3 cups natural cane sugar

juice and zest of one lemon

pinch salt

sprig lemon verbena (if you have one growing - otherwise omit!)

1/4 cup crystallized ginger bits, cut if they are not the pellet type

1. Place rhubarb pieces and water in a soup pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, stir and reduce to a simmer. Let the rhubarb simmer for about 15 minutes until it softens. Mix occasionally

2. Add the strawberries, lemon juice and zest, sugar, salt, and lemon verbena and bring it back to a boil, and lower to medium heat to let it bubble lightly for about 5 minutes then add the ginger.

3. Let it bubble about another 15 minutes, mixing occasionally, or until the jam thickens enough that when you drag your spoon through the mix, you can see the bottom of the pot, briefly, as the spoon pulls through.

4. When thick enough, turn off the heat under the pan and skim off any foam on top and remove the lemon verbena.

5. Let the jam cool for about five minutes in the pot, then fill your cleaned jars. Wipe the outside of the jars with a clean, damp cloth to remove drips. Let cool for an hour or so and refrigerate.

6. Keep refrigerated between uses!

We Hardly Knew Ye, Trader Joe

2011-06-07T11:38:00.014-04:00

Yesterday I retweeted an article written by Barry Estabrook called The Profound Impact of a Penny. I'm not so naive as to think it was a coincidence that the publication of this article on Zesterdaily.com occurred on the official release date of Mr. Estabrook's book, Tomatoland, but it is persuasive and disturbing nonetheless. This is an issue that has been festering for years, and only upon reading this article yesterday did I realize how close to home it is hitting.

To backtrack a little, Barry Estabrook has written numerous articles (check out the one that ran in Gourmet before its demise) and devoted a large portion of his book (haven't read it yet, but have it on the list to read shortly) to exposing the abuses of farm workers working for commercial tomato farms in Immokalee, FL. This subject was front and center at the Washington Post's Future of Food conference in April. Eric Schlosser referenced the harm pesticides do to farm workers and the co-founders of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) sat on a panel about the impact of food and our current food system on ordinary people. Mark Bittman has also written about this issue in the New York Times.

It is well documented that in addition to the hard work, low wages, poor living conditions and potential for pesticide poisoning inherent in most commercial farm work, workers in Immokalee have suffered mightily: children and pregnant women working the pesticide sprayed fields, notoriously pitiful housing and instances of beatings and even slavery. The CIW seemed to have successfully achieved a penny per pound increase in the price paid for tomatoes when the twelve or so companies that grow almost all of Florida's tomatoes (nearly one-third of all tomatoes Americans eat) agreed to pay the penny increase. This amount would increase wages for individual workers from about $50 dollars per day to about $80. However, according to Estabrook, the companies imposed a condition - their customers, supermarkets, food service companies and fast food chains - had to agree to absorb the increase. There's the rub.

It's easy to agree to increase when you're not the one paying it, so the agreement by the tomato companies had no teeth until customers signed on. Apparently, Whole Foods was the lone supermarket assenter when it agreed to the increase. Fast food chains and food service companies supplying colleges, museums, etc. also signed on. But not Trader Joe's.

Burger King and McDonald's have agreed to pay an extra penny per pound of Florida tomatoes as well as only deal with growers complying with the Fair Food Code of Conduct which provides some basic provisions to protect workers . McDonald's! In 2007! And yet, Trader Joe's seems to be hiding behind legalese, suggesting that the agreement is "overreaching, ambiguous and improper."

Not one to take all journalism at face value, I headed over to the Trader Joe's website to read its corporate response for myself. I'm a licensed, though no longer practicing attorney and a reasonably well-educated person and I found its May 11, 2011 letter "To Our Valued Customers" difficult to decipher. What I could follow seemed unduly nitpicky and suggest that they want their wholesalers to absorb the cost and not have to think about it at all. the entire tenor of the letter smacks of a lawyer's keyboard. It is rife with language like "poorly conceived" and "improper on its face." It shouldn't be this complicated. If the company truly supported the rights and needs of these workers, its representatives could work out the issues on specific language of the agreement. Lawyers dealing with contracts do it all the time - I know, I was one. Why can't they get to yes?

Trader Joe's is not the only grocery store to fail to sign the agreement with the CIW. Most of the large chains have refrained as well. So why am I so distressed by Trader Giotto? Perhaps it's the friendly demeanor they cultivate in their staff. Or, maybe I've been suckered by the overall marketing scheme and feel betrayed. Or maybe, because I don't shop much at any other chain and I really like some of their products.

I shouldn't be completely surprised. In the early years of the trans fat revelations, I learned the hard way that just because Trader Joe's seems so homey and health conscious that it had not banned trans fat from it's shelves. I still had to read the individual labels to insure that there was no trans fat. Seeming health conscious, down home and friendly is a marketing ploy; there's a big difference between wood panelling and Hawaiian shirts and an actual commitment to bettering the world.

What to do about this stand-off? While I generally don't buy off season tomatoes and do most of my produce shopping at farm markets, I do buy some and I do spend a good portion of our food budget at Trader Joe's. Should I immediately stop shopping there? Should I send a letter to their management? Both? Neither?

I don't want to suggest to anyone else what to do either, as I'm still so confused. I'm allowing for the possibility that there is actually more to the story than the CIW says and that the Trader Joe's just didn't explain itself well enough. I want to do some more research and read some more about this issue. I hope you will, too, and let me know what you think. And I will write a letter to the management and see what the response is. And, I'll hope that Trader Joe's comes around.

Although I'm trying to take a little time and not rush to judgement here, I think I do know, deep down, what I have to do. The bottom line is that it is only one cent per pound. And McDonald's, McDonald's of the subliminal marketing to children and questionable meat-like substances, with customers who likely wouldn't care it they didn't come to terms with the CIW, has agreed to this.

Why oh why, Trader Joe's?

Thai Curry Noodles and the Body Odd

2011-06-06T07:30:00.000-04:00

During my morning surf of the news last Friday, I came across a story on The Body Odd on msnbc.com. A new study from Yale University shows that, with regard to weight loss, your state of mind about what you're eating can affect your hunger hormones. In short, the researchers gave two groups of participants the very same vanilla shake. They told one group that the shake was a special non-fat, low calorie diet shake and told the other group that they were receiving an indulgent, high fat treat. What they found was that the ghrelin, our body's hunger hormone, did not go down after the "diet" group finished their shakes, although the ghrelin of the "indulgent" group showed a "dramatically steep decline" after consumption. Since ghrelin is what tells us we're hungry and to eat more, we want it to go down after we eat.

The lead researcher, a clinical psychologist, recommended that "people should still work to eat healthy, but do so in a mindset of indulgence." YES! Scientific support is a beautiful thing.

This is the essence of healthier kitchen. So it's extra fitting that I'm renewing my efforts to provide lighter recipes that will trick us all (me) into feeling indulged. Today, I'm featuring a favorite recipe and lightening it up a little. This one is from food52, posted by thirschfeld, Tom, a prolific, versatile and creative chef, Dad and farmer in Indiana. He's given me permission to mess with his recipe a bit, and make my attempt to lighten it up, while staying true to the essence of his original. Check out his blog, Bona Fide Farm Food, here.

I had made this a couple of times as written, and we all loved it. In fact, Maddy deemed it "restaurant worthy." But (there's always a but), there is too much coconut milk in this recipe for me to make it routinely. My goal was to lighten it with a combination of light coconut milk and regular unsweetened in hopes that the sauce would retain the silkiness that is so appealing about this dish. I know from experience that light coconut milk alone would not be thick and creamy enough. I was also interested to see how much I could pull back on the fish sauce which provides a necessary counterpoint to the creaminess of the coconut milk, although it's high in sodium.

This recipe is everything you want in a home version of an ethnic dish you'd order out. It's slurp-worthy delicious, relatively easy to put together, and now, better for you than its restaurant counterpart. Could a curried noodle dish be even lighter? Yes. Would it still taste so good? In my opinion, probably not. And that matters to me. A lot. While I have to watch the fat and sodium, I've never wanted to reduce them to an amount that would turn our meals, and therefore, our dinner time, into a sepia toned and drab event. I want technicolor to fake out my ghrelin!

As you can see in the photos, I used mussels this time instead of shrimp, just for fun. It was delicious this way as well. In fact, once you've got this sauce down, you could really play with the protein. If you use a little cut up chicken breast instead of shrimp and put a few egg slices on top, it would taste an awful lot like a Burmese dish we devoured in San Francisco last summer. Tofu would work as well.

I also added in some baby Shanghai bok choy that called out to me in the Asian market. Each little cabbage is about three inches long and can remain whole for cooking after a trim of root end. You don't want to cut off much, just about the outer centimeter, as you want the head to stay intact while cooking. This addition turned the noodles into a one-dish meal which I was able to easily accomplish on a weeknight. Thirschfeld recommends a side dish of sauteed Asian greens so I stayed true to his vision. In the fall, I'll be growing some Chinese broccoli and kale as well as tat soi, so if I'm successful, I'll be able to use those when I make this. Pea shoots would also be wonderful! In fact, you could serve bok choy in the dish and sauteed greens or pea shoots alongside for an extra healthy, USDA "plate" acceptable meal.

You could easily make this meal from items available at your regular grocery store or co-op. My local farm stand often has bok choy and sometimes even the miniature baby bok choy, in season. On the other hand, if you have the time and the desire for adventure, head over to your local Asian grocery and explore the produce aisle, pick up your fish sauce and Thai red curry paste and grab a package or two of fresh lo mein noodles from the refrigerator section. In the grocery store, look for Thai Kitchen brand (extra bonus - Eating Well this month reported that Thai Kitchen fish sauce is lower in sodium than some other brands) fish sauce and Thai red curry paste. At an Asian market, my favorite fish sauce is Golden Boy, though I also like Three Crabs.

Thai Curry Noodles with Shrimp

adapted from thirschfeld (Tom Hirschfeld)

(serves 5 or 6)

1 pound lo mein noodles or spaghetti (I use fresh lo mein noodles from the Asian market though you could use whole wheat spaghetti to make it even healthier- you might want to use 1.5 pounds if you use fresh noodles)
3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
1 Tablespoon Thai red curry paste
1 Tablespoon Madras curry powder (use regular curry powder if you don't have Madras). This should be salt-free.
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1-1/2 cups chicken stock or no salt added chicken broth
1 Tablespoon fish sauce, more to taste (I ended up using 2 Tablespoons total)
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (make sure to shake this really, really well and use a spoon to scoop out into measuring cup)
1 - 14 ounce can light coconut milk
3/4 pound - 1 pound baby bok choy, ends trimmed
1-1/4 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice, more to taste
1/3 cup sliced scallions or green onions
1 lime, quartered, for garnish
a few springs of cilantro, roughly chopped
little sprinkle fried shallots (optional - available at Asian markets)
2 Tablespoons roughly chopped Thai basil (optional - also available at Asian markets)

1. Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and let cool.

2. In a small bowl, combine the garlic, Thai red curry paste, curry powder, turmeric and cumin.

3. Heat a large pot over medium high heat. Add 2 Tablespoons of oil to the pot. Add garlic and spice combination from the small bowl. Mix the spices around and let them cook just until fragrant, a couple of minutes.

4. Add the stock, fish sauce, sugar and coconut milks. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about 20 minutes to let flavors meld.

5. Add the bok choy and let cook for two to three minutes, then add the shrimp and let them cook until almost done, about 4 minutes.

6. Add the lime juice. Mix and bring the sauce back up to a boil and then turn back to simmer.

7. At this point, taste the sauce and if it seems a little flat or in need of salt, add another teaspoon or two (or three) of fish sauce and mix in.

8. Add noodles into pot to rewarm and mix well.

9. Serve topped with scallions/green onions, Thai basil, cilantro, and fried shallots if you like. Serve with lime wedges.

In Case You Plan to Grill Out This Weekend

2011-05-28T07:59:00.010-04:00

The weather forecast for the weekend here in DC includes thunderstorms almost every day. Last night, I used a grill pan for these turkey burgers to avoid getting caught out in the storm which started, no joke, as my husband ran into the house after returning from a business trip. The rain was, literally, "on his heels," chasing him into the house through the murky dusk.

I am hoping to use the grill at least once this weekend, though. We have a Weber kettle grill with a chimney starter so grilling is not something we do on a weeknight or on a whim. It requires some time and planning and half way decent weather. This weekend, I was planning to grill a flank steak, but after the ones at Whole Foods were not grass fed and were $14.99 per pound, I ended up buying a skirt steak. As I wanted meat from a locally raised, grass fed cow, my options were limited but if that's not your issue, they had flank, flap, and flatiron steaks that would all work well for this. Unfortunately, my busy schedule lately has caused me to miss many of my usual farm stand haunts so I'm scrambling a bit and using the grocery stores a little more than usual.

This is an easy marinade with a Latin American feel. I like to grill a larger steak than I need (or even two) so that I'll have leftovers for another day. By making it yourself, you can control the sodium, which can be very high in commercial brands. There's a little kick to the marinade thanks to the chipotle pepper, which you can play with to your taste. If you like less heat, choose a smaller pepper from the can or use half. If you like a lot of heat, use two! Save the rest of the can of chiles for the next time or for chili. They keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for quite a long time and are easily available in most grocery stores.

If you want to emphasize the Latin flavors, serve with warmed tortillas, beans and rice, avocado slices, grilled onions and peppers, tomatoes and cheese for toppings. A green salad rounds out the meal. If it's for a party, you could even serve some spicy grilled shrimp as an appetizer. Here's a great recipe. Then, all you'll need is some chilled and slightly fizzy vinho verde, beer or sangria and your party will be complete!

The marinade is versatile enough, though, that you are not limited - try it with some potatoes, or other veggies on the side! I sometimes serve it with my olive oil potato salad and some mayo free slaw.

Mojo Criollo

(makes enough marinade for a steak for 4 people or about 1 smallish cut up chicken)

juice of 1/2 orange
juice of 1 lime (if the lime is particularly dry, use an extra half)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce (just one chili, not one can), minced with a little of the sauce
1 tablespoon cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
pinch or two of salt

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and use to marinate a flank, flatiron, or hangar type steak or chicken. Marinate several hours and then grill. These thinner cuts grill quickly so keep an eye on it. On a charcoal grill, I might only grill for a few minutes on each side to sear and then move the steak to the other side of the grill and close the lid for another few minutes of indirect heat. I like to throw the meat into the marinade in the morning and then it's all ready to go at dinner time.

Why I Love Wednesdays

2011-05-25T09:59:00.010-04:00

After hearing from many friends that they only read the newspaper online or on an ipad, I'm beginning to think my Wednesday morning ritual is not of this century. Most mornings I begin my day online with news, email, my blog roll, Food News Journal and now Twitter, as well. I then quickly review two daily newspapers and move on with my day. Not so on Wednesday, hump day. On Wednesdays I slow down a little to savor the food sections of the print versions of the NY Times and Washington Post.

While I can (and do) read much of my food news online, I love the ritual of sitting at the kitchen counter with the newspapers spread open in front of me, milky cup of Taylors of Harrogate Afternoon Darjeeling - yes, in the morning - in hand. I page through the News, Style, Arts, and then settle in for my reward, the food sections. It's a perfect opportunity to leave my oven on a very low heat to make some dehydrated style kale chips and to slow roast some off-season grape tomatoes for tonight's dinner.

It's late spring days like this that I miss having a screen porch, because that would only augment the experience. It's still cool enough in the morning to sit outside with a warm drink and not break a sweat, which anyone in DC can tell you will occur soon enough. There's still a sweet morning dewy smell to the air and you can feel the grit of fallen pollen on the soles of your bare feet. Later in the day, if it's anything like yesterday, the air will get heavy with the ever impending rainstorm and the outside get much less welcoming to a weather migraine sufferer like me.

Today's Post yielded stories about a barbecue sauce contest and a small review about a new Jamaican place in Silver Spring that Tom Sietsema says has the best jerk chicken in the area since Fish, Wings and Tings. Anyone remember that place in Adams Morgan? The New York Times' Sam Sifton took me to London's newest restaurants and even mentioned a gluten-free shop in NY.

Does anyone else still read the printed newspaper?

Eat Write Retreat! and Where to Go From Here

2011-05-24T13:31:00.006-04:00

Earlier this spring, I heard about a new food blogging conference right here in DC, called Eat Write Retreat! Note: the exclamation point is part of the name. I've got no recollection of where I first saw the link to their website, but I did, and the schedule of presenters and activities made it clear that it would be a great conference for me to attend.

But, as is typical for me, I spent weeks wavering over whether to enroll. The expense wasn't outrageous, but enough to make me really ponder whether this would be worth it for me. After all, I have a small blog, only a couple of dozen followers and another few dozen regular readers. I occasionally get comments, often via email or Facebook rather than on the blog itself, as most of my readers seem more comfortable navigating in those media. The ones I love are about the recipes - the ones that tell me that I am achieving my goal, in some small way, of helping people make it easier to cook at home. For me, it's always been about the recipes, the writing, and the hope that what I put out there helps someone. I'm working on the photos.

I would not have even considered a larger conference but this one seemed warm and friendly and most of all, small. So why hesitate? I guess I waffled on the conference because I temporarily lost sight of my goals and my vision. I started to equate success of the blog with growth and popularity and worried that without a larger following, my little blog wasn't worthy of more public scrutiny. And maybe I still worry about that even after attending Eat Write Retreat! and hearing from other bloggers about klout scores and followers, discussing SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and even more shockingly, starting to Tweet. But mostly, I'm glad I attended because this conference has helped me to find my voice again.

When I say "voice" I don't mean it only in the writer's sense of the word. I truly mean my ability to articulate to people, verbally as well as in writing, why I do this, and what my blog is really about. Because at its essence, it's an exploration for me as well as a conduit to bring what I find to others and hopefully, help them as well. And most of all, it honors my sister who always supported my cooking and was all over social media before it was even a term. So, via this conference, I realized that I do this because I have to. Because some force impels me into new stores and markets, compels me to read yet another cookbook or food magazine, come up with some new ideas and takes my hand and causes me to write about it all probably more than anyone cares to read.

Now, sitting at home trying to digest all that I learned, felt, absorbed, thought this past weekend, a little distance allows me to appreciate why this conference was so helpful to me. Sure, there was some amount of adrenaline in the room coursing as a result of the sheer star power aligned with the event. But most importantly, the presenters shared their humanity with us. These are all food lovers who pursued a path they love, not to chase success, but to do what felt real for them. Yes, there was a session about the practicalities of blogging and PR, marketing and those sorts of business-side issues, all aspects of this world that still feel foreign to me. Regardless, I left with a strong sense of self and a new found focus to persist at this even if I only reach a few people. If friends continue to tell me that their kids love my muesli, or chicken, or were moved, even a little, by my passion about sustainability and healthy food then it doesn't matter that I am not a viral sensation and that I had to use Google to find out what a klout score is.

So, many thanks to all the presenters for sharing their expertise and perspectives with us and especially to the bloggers who shared so freely of themselves and their journeys. Casey and Robin, you put together such amazing panels, great sponsors and such a fabulous community of support - can't wait until next year!

Maddy's Morning Smoothie

2011-05-16T07:28:00.003-04:00

Weekday mornings around here are a blur of activity and quick transitions in yellowy-lit rooms amid the darkened house. Maddy's bus pulls up a few houses down the street at precisely 6:35 a.m., so all is based on her getting down the hill on time.

Breakfast is from 6:18 until 6:25 for her, so we make it light, quick and healthy. Often, in warmer weather, I make her a smoothie so that she has a good hit of protein to start her day. These can be made a number of different ways, but this is our fall back, basic recipe. The first step is keeping a supply of frozen bananas. Whenever a banana is a little overripe and I don't have enough for banana bread, I peel and freeze it broken up into halves or thirds, depending on size. I keep a plastic zip top bag in the freezer with these bits, ready to use at 6:15 in the morning.

For the rest of the fruit, you can either freeze your own fruit or buy frozen fruit. We particularly like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and mango. You can also omit the banana and double up on the other fruit. Using frozen fruit gives the smoothie its thick, satisfying consistency, while the yogurt and milk add protein. I like to use agave nectar as the liquid is easy to work with here.

Strawberry-Banana Smoothie

(serves 1 -2)

1 cup skim milk
1/3 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
approximately half a frozen banana
about 1/2 cup frozen strawberries (or you can use raspberries or blueberries)
1 - 2 tablespoons agave nectar (add one and then taste - fruit varies in sweetness. One tablespoon is often plenty)

Put all of the above ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. This makes a little more than 2 cups of smoothie, which can either serve one in a really large glass, or two smaller glasses. Serve with a straw and a spoon.

Wheatberry Salad

2011-05-10T09:37:00.004-04:00

At last week's Future of Food conference, one component of our delicious lunch was a wheatberry and apple salad. It reminded me quite a lot of a salad I had created for a food52 contest and was inspired by a sweet and salty tapa at Jose Andres' (last night's James Beard award winner!) Jaleo, which is simply matchsticks of green apple and manchego cheese in a vinaigrette.

This makes a hearty meatless lunch or dinner, and if you omit the cheese, could be a lovely salad alongside some chicken apple sausage or a bit of fish, pork or chicken.

Wheatberry Salad with Apples and Manchego

(Serves 4 - 6 as a side dish, 3 or 4 as a light lunch)

1 cup wheatberries
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoon whole grain mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1/4 teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika (pimenton de la Vera)
couple of pinches salt, plus more to taste
couple of grinds black pepper, plus more to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup diced red onion
1 - 1 1/2 tart apples. Granny Smith are fine, but Suncrisp would be stellar
1/3 to 1/2 pound Manchego cheese
2 -3 ounces arugula
1/3 cup dried, tart cherries, roughly chopped if particularly large

1. Soak the wheatberries overnight in water to cover by a couple of inches. When you're ready to cook them, drain and place in a medium to large saucepan with three cups of water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes. Begin checking them at 30 minutes - you want to see the endosperm appear at one end and they should be a little chewy but not tough. Drain the wheatberries and then immediately place back into the hot pan and cover and let steam off the heat for another ten minutes. Transfer cooked wheatberries into a medium sized bowl.

2. In a small bowl, add the ingredients from the vinegar through the salt and pepper and whisk to combine. Then stream in the olive oil while whisking

3. Add the red onion into the vinaigrette and stir a little so that the onions are submerged.

4. Peel, core and dice the apple and add to the wheatberries.

5. Dice up the Manchego cheese and add that to the bowl as well.

6. Pour the vinaigrette over the wheatberry/apple/Manchego mix in the bowl and stir to coat all the ingredients. Check for salt and pepper.

7. Either individually plate or serve over bed of arugula. Garnish with the dried cherries.

Prince Charles and Laurie David in One Room with an Array of Notable Food Experts

2011-05-10T09:34:00.003-04:00

The past is a funny thing. I'm not a huge follower of the British royals, but I've definitely been aware of a few of their goings on over the years. Although I don't have any recollection of actually watching Diana and Charles' wedding in 1981, I do remember her dress, as well as media reports of the hollow nature of their marriage soon after. I guess watching William and Kate's wedding last week with my teenaged daughter reminded me of watching that earlier wedding as a teenager myself.

I certainly didn't expect my reaction when I heard that Prince Charles was going to be the keynote speaker at the Washington Post Live's Future of Food conference last week. My first thought had nothing to do with his commitment to sustainable agriculture, which is long-standing and seems heartfelt and sincere. I just couldn't get those images of Diana's sad face out of my mind.

Once he started his speech, though, his thoughtful words about the practicality and economics of sustainable agriculture and his engaging delivery made me forget about his personal life. He spoke for 40 minutes or so, giving a focused, well crafted and calmly passionate speech. You can see the transcript of his speech here if you're interested.

He wasn't alone. The lineup of speakers and panelists was thrilling: Eric Schlosser, Wendell Berry, Marion Nestle, Will Allen, Sam Kass, Dan Barber, Angela Glover Blackwell, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, as well as other CEOs, writers, activists, policy makers, policitians and thinkers. I had not heard of her before, but was just wowed by Debra Eschmeyer, a relatively young and totally impressive woman who founded FoodCorps and is the outreach director of the National Farm to School Network in addition to working her own organic farm. While there were representatives of food corporations, most that participated have already added healthier food initiatives into their structure. According to Eric Schlosser, most corporations declined to participate. Congratulations to Susan Crockett who gamely represented General Mills.

Two of the panelists were the founders of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which successfully achieved a one cent per pound increase in pay for migrant tomato pickers in that area of Florida. They had a lot to say about the poor working conditions for the agriculture workers and how that small increase in pay makes such a difference. We also heard from Eric Schlosser about the dangers of pesticides, not just to us as consumers, but to the farm workers on regular commercial farms who are in contact with contaminated soil every day. If you are interested in learning more about the tomato workers, the amazing Barry Estabrook (recent recipient of a James Beard award - too bad he wasn't speaking at the conference too!) has written a soon to be released book called Tomatoland on the subject. You can also see his articles on the subject here.

Even the lunch made a statement. As we entered the room, somewhat reminiscent of the dining set up at Hogwarts with four long tables, we were asked by greeters to file in, remaining in the line we were in and seat ourselves along one side of the table in that order. This made for a pleasant way to avoid the awkward need to find a place to sit when attending a conference solo. The greeters and servers were a mix of volunteers and participants in DC Central Kitchen's restaurant training program. At my place setting was a napkin holder decorated by Raquel, a third grade student at one of the DC public schools participating in a healthy food and ecology curriculum being piloted by FarmtoDesk and funded by Kaiser Permanente.

The meal was composed entirely of local organic foods from farms and producers within 200 miles of DC. Everything was served family style, which was another nice way to meet the people seated nearby. We enjoyed two salads to start: a crab salad over greens and a wheatberry and apple salad over arugula. On the table was a cheese board with three cheeses, Damson plum jam and a local honey, along with some artisanal crackers. While we joked that a crisp white wine would be a perfect addition, we happily substituted strawberry agua fresca with mint. We were all a bit surprised when the next course arrived, as we thought the salads and cheeses were the lunch. We then had lamb kabobs weith flat bread and tzatziki, cannellini beans with kale and hen of the woods mushrooms and asparagus with sorrel. Strawberry rhubarb cobbler with whipped cream followed for dessert. Did I mention this conference was free?

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack was the previously unannounced afternoon keynote speaker, cutting short a very interesting panel with Marion Nestle on Health and Nutrition. He was very generous with both his time and opinions, some of which were not terribly popular in this crowd. Although he's taken some positive steps in attempts to improve school lunches and get fresh fruits and vegetables to more people in areas that have been under supplied, his support of genetically modified alfalfa and grains and failure to eliminate hormones in livestock are opposed to the general opinions in the sustainable agriculture philosophy. Hollywood activist, Laurie David, questioned him from the audience on the issue of why we are still allowing healthy animals to be injected with antibiotics.

Marion Nestle later stated on her blog that the sustainable food movement is now mainstream. There certainly is momentum and energy fueled by these great thinkers and activists who've been writing and lobbying on these issues for years and given a hit of a double espresso by Michelle Obama's healthy food and living initiatives.

One major theme that I took away from this conference is the importance of cooking at home, and the need to bring healthy, clean foods as well as cooking knowledge to the poor and people of color.

I'm still trying to figure out my role in all this. I'd like to play a part somehow, but haven't yet found the right niche. For now, I'd be content to know that I helped one or two of you make the task of cooking a family meal a little bit easier.

Meatless Monday and Fewer Calories

2011-05-03T13:22:00.002-04:00

I think you should make this soup. I really do. It's delicious, hearty, and healthy - perfect for a meatless Monday dinner. And now, thanks to the New York Times, we know that it helps reduce calories. Who knew that cayenne pepper could be an appetite suppressant. Read all about it here.

I checked back in the New York Times cookbook for the original recipe and found that I liked Louisa's changes quite alot. Call it a soup or call it a ragout, doesn't matter. Either way, it's spicy and terribly appealing. I cut back the cayenne a little, but after reading the Times, I'd keep it in if you can handle it!

New Features!

2011-04-14T08:19:00.004-04:00

Hold onto your hats, people! After two years of stasis, I've added some new features to the blog! You can now request an email notification of my new posts. If you click on the gadget to the right and enter your email address, after entering some gibberish to prove you are not a computer, you'll be set up to receive emails when I post. To quote Ina Garten "how great is that?"

When Is a Calorie Not a Calorie?

2011-04-06T14:11:00.007-04:00

Here are a couple of shots of some of my seedlings! I am experimenting with a garden in a raised bed planter as well as some tomato grow bags and pots of herbs. I've had an herb garden for years, but gave up on growing tomatoes after a couple of unsuccessful attempts some years back.

This year, I'm newly motivated. I'm using raised beds to keep the rabbits out of the lettuce and herbs that they love. In a few weeks I'll try transplanting some of the tomato (and tomatillo!) seedlings outside in grow bags and add epazote, shiso, lemon balm and chervil to my already extensive herb garden. I've also got several types of lettuce going for the spring along with arugula and tatsoi. In

Just thought I'd share this tidbit from Cooking Light magazine: all calories are not equal. While cutting back on calories but eating only snack cakes will cause you to lose weight, as shown when a nutrition professor ate only snack cakes for two months and lost 27 pounds, new studies seem to show that the body burns calories from whole foods more efficiently than it does processed foods.

According to a study in Food & Nutrition Research, the rise in metabolism from the body digesting whole foods can account for 10% of the amount of calories burned a day by a typical person. Eating whole, unprocessed foods actually cause you to burn more energy - I love it!

Don't Fear the Sardine

2011-03-27T21:39:00.013-04:00

I am here to tell you that you, too can eat these little fish so rich in Omega-3s! I have long known that sardines are wildly good for you and are neither high in mercury nor over fished, to boot. I've even eaten them in restaurants, in Spain and here in DC, at a Portuguese restaurant. Nonetheless, those little tins that I bought with the best of intentions have been lurking in the pantry simultaneously scaring the hell out of me and chastising me as I reach in for a can of tuna.

No more! Even after a recent winning recipe on Food52 featured a recipe for sardines and fennel with tomato, I was still skeptical about how such a recipe would be received by my family. Then I sampled a pasta with sardines in a tomato sauce at our local organic market, offered to entice shoppers to purchase Wild Planet sardines in olive oil for $2 and change per tin. One quick taste made me realize that this was much milder than I ever imagined. I bought two tins to add to my collection and grabbed a copy of the recipe the store was offering. I left the store unsure if or when I'd use them and wondered if those cans would turn in additional pantry hobgoblins.

Well, opportunity knocked that very night. The timing for driving Maddy home from a party, and our desire to watch our Netflix movie instead of letting it sit around for the usual month or two led us to decide that we should eat in. Pantry dinner to the rescue! I quickly came up with a recipe building on those Fortuna (please, please, let someone get this reference) had bestowed on me, but staying true to neither. Both Paul and I liked this one, really. It wasn't as fishy or as salty as he feared.

This is a sort of quickie version of a popular Sicilian dish. This time, due to the last minute nature of my decision to make this, the only fresh ingredients I added were some lemon, garlic and a little parsley for color. A glass of wine, some salad and this pasta was a perfect last minute dinner.

Sicilian Style Pasta con Sarde (serves 4 - 6)

1 pound fusilli or casarecce pasta (whole wheat would work well here)
2 tins sardines in olive oil (I actually used one oil packed and one tin of water packed which worked well and reduced the oil)
1 -2 tablespoons olive oil
3 - 4 fat cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon Aleppo pepper
2 cups no salt added, strained tomatoes (I use Pomi or bionaturae)
2 tablespoons sun dried tomatoes, diced ( I had some slow roasted cherry tomatoes I'd made for another dish which I used instead - if you'd like to make some, halve the cherry tomatoes and place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper over all of the them and throw a couple of springs of fresh thyme over top. Roast at 225 degrees for about three hours. You want them somewhat dry but not completely desiccated)
juice of 1/2 medium to large lemon
salt, to taste
3 tablespoons breadcrumbs (I use whole wheat, usually homemade which I keep stored in a Ziploc in the freezer)
2 -3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

1. Put up water for the pasta and when boiling, prepare pasta according to package directions. When you drain the pasta, reserve about 1/2 cup to use in the sauce.
2. While pasta cooks, heat a high sided saute pan or Dutch oven large enough to hold all the ingredients, over medium heat. Add a tablespoon or two of the oil from one of the tins as well as 1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the garlic and let it soften but not brown.
3. Once the garlic has softened, about a minute or two, add the rest of the oil and sardines from first tin to pan. Drain the second tin and add that those sardines as well. Break up the sardines a bit.
4. Add the tomato paste and mix it in. Add the oregano, basil and Aleppo pepper as well, and let the mixture cook for another minute or two.
5. Add in the strained tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes and lemon juice and let mixture simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste sauce for salt and add a couple of pinches, if needed.
6. In a small skillet, toast breadcrumbs in 1 tablespoon olive oil until lightly browned. mixing often. Set aside.
7. When pasta is cooked and drained (and you've reserved 1/2 cup of cooking water), add pasta to pan with sauce. Mix so that all the pasta is well coated. If it seems dry, add some of the cooking water, a little at a time until you like the consistency.
8. Off the heat, mix in the bread crumbs and parsley and serve with parmesan cheese.

Jambalaya-ish

2011-03-03T15:33:00.006-05:00

It's funny - I wasn't even thinking about the timing when I made jambalaya the other night. I just happened to have some leftover chicken and a few shrimp and thought this would be a good way to use them together. I added in a couple of sausage (which turned out to be merguez rather than the andouille I thought they were - no matter, they were still delicious) I'd bought at the farm stand and frozen in the fall and we were eating well. When I realized that Mardi Gras is fast approaching, I thought I'd post this right away.

I've been playing with brown rice in this recipe for a while and this method seems to work pretty well. I have tried it in the oven, but stove top makes it easier to peek in and check liquid level. This is not a difficult recipe to make, but it does require some cooking time in the pot because of the brown rice. Try it this weekend!

You can play around with the protein in this recipe. I used fresh shrimp, sausage and a little already cooked, leftover rotisserie chicken. You could easily leave out the chicken or use fresh chicken thigh meat. Or, you could use chicken or turkey andouille sausage. I've also made this with a little crabmeat which is also delicious.

You might notice that I've left out one of the trinity of New Orleans style cooking - the green bell pepper. I really don't like them so I tend to leave them out. Feel free to add about a half a diced green bell pepper in with your onions and celery.

Jambalaya-ish

(serves 4 - 6)

1 pound fresh shrimp

2 links (about one half pound) andouille sausage

about 2 cups diced up rotisserie or leftover chicken ( you can also use two or three raw boneless skinless thighs if you prefer)

1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 nice large onion, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

2 fat garlic cloves, diced

1 teaspoon red pepper paste (I happen to have this so I used it as I don't use bell pepper. Please do not think you should go out and buy this specialty item if you do not have it!!)

2 tablespoons Cajun spice mix (I make my own and store it in a spice jar, and provide the recipe below but you can use a packaged blend. Just check the sodium!)

2 teaspoons flour

2.5 cups low or no sodium added chicken stock

1 can (14.5 ounce) diced fire roasted, no salt added tomatoes (if you can't find fire roasted, just use regular no sodium added diced tomatoes)

1 cup brown rice ( I like to use Uncle Ben's brown rice in the orange bag for this - it's a little shorter grain than some)

3 -4 scallions, sliced

1. Peel and devein the shrimp and set aside

2. Slice andouille sausage into approximately 1/2 - 1 inch chunks. Heat a skillet over medium heat and cook the sausage, turned once or twice until nicely browned. Remove sausage from pan and reserve (If you want to use raw chicken thighs brown them here and set aside with sausage).

3. Heat a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat, then add the olive oil and then the diced onion, celery and pepper if you're using it. When the onion begins to soften, add the garlic and cook another few minutes until onions are translucent.

4. If using red pepper paste, add that to the Dutch oven and then the spice mix and flour. Mix well and let cook for a couple of minutes.

5. Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, and brown rice. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Add the sausage (and chicken too if you started with raw) back in and cover pot. Let simmer for about 55 minutes. Check the liquid after about 40 minutes to make sure it hasn't cooked down too much. If it seems dry, add another half cup to a cup of stock or water.

6. Add in the shrimp (and already cooked chicken if you're using it), and let simmer, covered, for another five minutes or so.

7. Take the pot off the heat and let sit for about 10 more minutes. Sprinkle scallions on when ready to serve.

Cajun Spice Mix

In a small bowl, mix together the following:

1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
1 1/2 tablespoons onion powder
1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

store in a sealed container.

Crispy Chicken

2011-02-22T11:29:00.001-05:00

I can't believe that I haven't posted this before! It's so easy and so obvious and yet totally delicious and versatile. The best thing about it is that it is very kid friendly. We call it "crispy chicken" and for kids addicted to chicken tenders, it's a segue to home cooked ones. It's simply boneless, skinless chicken thighs coated in a mixture of whole wheat bread crumbs and wheat germ. OK - not good for the gluten free, but for others, a quick and simple weeknight meal. I like to serve this with a couple of colorful vegetables to brighten up the plate. Here, I've roasted chunks of butternut squash lightly coated with olive oil and mixed with a pinch of salt, a couple of grinds of pepper and a pinch or two of brown sugar. Spread out onto cookie sheet or sheet pan and sprinkle a little hot pepper over top - I use Aleppo pepper. This goes in the same oven at the same heat as the chicken - you just need to stir the pieces up a couple of times - for about 30 - 40 minutes. Serve an easy green vegetable such as broccoli or green beans alongside. This photo of my plate also includes a dollop of a prune, olive and orange tapenade I had made earlier in the week and which I ate by the spoonful all week.

I like to use chicken from local farms - usually Springfield or Ayrshire, depending on season. Many farms are now offering cut pieces and not just whole chickens. In my area, Mom (My Organic Market) sells Ayrshire Farms meats all year round (Thursday delivery to the Rockville store - I know, they should pay me for publicity!)) so if a farm stand is not available or convenient, I can always count on Mom. While I will sometimes buy a whole chicken expressly to cut up, and it is cost effective to learn how to dismember a whole chicken, for thighs I much prefer to buy a package as it would take several chickens to have enough thighs for a meal.

I also choose thighs over the somewhat healthier breasts as they are pretty hard to overcook. Boneless, skinless breasts can quickly go from well-intentioned to inedible in a matter of minutes. If you are a very careful person and don't cook in large sweeping gestures like I do, then go ahead and use the breasts. Also, the thighs tend to be nice and thin rather than the plump breasts which you'd need to cut and pound to really be tender. Another option is turkey scallopine, which is just thinly sliced turkey tenders. I find these stay nice and moist as well.

Now if you're interested in spicing things up, feel free to add some za'atar or other spices to the crumbs. With this recipe, though, I usually keep it simple and add the spice to the accompanying dishes. The wheat germ adds a nutty flavor that is different than the parmesan/garlic flavor often added to bread crumbs for tenders like these. It's also a lot easier to convince some kids to eat these without the additional seasoning.

Crispy Chicken

(serves 4 - 6)

package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, about 1.25 pounds - I like to allow two thighs per person

1 egg, lightly beaten, with two tablespoons water added

1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs (you can make these in your food processor with some slightly stale whole wheat bread or use pre-made. I like Whole Foods brand which has no sodium)

1/4 cup toasted wheat germ

light coating olive oil or vegetable cooking spray for greasing the pan

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Place beaten egg and water mixture into a dish or pan with a side high enough to contain the egg.

3. Alongside the plate with the egg, set out another plate or some waxed paper and gently mix the bread crumbs and wheat germ on that.

4. Have a baking pan handy (I like to line mine with foil) and lightly coat with oil. Place pan next to the plate with the crumb mixture.

5. One by one, dip each thigh first into the egg and then dredge into the crumbs (both sides) and then place on the pan.

6. When all thighs have been coated, place in pre-heated oven for about 30 - 40 minutes, depending on size. I like them to get nice and crispy but not shrink up too much. Check them at 30 minutes and see if the crumbs have browned yet. If not, leave them in the oven a little longer.

I Interrupt This Post...

2011-02-17T20:48:00.004-05:00

This week, I was going to post my recipe for Crispy Chicken, which is as simple and kid friendly as they come. However, a two day trip to the local hospital for my mother (hopefully she is stable again - her blood counts took a bit of a dip which required a transfusion and some platelets) means that post will come next week.

So this was a great time for me to get good news, all the more pleasing because it was so unexpected. I will admit there have been weeks when I've been glued to food52 for more hours than is good for a person who thinks she has a multi-faceted life. This was not one of them. Due to aforementioned medical issues, I was very quiet on and inattentive to food52 for the past few days. When I logged on late this afternoon, after helping to deliver my mother back home, I saw that my recipe for Moroccan Style Lamb is a FINALIST (!!!!!) in this week's contest for "Your Best Recipe with Citrus and Olives." It actually took me a few seconds to realize it was mine because their professional photo was so stunning I didn't recognize my own dish!

So, a little yin/yang this week. Win or lose, I am ecstatic to be a finalist for the first time. The recipe I'm up against sounds really great, too, and I'll probably try it soon. But, I am hoping that any healthier kitchen fans who are also food52 participants will log in to food52.com and vote!

A Thought on the New Dietary Guidelines

2011-02-07T20:30:00.001-05:00

Who knew there is such a thing as the Salt Institute? If you really stop to think about it, I guess it makes sense that there is an industry trade group for salt as there is for virtually everything, but who thinks about it? I certainly never did and I actually spend time thinking about these sorts of odd food things.

Why do I now know there is a Salt Institute? Because they are complaining that the new Government dietary guidelines with regard to salt are "drastic, simplistic, unrealistic."

The USDA's recently released, newly revised dietary guidelines continue to recommend that we consume fewer than 2300 mg. of sodium per day. They also advise certain groups to go even further and stay under 1500 mg. per day: those over 51 (!!), all African Americans, and everyone with diabetes, hypertension, and kidney disease. I've read that these subgroups constitute 50% of Americans.

As I've written here several times, I'm not against salt. I use it to flavor my cooking, in moderation, all the time. However, I do object to the whopping amounts added to certain packaged products and meals at certain restaurants. My approach is to avoid as much packaged food and chain restaurant eating as possible. But, even staying under 2300 mg. per day of sodium requires some label reading as a serving of bread can have over 300 mg. and a sandwich uses two slices.

While the guidelines could be considered drastic, perhaps they should be. Are they simplistic? Only if you're a food producer in the business of overusing salt. As to unrealistic, they are not if you cook at home, but might be until more food producers join in cutting back the sodium added to their food products. If you've ever read "Eat This, Not That" you know that individual meals sold at certain restaurants can contain more that the recommended daily allowance of 2300 mg. of sodium in just one dish.

Powerless

2011-01-31T10:00:00.003-05:00

Last week we had no power for just under two days. Sadly, this is becoming a regular occurrence in my area. Winter or summer, it seems that as soon as the wind blows (or snow or rain), so blows our transformer. In this case, it was an entire substation that "blew," knocking out power to two entire zip codes and providing a light and sound show that we thought was multi-colored lightning and accompanying thundersnow, and others thought was everything from said pink, purple and green lightning to the arrival of aliens. Truly, the rumbling that sounded like the fighter jets overhead after 9/11 went on for two or three minutes, all the while the lights in the house dimmed to an unnatural level before finally going out completely. In the entire town.

Though this has not been covered in the mainstream media, the word in the area is that the roof of the substation caved in under six inches (six! Oh yeah, it was very heavy snow) of snow and caused a fire in the substation, hence supporting Paul's and my suspicion during our two outages in August that we are victims of the failure of aging and antiquated equipment. PEPCO would prefer we believe it was a lightning strike.

I know this sounds all conspiracy theory-ish, but in, fact, this is the subject not just on our neighborhood listserve but on the facebook wall of one of our state representatives. It's true - we lose power in my neighborhood with just about every storm, not due to power lines downed by falling tree limbs (though that can certainly happen too), but as a result of PEPCO's failure to maintain and update its equipment. Shocking, really, as we are a suburb of a major city in the US.

In August, we lost pretty much everything in our refrigerators and freezers (two of each). Twice. This time, though we were freezing in our 49 degree house, our refrigerated food was safe in coolers buried in the snow outside. At least the vast majority of our frozen food remained frozen this time, though we will be eating a lot of thawed country ham this week. I'm thinking fried rice, soups and maybe a pizza?

The afternoon before the storm, I bought a chicken. I also bought some turkey scallopine, but that I cooked on my gas stovetop (!) by candlelight one of the nights we had no power. The chicken, however, survived the storm in a Styrofoam cooler on the patio but once the power came back on I figured that I had better get that bird cooked. I had ideas of chicken in Riesling, and even had the creme fraiche in hand, along with red potatoes and carrots, but for a variety of boring reasons I went with a very delicious recipe from Gourmet which is mostly garlic, lemon juice and oregano. It reminds me of the Athenian Chicken they used to serve at our local diner. So, that was dinner last night along with a favorite food52 recipe for asparagus. In both recipes I subbed olive oil in for the butter. Actually, as the asparagus uses pancetta, I ended up wiping most of the pancetta fat out of the pan, leaving just a little and using a little olive oil. I added some cooked orzo to the asparagus to provide a little heft to the dish for Maddy after she had her three bites of chicken.

Chicken with Garlic and Oregano

(Adapted from Gourmet magazine, April 2009)

serves 4 - 6 depending on size of chicken, mine was huge so I think it will serve the three of us for two meals. However, it is much better right out of the oven.

1 whole chicken, cut up or 8 - 10 chicken thighs, with bone and skin
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons lemon juice, divided
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 cup low sodium chicken stock
1 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Have a roasting pan or high sided sheet pan ready. I like to line mine with aluminum foil.

2. Mince garlic cloves then whisk together with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, a couple of pinches of salt and a few grinds of pepper.

3. Pat chicken dry and coat with garlic/lemon/olive oil mixture.

4. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and then add the remaining olive oil to the pan. Brown the chicken pieces skin-side down. You don't want to crowd the pan so it might take two batches. Check after 5 or so minutes, as you want the skin to get crispy, but you will not be cooking the chicken through. As each batch is ready, place skin side up on your pan.

5. In a small bowl, mix broth with remaining lemon juice and the oregano, and pour over the chicken.

6. Roast chicken approximately 25 - 30 minutes or until cooked through. If the chicken is a smaller one, 25 minutes should do it. With large pieces like I had this time, it took a little more than 30 minutes.

7. Grind a little black pepper over top of the chicken.

Vegetarian Week

2011-01-20T10:00:00.008-05:00

The house is empty, suddenly, as Ted has gone back to college and Paul is in New York all week. It's just Maddy and me this week, so we're indulging in dinners designed more for the two of us. It's vegetarian week around here, a great opportunity to make Maddy happy and to experiment with some new recipes and some lighter dinners.

First off, I have to thank Maddy for the photo above. I'm still hobbling along with my old point and shoot although I did go in halvsies with Maddy on a Nikon dSLR that I have yet to use. Maybe experimenting with that camera should be my New Year's resolution. She took this photo on my old camera after I unsuccessfully attempted a few shots myself in the darkness that accompanies a winter dinner. My camera (and I) seem only to do well with lots of natural light.

I started out with a bang on Monday night, in part to cheer us up after everyone departed. I created a version of pasta alla Norma, or, generally, pasta with roasted eggplant, tomatoes and ricotta cheese. This turned out to be the richest meal we had all week. The recipe for this is below. I had a frozen bag of slow oven roasted tomatoes I'd made in October with the last of the local plum tomatoes so I used those instead of canned tomatoes this time.

Tuesday night we had a dinner I don't think I've had since I was married. Baked potato stuffed with sauteed (very) garlicky spinach, mushroom and onions and about a tablespoon of leftover ricotta cheese and a sprinkle of parmigiano. With all the controversy over white carbs, I sometimes forget about potatoes, but this is a delicious and very light vegetarian dinner that is simple to prepare.

Last night we enjoyed last week's winning recipe from food52, Rivka's Mujaddara, which is a blend of lentils, rice and caramelized onions. Rivka also provides the recipe for an accompanying spiced yogurt. It was terrific last night, and I expect it will be even better for lunch today!

Tonight we will be enjoying this soba which I blogged about last year for Gourmet, Unbound, topped with vegetables and perhaps, a small piece of salmon for me. If you check my notes in that blog post, you'll see what I altered in that recipe.

Oh, and before you start cooking, I just wanted to alert you to something I read in Cooking Light this month. For those of us buying chicken directly from farmers, it's not so much of an issue, but if you buy your chicken in a grocery store, be aware that some chicken, particularly boneless breasts, are injected with a saline solution to plump them. This can add an enormous amount of sodium to a 4 ounce serving. According to Cooking Light, chicken altered in this way can still be labeled "natural" under current USDA labeling policies. Not only does this process add hidden sodium, you are paying for more chicken than you're getting. The injected water will cook out of the chicken leaving you a smaller yield than unenhanced chicken.

Processors must disclose the injections, but they sometimes hide the disclosure with small lettering and inconspicuous location. Look for language like "contains up to 15% chicken broth" in fine print. Also, check the Nutrition Facts label - natural chicken should have only about 70 mg. of sodium which occurs naturally in many foods. "Enhanced" chicken might have 440 mg. in a 4 ounce serving.

While that might not seem like a lot of sodium, it is a completely unnecessary one-fifth (and almost one-third of the amount the American Heart Association and the Center for Science in the Public Interest are urging the USDA to adopt as the new daily amount - a decrease from 2300 mg. per day to 1500) of the daily recommended amount before the chicken has even been put into a recipe that might contain salt. Buy it or don't, but at least be aware it's there.

Penne with Roasted Eggplant, Tomatoes and Ricotta Cheese

(serves 3 - 4)

1 eggplant, diced into about 1/2 inch pieces
3 - 4 tablespoons olive oil
3 fat cloves garlic, peeled and cut into pieces about the size of the eggplant chunks
1 small to medium onion, peeled and diced
1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper or 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
14 ounce can of no sodium added San Marzano tomatoes (or about a cup to a cup and a half of slow roasted - not sun dried! - tomatoes if you have them)
8 ounces (half package) penne rigate - I used Garofalo whole wheat penne and it was fine in this dish
1/2 cup torn basil leaves
1 cup fresh ricotta cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, shredded or grated to sprinkle on top
.

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Put up a pot of water to boil for the pasta.

3. Drizzle about 1 tablespoon of the olive oil onto a half sheet pan or low sided roasting pan and spread around. Add the eggplant pieces and another tablespoon or two of olive oil and toss well. Roast in oven for about 15 - 20 minutes, stirring a couple of times, until soft and slightly caramelized but not crispy.

4. In a saute pan over medium heat, sweat the onions in 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sprinkle a pinch or two of salt and some black pepper over top. Once the onions are translucent, add the garlic and Aleppo pepper or cayenne. After about two minutes, add the tomatoes, breaking them up with your hands or a spoon. Let the tomatoes simmer with the onion and garlic for about five minutes. You can throw in a pinch or two of thyme leaves if you have some. If you're using slow roasted tomatoes, put them into the pan with the olive oil they are in, but don't let them simmer, just move on to the next step.

5. Once the water boils, prepare pasta according to package directions. When the penne is cooked and drained, place it into a large bowl.

6. Add the tomato sauce, roasted eggplant and the basil to the pasta, reserving a pinch of basil for garnish if you like. Add the ricotta cheese. Mix well.

7. Taste for salt and pepper and add more if needed. Garnish with a bit of basil and Parmigiano Reggiano.

Some Belated New Year Thoughts

2011-01-10T06:54:00.006-05:00

Here it is January 11, and I'm first getting around to a New Year's post. Francis Lam, late of Gourmet and now writing a blog for Salon.com, has said it all. I hope you'll check out this blog post , and, perhaps, this one that preceded it. Why recommend the later post first? I really appreciated the comments to his original blog post that Lam included in his later post.

I agree with him that "cheap chicken" is no bargain. And where he wavers - will he still support a local fried chicken chef even though he knows that chef is using cheap chicken - I don't waver at all. If you like fried chicken, then continue to support that business, in moderation. Moderation is a very good thing. Despite my picky buying habits for my home, I worry a little less on the rare occasion I'm out. If it's an everyday thing, that's a chicken of a different color.

Lam's readers raised the moderation issue, but also raised another, highly political and high profile issue these days. We who are able to purchase the $7.99 per pound (and up!) local, organic, hormone and antibiotic free, grub pecking, free grazing happy chicken boneless chicken breast are extremely lucky to have that option. Many in this country can not spend that kind of money on their dinner protein, even if the amount purchased is more of a garnish than a main event. I have no answers but I do worry about this issue. Can we persuade a nation of Big Mac eaters to go for lentils and kale instead? I can barely persuade my family.

To this end, though (and ever optimistic), I sneak kale into as many dishes as I can. In the manner of the Irish, tonight's mashed potatoes (olive oil and chicken stock) will have some leftover kale mixed in. It's the dish for which I originally bought the kale that I want to share with you now.

I've made any number of minestrones and many, many pasta fagioli. They're all represented here. However, I saw the inspiration for this soup on a lovely blog called Dinner a Love Story, done by a former editor of the now defunct Cookie magazine. She writes about the daily trials of getting dinner on the table in a two career family with kids. Even if you've never used dried beans before, give it a try. You can control the sodium and the flavor is markedly better in the case of cannellini beans. I figured if she has time to use dried cannellini beans, so do I! Just plan ahead a little with the beans - you'll need to soak them overnight and then drain them in the morning and then add fresh water and simmer for about an hour. Then you're done until you make the soup which actually goes quickly. You can even make the beans over the weekend and keep them refrigerated in their cooking water for a day or two until you want to make the soup.

Minestrone

adapted from Dinner a Love Story (who credits The Fine Art of Cooking by Giuliano Bugialli)

serves 6

8 ounces dried cannellini beans
2 - 3 tablespoons olive oil
2 ounces (1 large, thick cut slice) pancetta, diced (optional)
1 large onion, diced
1 large rib celery, diced
1 fat carrot, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup flat Italian parsley
1/2 head Savoy cabbage
1 medium sized Yukon gold potato, peeled and diced on the small size
1 - 2 bunches (depending on size - if you have a really full bunch, one will do it) of lacinato or Tuscan kale, rinsed, cut off the tough ribs and cut into one inch ribbons
1 cup strained tomatoes (no salt added)
2 -4 cups water or no sodium added chicken stock
two or three large handfuls of baby spinach
salt and freshly ground pepper
4 ounces (about 1/4 package) tubetti pasta (optional)
best quality olive oil
grated Parmigiano Reggiano

1. Soak the dried cannellini beans overnight in a pot of cold water. Make sure the beans are covered by about two inches of water. In the morning, drain the beans in a colander and then put them back into the pot with 2 quarts of lightly salted water. Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce to simmer for about an hour, until tender, adding a little more hot water if the level gets too low. The beans should be fully covered at all times. If you're making the soup right after, then leave the beans in their pot on the stove. If you'd like to make the beans ahead, refrigerate in the cooking water until ready to use. When you're ready to make the soup, put the beans and their water into a pot and heat gently on the stove to take the chill out. Then turn off the heat and let them sit while you start the soup.

2. If using pancetta, put two tablespoons olive oil and pancetta into a large soup pot or Dutch oven and cook over medium heat until fully cooked, but not crispy, about 10 minutes. If not using pancetta, use three tablespoons olive oil and go to next step.

3. Add in the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, parsley and a couple of pinches of salt and a couple of grinds of pepper. Saute for about 10 more minutes until the vegetables soften and the onions become translucent. Add the potato to the pot, mix well and let cook for a couple of minutes. Add the cabbage and kale and the strained tomatoes. Add a few ladlefuls of the water from the beans and two cups of water or stock. Bring up to a boil and then immediately lower to a simmer, cover the pot, leaving the lid slightly ajar, and simmer for about 15 minutes (if you have an end of a piece of Parmigiano lurking around, throw it in here). Add another cup or two of water or stock and another ladle or two of the bean water as it gets drier. Add the spinach and stir to submerge. Let simmer another 5 or 10 minutes.

4. If you are using the tubetti, put up some water and prepare according to directions. Drain in a colander.

5. Remove about 1 cup of the beans from the water and place into soup. With an immersion blender, puree the remaining beans in their pot and add that puree into the soup as well. Mix well.

5. Simmer another 10 minutes or so. Taste for salt and pepper. Add the tubetti if using.

6. Top each bowl with a sprinkle of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and a drizzle of great olive oil. With the tubetti, this is a one dish meal, however, if you rather, skip the tubetti and serve with good bread.

What to Eat the Week After Thanksgiving

2010-11-30T09:22:00.007-05:00

The problem with Thanksgiving this year was not overeating on the big day. I am usually able to eat moderately during the Thanksgiving meal, and this year, my sister-in-law made efforts to include delicious vegetable dishes that didn't break the calorie bank. And...no mashed potatoes. Rather, it was almost an entire week of parties and celebrations due to the visit of healthier son home from college for the first time as well as visits from other beloved out of town guests.

For his first night home, dinner was these delicious Hungarian meatballs, which I had made ahead so that I could have dinner ready easily after returning from the airport. Wednesday night found us taking meat boy to a steak house, where though we were somewhat careful in our ordering (I had a green salad with vinaigrette, no creamed spinach and baked instead of mashed potato), I did eat red meat for a second day in a row. For turkey day, we limited ourselves to a later breakfast in light of the earlier and bigger dinner, and did the same on Friday when we had a large buffet dinner at our house (see last post!). Saturday lunch was a crowd for dim sum.

Now that things have quieted down and it's just the three of us, we are craving some lighter, vegetarian meals. On Monday I made this kale pesto/pasta dish using whole wheat fusilli, and though made with kale, it went over quite well with the kale kvetches. Tuesday I returned to what has become a new staple, the curried roasted cauliflower I wrote about a few weeks ago. Last night, I used our smoked turkey leftovers in this Pozole using hominy. With the rest of the big pot of hominy, I plan to make this tortilla soup.

I highly recommend this kale pesto. It sounds so weird, but is a great way to incorporate some kale into your dinner. It works well for lunch the next day, but the pesto itself doesn't hold for too long so use it quickly! In this dish, you might not mind the whole wheat pasta either.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-22T09:01:00.026-05:00

As in the recent past, I am not hosting Thanksgiving dinner. I will be a very happy guest at my brother and sister-in-law's home, bringing only the stuffing (changed up a little bit of course!). However, I do host a large gaggle of my extended family on Friday afternoon for a more casual buffet. In the past, I've often made my butternut squash lasagna, which is a lightened up version of a Bon Appetit recipe that calls for a ridiculous amount of cheese. My version is still rich and delicous, but doesn't quite pack the same high fat punch. The last time I made it, I used sheets of fresh spinach pasta which was both delicious and attractive.

This year I've ordered a ham and a smoked turkey breast from Edwards of Virginia. Ham is always a fun and easy buffet option (and I get a bone for soup!) for the non-kosher and the smoked turkey, though repetitive, provides me with the turkey leftovers I otherwise wouldn't have. My plan is to provide pretty heavy hors d'oeuvres and then the turkey and ham with an assortment of condiments and light sides. I'll flesh that out with a large salad garnished with persimmon and pomegranate seeds and rolls and call it dinner. As a nod to the large number of kids in attendance, I'll also make this "beefaroni" type casserole, though I'll make tons as this tends to attract adults as well.

I've already made two cranberry dishes: a simple cardamom infused sauce and a more complex gingered cranberry fig chutney. I also cooked down this Tuscan onion confit for several hours until it was beautifully caramelized, and made a batch of this tapenade. On Friday morning I'll roast off a couple of butternut sqash and some parsnips for this delicious sounding puree.

Dessert will be simple after the two day eating frenzy. Vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce and a cranberry cake from a Dorie Greenspan recipe. If I'm feeling very ambitious, I'll also do some seasonal biscotti and cranberry oat squares.

If you need more side dish ideas, I encourage you to consult food52.com which has a wealth of great ideas. In addition, check out my comfort mash and fall farro salad for a slightly healthier bent.

Roasted Curried Cauliflower

2010-11-08T06:51:00.005-05:00

I've been truly addicted to food52 lately, and testing many more recipes from that site than creating my own (though I rarely leave any recipe alone!), but here's one more "share." I thought I've roasted cauliflower to death, but this dish really caught my eye and proved to be a popular one with my tasters. I tested this for food52 several weeks ago during the contest for "your best cauliflower." This one, as well as one of mine, were selected as Editors' Picks, which means something but I'm not sure what. I guess it's like getting Honorable Mention.

If you like the flavor of curry, and have a decent powdered blend or a recipe to make one, I highly recommend you try this out soon! It is an easy, easy, recipe to prep - just cut up the cauliflower, open a can of chick peas, cut an onion and toss it all in a curry vinaigrette. Then just pour yourself a glass of wine and relax while your oven does the rest, roasting until the cauliflower mellows and starts to brown and the chickpeas get crispy and delicious. OK, maybe stir it up once or twice. It can be a vegetarian dinner for 3 or so with just some rice alongside, or can be a side dish for four with some protein, maybe shrimp or salmon roasted at the same time.

I cut the oil and vinegar back by half but kept the amounts for the spices the same. After tossing the veggies with the vinaigrette and arranging them on the baking sheet, I then added about one more tablespoon of olive oil to the bowl in which I made the vinaigrette to get out the rest of the spices stuck to the bowl, and then drizzled that over top of the cauliflower. I also set my oven at 425 instead of the 400 degrees specified.

Delicious!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pumpkin Cookies

2010-10-07T09:45:00.013-04:00

I saw these cookies on my feed yesterday and made them today! These will be a part of the snack for Maddy's tennis team at their match today. I think these are really great - easy to make, delicious and pretty healthy to boot! Oatmeal and pumpkin puree instead of butter amp up the health factor, but some chocolate chips added in provide an extra treat.

I subbed in whole wheat pastry flour (you could probably also use white whole wheat as well) in a one-to-one exchange to make these even healthier. I did have to leave the cookies in the oven about 3 or 4 minutes more than the recipe states. I happened to have mini chips in the house, which worked fine, but I used a bit less than 6 oz. and they were plenty chocolatey. Make sure you use the parchment paper, though, as these are pretty sticky and it's much easier to peel them off the paper and have a clean pan.

Give these a try for a healthy fall treat!

Salmon for Two and a Half

2010-10-04T01:39:00.006-04:00

Every once in a while, Costco has a piece of wild sockeye salmon. I can't resist the price which is quite a bit less than the price at Whole Foods but the drawback is the size of the package. They sell their salmon in really large packages and though the price might be what I would pay for a one pound section elsewhere, there are only three of us eating.

The last time I found wild salmon at Costco, I bought a package that was on the smaller side for them, two full fillets, together a little over two pounds. This time I had a plan: two meals from one package. For our first dinner we'd have the salmon roasted with a coating of mustard and bread crumbs and then I'd make salmon cakes a couple of days later. I was able to put both pieces in the oven in the same pan, at the same time, saving lots of effort. One had the mustard and crumbs, and the other I simply salted and peppered and coated with a little garlic and olive oil.

We enjoyed our mustard crumb salmon and then the plainly prepared piece provided both for a topping for my lunch (a small chunk over soba noodles) and then the basis for the salmon cakes. I served the cakes over a lightly dressed arugula salad alongside some whole wheat pasta with a light tomato pesto.

Salmon Cakes

(serves 3)

1 pound piece of wild salmon, poached or roasted and cooled. I have seen, but not tried, plain cooked and flaked salmon at Trader Joe's and I bet this would work too)
1/4 cup creme fraiche
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs, divided in two
2 tablespoons capers (I like the salt packed), soaked and rinsed several times, and then roughly chopped
zest from 1/2 lemon
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons fresh chives, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil for "frying"

1. If you don't have leftover salmon and want to roast a piece to use for this, preheat oven to 400 degrees and salt and pepper the salmon and coat with a little olive oil. Put in oven for about 20 minutes - you want to fully cook the salmon but not let it get too dry. Let cool and then flake.

2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2. Mix all ingredients except 1/4 cup bread crumbs and the olive oil in a medium bowl, careful not to break up the salmon pieces too much. Once fully incorporated, mold into six cakes. Dip both sides of each cake into the remaining bread crumbs and pan fry over medium heat in the olive oil. If you have a cast iron pan that would be fine, as would a nonstick. Once the salmon cakes are lightly browned on both sides, place on a cookie sheet in the oven for about 10 minutes to finish cooking.

Serve with a green salad - I like arugula with this!

New Routines, New Ideas, New Places

2010-09-16T09:40:00.001-04:00

Despite being out of school for oh, so many years, I still see the beginning of school as the real beginning of the new year. Perhaps even more so this year than usual due to the biggest change we've had in this household in quite a while. Healthier son has gone off to college! Apart from the obvious adjustments required of his loving family, his departure has also spurred a sea change in my grocery shopping and cooking, the details of which I am just starting to explore.

I guess the first piece of this is quantity. Each time I'm in the grocery store or at the farm stand I have to remind myself that I am cooking for 1 (probably more like 1.5 by actual volume!) fewer at mealtime, and to restrain myself. No need to buy a tub of hummus each week or make quite so many chicken thighs. One pound of pasta will now provide two full dinners instead of one and a lunch. I'm guessing Trader Joe's, source of most of our snacks, will notice a drop in the amount of nuts, dried apricots and Dunkers they sell each week.

The next piece is taste. Healthier daughter is not a happy flesh eater, unless said flesh has been pulverized, ground or chopped such that it's origins are incognito. She will eat chicken sausage, or any kind of sausage, really, ragu, diced prosciutto, even the occasional hamburger. She will pick at salmon and the odd piece of chicken, but she does not really enjoy most fish, meat or fowl. While refraining from giving up those few meats she cares for and actually calling herself a vegetarian, she eats a mostly vegetarian diet. This is in almost direct contrast to healthier son, who in grade school advised me that for his lunch, he really liked "a meat sandwich." Everyday.

As a result of these disparate tastes, I strive for a happy medium between the two in my cooking. I'm noticing now that what I must have done without even realizing it was to make a primarily vegetarian meal, with some fish, chicken or meat either on the side or easily separated. Pack some some extra veggies in to the meal, add some alternate proteins, provide a little meat or fish and cross my fingers. Some nights one or the other might be slightly disappointed at the meal, but generally, everyone ate pretty well. I no longer (except on school breaks) have to compromise. Meat boy is off in St. Louis (where I hope he'll eat some vegetables) and veggie girl can be appeased.

One area I am finally hoping to explore in depth is Asian cooking, with the emphasis on vegetables and grains or noodles. I recently read Fuchsia Dunlop's memoir with recipes, Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper, and purchased The Asian Grandmother's Cookbook. I also had a successful visit to the library where I bagged 5 or 6 books on Chinese, Japanese and Korean cooking to augment a couple I have on Chinese cooking: Kylie Kwong's Simple Chinese Cooking and Alford and Duguid's Beyond the Great Wall.

I know that whatever I'm cooking at home is much lower in fat and calories than when we eat out, but what I'm still trying to figure out is how to reduce the sodium in many of the recipes and techniques even further. I already use lower sodium soy sauce, but there is quite a bit of sodium in fish sauce, miso paste, and kimchi.

I recently purchased a couple of jars of kimchi through Food52's shop. This is some delicious artisanal kimchi from Mother-in-Law's Kimchi, (MILKimchee) a small, new producer out of New York. The owner uses her mother's family recipe to produce her product.

A few days after ordering my kimchi, a package arrived with two pint jars of bubbling, living Napa cabbage kimchi, already lightly fermented. Fed Ex man did not ring the bell, so it sat outside on my porch overnight in ninety degree plus weather and when I found it the next morning the ice packs were long melted. After frantic emails back and forth with MILKimchi, I was reassured that the kimchi was fine, just a little more fermented due to the heat. I stuck it in the fridge for another couple of weeks, until one night when I was looking for a lighter dinner for three.

Kimchi, for those of you have not yet been introduced to its pleasures, is basically spicy, pickled and then fermented cabbage. Somehow, the fermented cabbage is good for digestion, and while mostly vegetable, often includes some kind of fish, either anchovy or dried shrimp. MILKimchi also contains some beef stock, so if you are kosher or vegetarian, take a good look at the ingredient list when you're buying kimchi. My daughter loves kimchi.

Back in June, we breakfasted on some kimchi fried rice with a fried egg on top while at the Ferry Building market in San Francisco. As a riff on that, I scrambled a few eggs like I would for any old fried rice and then removed it from the pan. I then added a few diced mushrooms and sliced scallions to a thin sheen of peanut oil (canola would be fine and healthier, too). Once the mushrooms softened a little I added about a cup of diced kimchi and some roughly chopped pea shoots I had lying around. As I tossed it through the pan, it got a little dry so I added about a tablespoon of lower sodium soy sauce but chicken stock would work well too and would be lower in sodium. Next came the rice and I tossed it all together and let it cook for a little while. I then added the cooked egg back in for a quick toss and after turning off the heat, mixed in a couple of teaspoons of sesame oil and garnished it all with some roasted sesame seeds and some nori flakes. Delish!!

This is a relatively healthy dish, what with the brown rice and vegetables. The kimchi, despite its slightly higher than I'd like sodium count, is still a very healthy food. Eggs are no longer the bad guys they once were with regard to cholesterol, though I did scramble them dry so I didn't have to worry about the recent salmonella scare. Already roasted sesame seeds and nori flakes can usually be purchased at an Asian market, though neither is necessary. And, this can be made in no time if you use frozen brown rice or if you make the rice ahead and have it in the refrigerator.

Quickie, Healthy-ish, Kimchi Fried Rice

(serves 4)

6 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons peanut or canola oil, divided

4 ounces mushrooms, sliced thinly

4 or 5 scallions, sliced thinly, reserve a small amount for garnish

a few handfuls of roughly chopped pea shoots, thawed frozen peas or snow peas thinly sliced on the diagonal

1 cup kimchi, thinly sliced (I used one made with Napa cabbage)

4 cups cooked and cooled brown rice (this is a great place to use frozen brown rice. I used two bags and slightly undercooked them in the microwave so that they were just warmed but not steaming hot)

1 - 2 teaspoons sesame oil

sprinkle toasted sesame seeds or toast your own briefly in a dry pan

sprinkle nori flakes (if you have them)

1. Set a large skillet or wok over medium heat and once heated, 1 tablespoon of the peanut or canola oil and then the eggs. Either scramble or let set a little like an omelet and flip so fully cooked. Once cooked, remove eggs from pan to a plate and set aside. If you've done the omelet way, slice into thin strips.

2. Wipe out pan and add the other tablespoon of oil. Raise heat to medium-high and cook the mushrooms until they soften. Add the scallions and pea shoots (or substitute) and cook a minute or two. Add the kimchi and rice and stir fry for another 3 or 4 minutes, until all contents have warmed through and are well combined. If the mixture seems dry, add a splash of soy sauce or chicken stock or even water.

3. Add the eggs back in and toss gently and let re-warm briefly.

4. Turn off heat under pan and add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil. Add more to taste.

5. Garnish with remaining scallions, sesame seeds and nori.

Yiddishe Mama

2010-09-14T09:38:00.005-04:00

Chicken Fricassee was one of our favorite Jewish holiday dishes growing up and one that I never stopped to think much about. I still make it once or twice a year, usually for Passover and Rosh Hashanah. During Passover, we'd eat it with matzoh farfel sprinkled on top and for Rosh Hashanah, it was our dinner the evening of the first day, a supposedly lighter meal as we'd been eating all afternoon with friends. It's also great for an appetizer before your pre-Yom Kippur meal.

Last week, as I was shopping for the ingredients to make this, I started wondering about the unlikely name of this dish. This fricassee bears no resemblance to the French dish of the same name. According to the Food Lover's Companion, fricassee (FRIHK-uh-see) is a dish of meat (usually chicken) that has been sauteed in butter before being stewed with vegetables. The end result is a thick, chunky stew, often flavored with wine. Chicken? Check! And that is the end of the similarities. Certainly there is no butter as this evolved out of a kosher house. And, a vegetable has never entered this dish as far as I'm aware.

My family's chicken fricasee was a tomato based stew, of sorts, which featured parts of the chicken we normally do not eat today: necks and gizzards (pupiks in Yiddish). To this epitome of Yiddishe cucina povera, my forebears would add some wings and a little flanken (top rib - which is similar to short rib, just cut across the bone instead of alongside). Preparation required cleaning the gizzards of their greenish skin, cutting the flanken into bite sized pieces, and browning both prior to adding any other ingredients. Once the meat and gizzards were browned, they went into a large pot, were covered with tomato sauce, sugar and lemon juice, and simmered for a couple of hours. The chicken necks and wings went in after an hour or so for the last hour of simmering. Salt and pepper were added, to taste, at the end.

When I make fricasee now, there is none of the cucina povera about it. My husband and kids never cared for the boney chicken necks and wings, so I switched to skinless drumsticks. More recently, I learned that the gizzards were unappealing to them as well, so I sometimes leave them out. When I do use them, I use half as much as I used to. I either add in extra boneless flanken or some meatballs. I play to my audience! My ancestors' budget stew has evolved into a $60.00 pot of sweet and sour short ribs.

In doing some research last week into this dish, I've discovered that not only does this dish not resemble a French fricassee, it doesn't even resemble a typical Jewish one. In fact, it seems that somewhere along the way one of my Grandmothers or Great Grandmothers conflated fricassee with a sweet and sour dish. My family's created an amalgam of the two, keeping the chicken parts while using the flanken and sweet and sour sauce.

Arthur Schwartz' Jewish Home Cooking and Joan Nathan's Jewish Cooking in America were helpful in my research. I think Arthur Schwartz and I must be related because his recipes are so similar to my family's. My family's fricassee is most similar to his family's Sweet and Sour Flanken.

Our recipe is a simple one, with very few ingredients and only one pot needed, although I choose to use a second pot to cook the gizzards if I use them. Feel free to sub back in the gizzards and necks if it's to your taste. If you'd like the cleaning instructions for the gizzards, just drop me a message in the comment section. Nose to tail cooking is trendy right now!

This dish just gets better with time, so if you can, make it a day ahead and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. An added bonus is that when chilled, the fat will rise to the top and you can easily skim it off the next day.

Grandma Penzner's Chicken Fricassee

(serves 10 or so)

3 -4 pounds of first cut top rib from a kosher butcher, trimmed of large pieces of fat and cut into bite sized pieces. Leave some meat attached to each bone, but you can cut some of the meat away from the bone, too.

1.5 pounds boneless top rib, trimmed of large pieces of fat and cut into bite sized pieces

48 - 53 ounces strained tomatoes (I use either Bionaturae which comes in a 24 ounce jar, or Pomi in a 26.46 ounce box. Either way I use two. I throw a half cup,sometimes more, of water into the jars or boxes after emptying them into the pot, swish it around and add that in too - helps get the last bits of strained tomatoes out. It's a little harder to do with the boxes! With a dish like this I'm not sure how much it matters, but both these brands have no added sodium)

1/4 cup sugar (I use natural cane sugar), more to taste

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, more to taste

1/2 tablespoon salt, more to taste

pepper to taste

6 - 8 chicken drumsticks or one dozen wings. I like to take the skin off the drumsticks.

1. Brown the flanken in a large, heavy pot over a medium-high to high flame. Do not crowd the pieces, even if it means doing the browning in several batches. After each batch is finished, remove the pieces to a bowl and set aside.

2. When all the meat is browned, put it all back into the pot, and add the strained tomatoes, sugar, lemon juice, salt and a few grinds of pepper. The sauce/water should cover the meat. If it doesn't, add a little water to the pot. Let it come to a boil, then lower the light to keep the contents at a steady simmer. Scrape up the bits that might have gotten stuck to the bottom of the pan during the browning.

3. After about an hour of cooking, taste and see if the sweet and sour flavor seems balanced. Add more sugar or lemon juice by tablespoons. Taste for salt and pepper.

4. Add the chicken legs or wings (if using wings, I like to brown them before adding) and continue to simmer about another hour.

5. If possible, let cool and refrigerate overnight. Skim fat and reheat to serve. Delicious with challah and/or rice.

The Plumpy’nut furor: International food politics in action

2010-09-03T13:10:00.002-04:00

Marion Nestle gets the jump on an article to be published in this Sunday's New York Times magazine. This is what happens when we trust corporations to solve hunger and obesity issues:

The Plumpy’nut furor: International food politics in action

Summer Corn Saute

2010-08-12T18:51:00.011-04:00

When corn is in high season, like now, I love to eat it right off the cob, lightly steamed, no butter or anything on it. So when I started playing around with sauteing corn in a pan, I was surprised how much I loved the flavor. I tried a few ingredients that seemed complementary. Some I felt overwhelmed the sweet corn I love, while others added to and even amplified the corn flavor. One combination that came out of a visit to the farm market is corn, green onions and shiitake mushrooms. In a pinch, during the part of corn season when there are no fresh green onions, a diced up bit of red onion will stand in well. Every time we've had guests for dinner lately, I find myself making this.

The corn gets a little caramelized, and so, even sweeter. The green onion gives it a little bite, as does the Aleppo pepper which I just can't get enough of, spice wimp that I am (it's milder than crushed red pepper), and use in as many dishes as I can. The shiitake mushrooms add a subtle earthy flavor and a softer texture. I've made this as a side dish with six ears for four people, six ears for 6 people, ten ears for eight, and even stretched ten ears for 12 people! This dish is highly adaptable and expandable. If you really hate shiitakes, just leave them out. Really love lime juice, add a squeeze. Feel compelled to add extra bling, add some chopped herbs.

I like to serve this with a green salad, some sliced farm fresh tomatoes and something off the grill. I don't have a large grill so sometimes it's nice to have one dish that doesn't have to cook on the grill. I particularly like this with grilled chicken sausage (garlic and wine, for example) or flank steak. It's also terrific with a meaty fish - I've served it alongside wreckfish and salmon with good results.

To cut the kernels off the cob, I place a very small bowl upside down inside a larger bowl and rest one end of the cob on the bottom (which is now sticking up) of the small bowl. This part might actually be a tip from Rachael Ray. I use a chef's knife and run it down each side of the ear of corn and cut the kernels right off. The kernels will all fall into the bowl. This odd looking picture below is actually a small red plastic bowl inverted into a larger stainless steel bowl - this is my usual kernel stripping set-up. I did purchase an OXO kernel stripper a while back which works just fine, but I've found that I prefer my knife.

And for all my rants about corn by-products and mass production in this country, sweet summer corn is different. This corn is grown by farmers specifically for us to eat. In fact, according to the September Food and Wine, in 2009, the 254,400 acres of sweet corn planted is dwarfed by the 86,482,000 acres of field corn planted that year. Field corn, which is not so sweet, is primarily used for livestock feed and ethanol. A small percentage is also used to make corn starch and corn syrup. Ironically, Iowa only accounts for .07 % of the sweet corn grown in this country. Most of it's corn is field corn.

Sauteed Corn with Green Onions and Shiitake Mushrooms

(serves 4 - 6)

6 large ears sweet summer corn

2 - 3 tablespoons olive oil (start with two and add a third if pan seems dry during cooking)

small bunch green onions, thinly sliced (about 3/4 cup)

3/4 cup diced shiitake mushroom caps

1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

1. Husk the corn and cut the kernels off the corn cobs into a bowl.

2. Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add the olive oil.

3. Add the corn and stir occasionally as the corn gets a little bit browned, about 10 minutes. Add the scallions and mushrooms and mix gently, but well. Add the Aleppo pepper and salt. Continue to cook and stir occasionally for another ten minutes or so. Taste for salt and Aleppo pepper.

Blackout Ragu

2010-08-03T15:14:00.009-04:00

When your power goes out for close to three days, as happened to us last week, throwing away a lot of food is inevitable. After tossing any contents of the refrigerator that I couldn't get onto ice, I was reluctant to pillage my freezer quite so soon. Our local news radio said that a full freezer can remain frozen for 48 hours so I left mine closed for the first two days having faith that our power would return within this window. After the 48 hour mark came and went with no sign of light(pun completely intended), I opened the freezer door and started sorting. By hour 50 or so, when I bravely opened the freezer, all the frozen fruit and vegetables and some of the meats had already gotten mushy. No one should ever have to see what the bananas I'd saved for smoothies looked like.

According to our local news station (also the source of the 48 hour rule which was only moderately accurate), meat that is still mostly hard frozen can be refrozen. Luckily, a friend had room in her freezer for the meats that had not thawed. However, the only way to salvage the foods that had already begun thawing was to cook them. If you happen to have 6 - 1 pound packages of grass fed ground beef bought directly from the farmer, one option is ragu.

I usually think of ragu as a cool weather dish, leaving a big pot to simmer for hours in late fall. With a gas stove top that would still work during a blackout with a little help from a lighter, it became a summer dish as well. You can substitute all ground beef for the pork and veal if you prefer.

Ragu

(serves a blackout potluck or at least two meals for 4 - 6, unless your teenaged son has his friends over and then who knows?)

2 pounds ground beef
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground veal
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 ounces pancetta, diced
1 large red onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
1/2 cup red wine
5 tablespoons tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large frying pan, crumble and brown the ground meats, breaking up large chunks with the back of a spoon. Drain the meat out of the fat and reserve the meat.

2. In a large, heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven set over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and the pancetta. Let the pancetta brown and render some fat.

3. Add the onion, celery and carrot to the pot with the pancetta, salt lightly and cook until vegetables soften and onions become translucent.

4. Add the drained ground meat to the vegetables and pancetta and again break up any larger chunks of meat with the spoon.

5. Add the wine to the pot and raise the heat to bring the mixture to a boil and then lower and simmer for 2 - 3 minutes.

6. Add the tomato paste and a bay leaf and cover with water by about an inch.

7. Continue to simmer for about 3 hours, adding more water if the mixture seems too dry. Taste for salt and pepper.

8. Remove the bay leaf and serve over penne or tagliatelle with parmesan cheese.

It's hard to Know

2010-07-20T09:11:00.005-04:00

Last month, I learned, belatedly, of the death of K. Dun Gifford in May. Most of you will not recognize his name, and, indeed, I did not immediately. I had to read further into the wellness column of that Thursday's Washington Post to learn that he was the founder of Oldways, a think tank proponent of a Mediterranean, slow-food style diet. After reading about Oldways on the blog 101cookbooks, I purchased a copy of the Oldways Table last year, and have read a bit about Oldways Preservation Trust since then.

What is one to think, or rather, what am I to think, after the death, by sudden heart attack of a 71 year old man who had promoted healthy eating for years? Kind of like when Jim Fixx died so young.

As with Jim Fixx, maybe Dun Gifford's genetics were working against him. Heart disease is a complicated illness and often, a quiet one. Turned out, Jim Fixx's dad had died of a heart attack in his thirties. Perhaps Jim Fixx would have died at an even younger age than he did if he hadn't become a runner at 35. Maybe he bought himself twenty or so years by running and quitting smoking and losing a ton of weight. Likewise, maybe Dun Gifford gained some years by following a healthier diet for the latter ones. I just don't know enough about his habits to make any generalizations. Maybe he didn't combine the healthy eating with some exercise. Or, maybe, he just couldn't control his portions, or had too much stress in his life or too much alcohol or not enough. Or, he could have had bad habits for too many years earlier in his life. Or maybe he added to the quality of the years he did have. Or...maybe life is just random that way.

We'll never know, so it's hard not to let the doubts creep in and wonder if it just doesn't matter what we eat. I've thought about this quite a bit since I learned of his death, and have decided that I still think that eating a healthier diet is a definite hedge. I'm sticking with my plan of eating mostly fruits and vegetables, healthy whole grains, some meat (mostly grass-fed), poultry and fish and limiting, but not completely eliminating, saturated fats, processed sugar, sodium and white carbs. Certainly, I understand that I can't control my universe and make everything perfect with whole grains and olive oil. I am going to continue to hope, however, that in conjunction with exercise, I can rewrite my genetics just a little. Maybe "just a little" is all we can hope for and maybe, that's enough.

Food safety roundup

2010-07-16T11:44:00.002-04:00

Just couldn't resist sharing Marion Nestle's Food safety roundup. Love the quote from the former USDA official! You'll have to read through the piece to find this reward...it's at the end.

Not Terribly New, But So What?

2010-07-12T08:16:00.000-04:00

There is a time and place for everything and the time for this pasta is now!

Actually, it's good for another couple of months unless this drought completely wipes out all tomato plants in the mid-Atlantic. This is not even a recipe but a very forgiving method. Only caveat is that you like tomatoes. I know this knocks a few readers out here, but for anyone who even tolerates tomatoes this is the perfect, quick, hot weather meal.

I made this last week when I realized both that I had half of an extra large ball of mozzarella cheese and several beautiful tomatoes left over from a Caprese salad earlier in the week and that we'd be gone for the weekend. Not wanting to waste either component, this was our dinner the night before we left town.

The ingredient list is short: tomatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper, pasta or another grain, basil and mozzarella cheese. What makes this dish sing the Star Spangled Banner is the quality of the ingredients. Here is where you use those garden tomatoes you get to pick from your neighbors garden while they're on vacation and you're watering their plants, or if you don't have your own garden or a generous neighbor, buy them from a farmstand. You really want the flavor of field grown and ripened tomatoes here. Grocery store tomatoes just don't ripen to the same flavor. That said, type of tomato is completely flexible. You can use regular old beefsteak tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, yellow or green zebra tomatoes, grape or cherry tomatoes of different colors, or mix of any of these. In the photo below, you can see (I hope) that I've used red and yellow tomatoes cut into chunks, as well as some really beautiful dark red grape tomatoes with a pale yellow striation. I probably used three large tomatoes and then about half a pint of the grape tomatoes. I really like using a mix of colors.

Once you've cut the tomatoes into basically same sized pieces - I cut the large tomatoes into bite-sized chunks first and then halved and sometimes quartered the grape tomatoes to match - put them into a bowl and pour about three tablespoons of great olive oil over top. This is the time to pull out the good stuff. Sprinkle with a little kosher or sea salt and a couple of grinds of black pepper. Give it a quick mix and let it sit for 15 or 20 minutes. Meantime, put up some water for the pasta or farro or even quinoa. If you choose to use one of these other grains, I recommend cutting the tomatoes into a smaller dice so the large chunks don't overwhelm the smaller grains. You can even use the tomatoes done this way as a bruschetta topping.

Once the tomatoes have had some time to marinate or macerate, actually, they should produce a good bit of liquid for a sauce. Add the pasta or other grain when ready and mix well. If it seems a little dry, just add a touch more olive oil. Chiffonade (cut into thin slivers) or gently tear some fresh basil leaves, maybe ten or so large leaves, over top and mix. At this point, I like to let the pasta sit for a few minutes to cool slightly before adding the mozzarella cheese. I prefer the cheese to remain in chunks rather than getting melty and stringy. Here too, use some good, fresh mozzarella in a large ball, and cut it into small chunks. If short on time, you can also buy the little tiny balls of fresh mozzarella and you don't have to cut them. Mix and taste for salt and you're ready to eat!

Gourmet, Unbound, July Edition

2010-07-08T20:21:00.007-04:00

This month I chose to make a fresh fig and arugula salad from July 1998 Gourmet magazine. Some fresh figs in the market, OK, from California, made the decision for me. I just didn't feel like a granita or sorbet and that seemed to be the most common recipe in past July issues of Gourmet. I do have to confess that the main reason I chose this salad is that it is easy, easy, easy and sounded delicious to boot. I didn't think I'd get a July recipe in as we'd been eating our way across San Francisco adn then hiking in Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks, but I got it in under the gun, in part because it took no time to put together and in part, because I already had most of the ingredients.

I'd already bought some arugula at the farmstand on Sunday and had the prosciutto waiting for the right opportunity to serve it. Parmigiano is a staple around here. Once I saw the fresh figs, the decision was made.

This salad came together quickly and easily, but I didn't bother with the instruction to attach and wrap thin strips of the prosciutto to form a long chain. I just draped the bits in a similar fashion without the extra step.

The salad was a big hit as it is composed of a complement of salty, tart, bitter and sweet flavors. It's perfect dinner party fare and was a big hit with the whole family.

California Trip

2010-07-05T20:41:00.016-04:00

Ahhh...eating in San Francisco! We started our weekend with carnitas, carne asada and fish tacos (both grilled and fried) from Nick's Crispy Tacos, an all cash joint co-housed with a nightclub in a garnet red room festooned with crystal chandeliers. A bit of a disconnect for a casual taco lunch in plastic baskets with oilcloth tablecloths, but the tacos and guacamole were delicious. Late that afternoon, we boarded a cable car for Market Street and began our trek to Berkeley (cable car, followed by BART and then a walk) for dinner. It was only fitting that the round trip took longer than the dinner, I guess, as this was a pilgrimage of sorts.

When choosing a restaurant for our first dinner in San Francisco on what was also our twenty-first anniversary, Chez Panisse immediately came to mind. Despite many trips to San Francisco in the past, I'd never eaten there. I was somewhat concerned that I'd be disappointed - would the restaurant be worth the trek, would the food and atmosphere be as I imagined? Can any restaurant live up to such a build-up? But then, how could I be so close and not eat there? We decided to commit but to eat in the upstairs Cafe as it seemed more suited to our family of four. I made the reservation precisely one month prior to our dinner.

But how pleased we were. All of us. Maddy started with a pizzeta with wild nettles and ricotta cheese and continued with porcini mushroom lasagna. Paul and Ted each had a main course of crispy rabbit which was excellent. I was pretty impressed with my guys ordering that! I had sea bass (not Chilean) with fennel and potato puree. For dessert we shared an apricot tart with mulberry ice cream. We should have had two!

So, yes, it was worth it and the myth is not shattered!

All our meals were wonderful but one of the most unique was the kimchee fried rice topped with a fried egg from Namu at the Saturday market at the Ferry building. With offerings from all kinds of egg sandwiches on Acme bread to Mexican to all types of Asian food, we were overwhelmed by choice. We started out that morning with a steamed char shiu bao apiece from The Slanted Door's to go window "Out the Door" in the market itself. We then walked up one side and back down the other side of the interior of the Ferry building, oohing and aahing each shop. I noticed the Heath Ceramics that we'd eaten on the night before at Chez Panisse. After, we strolled through all the booths set up outside the building in search of the perfect breakfast. We ended up with a combination of egg and bacon sandwiches, kimchee, and fruit. We tasted the sweetest apricots I've ever had. In fact, we tasted everything that anyone offered us. Wonder what it is about artichokes that I never see them in markets in the DC area. I was speechless several times that morning at the abundance and variety of offerings. This felt like part II of the food pilgrimage that we had begun the night before in Berkeley.

We then had further food fun at Burma Superstar and Pizzeria Delfina and even squeezed in a Fathers' Day dim sum brunch at Yank Sing. Almost seems like too many meals for the number of days we were there! Burma Superstar has gotten lots of foodie press and was well worth the half hour wait for a table. Lunch ends at 3:30 and dinner begins at 5. We waited about a half an hour and were told we could stay and eat as long as we liked as long as our food order was in by 3:30. We got our food order in just in time and enjoyed delicious tea leaf salad, one of their specialities, along with a couple of Burmese noodle dishes, and some sauteed pea shoots. These were no ordinary pea shoots, though. The leaves were several times larger than what I buy as pea shoots. The menu says they are stir fried in wine and garlic and I think I ate practically the whole order myself. As we ate, we noticed the cooks entering the dining room, one by one, with steaming bowls of rice and toppings, to sit at a large, round table and enjoy their dinner before the restaurant's dinner service began.

Soon after our return to DC, I participated in the "DC Food 52-ers Canorama" - a full day canning extravaganza led by one of our most active and knowledgable participants, Mrs. Wheelbarrow, and hosted in Carlisle, PA by cheese1227. We came home with jars of cherry pie filling and stunning apricots in vanilla syrup to enjoy at some later date when it's not so warm and fresh fruit is not so plentiful. For our potluck lunch we ate banh mi sandwiches made from a food52 winning recipe. I brought sesame noodles as a side dish. These are flexible and you can sub in or add many different veggies, such as napa cabbage, cucumber or snow peas for the Chinese celery. Don't skimp on the Thai basil, though!

This dish does include honey and soy sauce and a goodly amount of oil, but it is enough to serve 8 as a side dish. I like to serve it alongside salmon, though tofu would work too. For vegans, you can substitute agave nectar for the honey, though I'd reduce the amount by a tablespoon and add a couple of teaspoons of warm water.

Sesame Noodles with Thai Basil

(serves 4 -6 as a main dish or about 8 as a side dish)

16 - 18 ounces udon noodles (you can also use soba or even spaghetti - I like to stick with a whole grain udon for this. The packages of udon don't seem to come in the typical 1 lb. package we're used to seeing with pasta. I have even used about 19 ounces of udon - two packages of 9 ounces each - and there was enough sauce)

3 shredded or julienned carrots (I use a julienne peeler). In a pinch you can use a few handfuls of pre-shredded carrots

2 cups Chinese celery, rough chopped stems and leaves

1/4 cup peanut or canola oil

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste

3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

5 tablespoons honey

5 tablespoons lower sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions

1/2 cup chopped, unsalted peanuts

1/2 cup Thai basil - larger leaves roughly torn

1. Cook noodles according to package directions, leaving them al dente.

2. In a saucepan, lightly cook oils and red pepper over medium or medium-low heat for a few minutes, taking care not to let it boil. Stir.

3. Add the honey and soy sauce to the pot and stir well.

4. Place the carrots and celery into a large bowl and put the hot noodles right on top. Add the sauce over top and mix well.

5. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Let noodles come to room temperature for a half an hour or so and add the last five ingredients just before serving. Toss well.

Pea Soup for Spring and Summer

2010-06-22T10:27:00.001-04:00

Ina Garten's pea soup tastes like spring. It's not a heavy, winter-time split pea soup that cooks for hours and warms the house. There's a time for that soup and June in DC is not it. This soup is a puree of fresh peas and mint, which can be served hot, warm or cold with equally good results. Ms. Garten even invites you to substitute frozen peas and as peas have not yet come into the local farm markets, that is how I've made it. I don't think I would even bother to use fresh peas even when they are available, as this soup can be made pretty quickly unless one had to first shell peas. Save those peas for popping in your mouth raw and use the petite, sweet frozen ones here.

I was so excited about this recipe when I first made it as it hit all my benchmarks - it's delicious, relatively healthy and easy to make. Paul and both kids, even my teenaged son who doesn't like peas, enjoyed the soup. I tried to share my excitement with a couple of friends and both told me unequivocally that they hate pea soup. Please don't be judgmental about this soup! Try it - even Teddy liked it!

I've made the recipe, as written (with just one little change - I replaced the butter with olive oil), several times with great success. It's filling enough to serve with some bread and cheese for a light dinner or could also serve as a first course to a full dinner. you could easily sub in garlic rubbed bruschetta for croutons as I've done in this photo or even (gasp!) use packaged ones in a pinch.

Last time I made this soup I divided the soup into three before adding the creme fraiche. In one portion I added creme fraiche and in the other two, lower fat options of fat free Greek yogurt and virtually fat free Israeli quark. In this soup, I much preferred the fullness and mouth feel that the creme fraiche affords. I was hoping to like one of the other options, but they both had too much bite without being rounded out by the cream. I think this recipe needs a little fat to balance the peas. However, I did exchange the butter for olive oil, so I felt virtuous enough to enjoy the creme fraiche laced version.

Spicy Tuna Tartare

2010-06-08T08:30:00.001-04:00

Vernon, the fish seller at the Bethesda Central Farm Market, had some Atlantic bigeye tuna (Monterey Bay Aquarium "Best Choice") last week. Just because it was there I had to try it although we weren't sure how we'd eat it. We'd already had a salade Nicoise the week prior so I figured on doing it Asian style with some sesame seeds and a quick sear on each side. I bought a huge bag of snow peas to serve with it. Sometime later in the day, though, I decided to play around. I ended up using the tuna raw as it was so fresh and Vernon so reputable but couldn't decide on any one method. Finally, I made three different dishes for us to sample. One was ceviche style with some lime juice and red onion and a little splash of olive oil. The second, Paul's favorite, was an Italian style crudo - thinly sliced and then just drizzled with a little olive oil and lemon juice and then sprinkled with Maldon sea salt.

The third method tasted a little like a spicy tuna roll. We ate it with great quality taco chips, but would be delicious with fried egg roll wrappers or rolled into a seaweed cone. Even Neva-Betta crackers.

Spicy Tuna Tartare

(serves 4 - 6 as an hors d'oeuvre or appetizer)

1/2 Cup Mayonnaise ( I used Hellman's Light Mayo and it was fine)
2 tablespoons Sriracha sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3/4 pound piece of really fresh tuna from a reliable source
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
2 stalks very thinly sliced green garlic (or 1 fat garlic clove, minced)

1. Mix first three ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

2. Dice up the tuna as finely as you can without shredding it.

3. Place cut up tuna into a medium bowl, add the onion and garlic, and then add about 2 or 3 tablespoons of the Sriracha mayo and gently mix. Add more mayo bit by bit until you get a taste and consistency you like. Save the leftover mayo for another dish!

4. Serve with good quality taco chips or fried wanton skins, or make a roll with a seaweed cone.

Salade Nicoise

2010-06-04T09:34:00.002-04:00

Way back in 9th grade French class, Ms. Gold introduced me to salade Nicoise. She was one of those teachers who inspire students and encouraged us to appreciate France and French culture in addition to teaching us grammar. We listened to Plastic Bertrand in class ( I do hope some of mes amis are reading!), went to see French films and ate in French restaurants in New York. She was young, hip and quirky and we loved it all.

Each year with Ms. Gold and then, later, with Madame DeMuth, Randi Cohen and I baked a traditional Buche de Noel for the class holiday party. Randi's mother always let us bake the Buche at their house, and as best as I can remember, was also nice enough to clean up after us. Despite this largesse, and as much fun as I remember having, I suspect the complicated and labor intensive recipe which required many pans, pots and a candy thermometer, is why I don't bake much now. I still have the recipe, a faded blue "ditto" with creases from where I had it folded into eight for many years, just in case.

But the salade Nicoise stuck. As soon as it gets warm in DC and the farmstands start carrying green beans and new potatoes, I begin to crave this perfect salad as a light meal. Recently, the stars aligned: it was warm and I was able to buy some fresh potatoes and beans.

This is, as is often the case with me, not really a recipe. I'm not a traditionalist and I love to improvise a little so I'll just give you some guidelines.

A bed of butter, Boston or leaf lettuce

A few handfuls green beans, I particularly like thinner ones or haricots verts, lightly steamed or blanched and then plunged into ice cold water

A few new red or fingerling potatoes per person, can also use baby Yukon golds, cut in half or quarters if large and boiled for about 10 minutes until fork-tender

grape or cherry tomatoes, or cut up tomatoes

tuna in oil - use a great quality brand in olive oil. For the salad in the picture, I used a 10 oz. jar of Flott.

hard boiled egg (I like to try to leave the centers just a little under hard-cooked) - 1 per person - cut in half

olives

thinly sliced red onion

capers for a garnish - well rinsed, salt-packed are best

anchovies - curl one on a few of the egg halves

vinaigrette - recipe below

This photo shows our salad before I dressed it, as the second after I drizzled on the vinaigrette, everyone pounced! You'll notice, however, that there are neither anchovies nor olives, both traditional components of a salade Nicoise. As whole anchovies are not a favorite in our house, I sometimes add a little anchovy paste to the vinaigrette in lieu of curling the fillets atop the eggs, although this time I did neither. As I'm the only olive eater, I add those to my plate alone. The cucumbers are a non traditional addition - I had a seedless cucumber in the salad bin I felt like using up and thought it would add some crunch.

Here is the piece de resistance (wish I could figure out how to add in the accents!)...I used a jar of Flott tuna from Sicily on this salad. I was raised in a "tuna in water" house and have bought only that for much of my adult life. For a mayo tuna salad, that's still what I buy. But for salade Nicoise, tuna in oil is preferred. If you buy a really great brand like Flott (or Ortiz "conserva" as I've learned from a food52-er), the tuna is packed in high quality olive oil and just adds to the flavor of the dish. You can drain it just a little bit before serving and you can cut back a little on the oil in the dressing or just not drizzle the dressing on the tuna. If you buy a great quality tuna in oil, the oil itself is a great quality olive oil.

If you prefer, this is also terrific with some thinly sliced, lightly seared fresh tuna. No matter which tuna you use, serve with a crisp white wine and some good French bread.

Basic Vinaigrette for Salade Nicoise

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon wine vinegar
1/4 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
pinch salt
few grinds pepper

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the mustard and vinegar.

2. Slowly pour in the olive oil with one hand while whisking with the other.

3. Add salt and pepper to taste.

The Springiest Potato Salad Ever

2010-05-24T05:44:00.008-04:00

As I've mentioned many times before, I just don't love mayonnaise based salads. I've been a vinaigrette gal since way back. I began thinking about this potato salad the other day when Food52 announced that this week's contest is "your best potato salad." This one immediately came to mind and as I checked back into my blog archives, I found that I never actually posted this recipe. I almost posted this recipe last year at exactly this time (May 28, 2009 - at least I'm consistent), but didn't post it then because it seemed to me I'd been overdoing it with vinaigrette recipes.

I happened upon some really fresh, tiny, new red potatoes at the farm stand last weekend and although this dish is tasty with any small potato (I've used red, different fingerling varieties and baby Yukon golds all with great success) these new potatoes were something special. In fact, all the vegetable components of this dish are completely fresh at farm stands in the DC area right now. Make it this weekend for your Memorial Day barbecues! Later on in the summer, you can easily sub in minced regular garlic and scallions, or even minced shallots for the spring onions.

So one year later, here it is. Karen R. please let me know if this differs from what I sent you last year!

Wendy's Springiest Potato Salad Ever

(serves 4 - 6 as a side dish)

2 lbs. washed new red potatoes, halved or quartered if larger. I like to try to buy the ones as close to one inch around as possible. Try to keep all the pieces close to the same size so they cook in the same amount of time.

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon whole grain mustard

1 tablespoon red wine or champagne vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

a couple of pinches of salt, more to taste

a few grinds of pepper, more to taste

scant 1/4 cup thinly sliced green or spring garlic, the kind that looks like scallions (or two cloves minced regular garlic)

1/4 cup thinly sliced green or spring onions, plus another tablespoon for garnish (or scallions - or even 2 small minced shallots)

1 cup pea shoots, roughly chopped (should be a few large handfuls when whole)

1. Put cut potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water by about 1/2 to 1 inch. Lightly salt the water. Bring to a boil and then lower to a low boil/high simmer for 8 - 10 minutes. Check potato piece after about 8 minutes by piercing with a fork. You want the fork to slide in easily, but you don't want to let the potatoes get mushy.

2. While the potatoes cook, in a large bowl, whisk the mustards and vinegar together. Add the olive oil in a stream, whisking as you add. Add salt and pepper. Add the green onions and green garlic to the vinaigrette and toss.

3. When potatoes are fully cooked, drain in a colander and immediately add into the bowl with the vinaigrette. Mix gently.

4. Add in the chopped pea shoots and toss gently but well. Taste for salt and pepper.

5. Garnish with reserved green onions or scallions.

6. Serve warm or at room temperature. If you make this earlier in the day, refrigerate in the interim, but take out about 1/2 hour before you want to serve so that the salad can come back to room temperature.

June Gourmet, Unbound

2010-05-24T05:13:00.004-04:00

It's that time of the month again - time for a link to a recipe from a June issue of Gourmet magazine. This month I made Soba Noodles with Pea Shoots, Shiitake Mushrooms, and Leeks from June 1994. I love soba noodles both for taste and health - other than the sodium in the soy sauce, this is a healthy dish, full of delicious vegetables and hearty whole grain soba noodles.

In addition to the vegetables called for in the recipe, I added one head of baby bok choy, cut up a little, to the leeks in the pan. Baby spinach or other greens would work equally well. I also added about a half cup of chicken stock (you could easily use vegetable stock) to the pan and let the leeks and bok choy braise a little. This added a little extra "sauce" to an otherwise rather dry dish. And, I added about a quarter cup of water to the soy sauce and vinegar mixture for the same reason. The result was a cross between a straight noodle dish and a soup. Lastly, I gave the pea shoots a rough chop before putting them in the colander.

As the guys in the house were out practicing their short games for a charity golf tournament, my lovely daughter and I enjoyed this for lunch without them. For her, the mostly vegetarian meal worked well. However you could easily add a small piece of salmon or some shredded chicken on top of the noodles for a heartier dinner.

Here's the link:

http://epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Soba-with-Pea-Shoots-Shiitake-Mushrooms-and-Leeks-12060

How to Make Your Life Easier

2010-05-03T08:06:00.013-04:00

I think another discussion about weeknight dinners is warranted. Michael Ruhlman, a noted food writer, agitated the food world a couple of weeks ago when he claimed that we shouldn't be focused on 30 minute meals, or 20 minute meals, or for that matter quick meals of any kind. As he put it in the Huffington Post, he "called bullsh*t" on the idea that we're too busy to cook. His answer? Roast a chicken for an hour and use the time it's in the oven to do homework with the kids. I'm not even going to start.

On the way to this helpful "solution," he disses both Rachael Ray and Jamie Oliver, both of whom seek to teach people to use healthy ingredients and cook at home, even with limited time and budget.

Many food bloggers have taken up the cause in response to Ruhlman's parry and have declared that they will now blog about the boring day to day dinners they make when pressed for time, in hopes of helping other busy people cook healthy food at home. I guess this is why my blog has such a limited readership. I've been doing this all along. Most of the food I include here isn't at all sexy or fancy, or even photogenic, but hopefully some recipes are speedy enough for weeknight healthy eating. I'm inspired to renew my efforts to provide more quick recipes that still taste great and include fresh and healthy ingredients.

To begin this effort, I'd like to go back to my pantry post from last year. One of the biggest problems with weeknight cooking, and one of the main reasons to throw your hands up and order a pizza, is not having a sufficiently stocked kitchen. I learned this first hand when I was forced out of my extremely well-stocked home into a furnished rental for a month last summer. I had very limited space for pantry items and very little in the way of pots and other cooking implements. And we definitely did order pad thai much more frequently.

Perhaps part of what people mean when they say they don't have time to cook is that they don't have time (or energy, really) to shop. This is a tough one, because though many stores are open earlier in the morning and stay open later in the evening, it requires a great deal of discipline to force yourself to do the grocery shopping before or after work. I think the key is organization. Limit the trips to once a week, if possible, with a quick extra stop for fresh milk, fish, fruit or veggies if necessary. Go armed with a detailed list of pantry items that are running low and items for easy weeknight meals. Try planning a couple of meals out during the weekend - maybe a stir fry or some roasted salmon with rice. Add those ingredients to the list.

My list doesn't vary much week to week. Certain items are staples in our house: milk, salad ingredients, vegetables, orange juice, bread, yogurt bananas, fruit, etc. When I worked full-time and had au pairs living with us, I kept a notepad in the kitchen for the grocery list. Those staple items were always on it. In addition, whoever either finished an item or noticed one running low was responsible for putting it on the list. If it wasn't on the list, it probably wasn't going to get purchased. Late in the week one of us might have made an emergency milk run, but generally, we made it through the week.

I'm a semi-professional shopper now, and I am able to hit more than one store a week, but I still use a list and keep a substantial pantry. During the growing season, I do my main shopping at farmstands on Saturday or Sunday. From a bulging bag of vegetables, I can plan ahead for the week. Even if you're serving pasta and jarred sauce, a fresh bunch of sauteed kale or roasted carrots or turnips can take the meal up a notch.

One thing I'd like to encourage for pasta eaters is to keep a few jars of really delicious sauce around. In a pinch, some Rao's or Cucina Antica marinara on penne with some fresh shaved Pecorino, and maybe some crunchy grissini or breadsticks can feel like a restaurant meal. These sauces are a bit more expensive per jar, but if it saves you from ordering in,and keeps you healthier, it's probably cheaper in the long run. I am careful to check for ingredient lists that only include real food that I would use myself in a home made sauce, and to check for those lower in sodium. I recently discovered Cucina Antica brand which is on the lower end of the sodium spectrum.

A rotisserie chicken can also be more than the sum of it's parts, so to speak. Many markets now roast them without all the seasonings so they are both lower in sodium and versatile to use in recipes. I've shredded the meat of a rotisserie chicken for everything from faux mu shu using flour tortillas and hoisin sauce along with pre-shredded cabbage to "tacos" with corn tortillas, shredded lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes. Chunks of the meat can go into soups and stews as well. Recently, I used an unseasoned rotisserie chicken to make a mayo-free Spanish style chicken salad which was delicious on a bed of baby spinach with a sliced avocado and a couple of olives alongside.

Frozen rice is another great time saver. Trader Joes and many grocery stores sell boxes with individual bags of pre-cooked and frozen rice (with no additives) ready to microwave. In three minutes you can have brown or jasmine rice to serve with your quick cooking shrimp or salmon and veggies.

Bagged salad used to be staple, but it's too iffy these days. I stick with actual heads of lettuce and keep a salad spinner on the counter top for quicker rinsing and drying. Grape tomatoes don't need any cutting so are an easy addition to the salad.

Please share your tips with everyone in the comment section!!

Gourmet, Unbound

2010-04-29T20:44:00.007-04:00

Last night I made my recipe from a May issue of Gourmet. This one was from 2000,which it's hard to believe is ten years old already.

Each month, I start searching for the recipe I'll test for Gourmet, Unbound by going to my shelf of old issues, and checking for pages I might have tabbed back when I first received that magazine. This month I decided to try one of the recipes I'd tabbed in 2000. I checked the recipe on Epicurious.com and found a range of reviews. Some reviewers loved the dish, and others thought it was bland. After testing it out last night, and enjoying the light, yet distinctive flavor, I think I've figured out the problem some of the reviewers might have had. It's possible that those who thought the dish was bland just didn't have really fresh asparagus. I was lucky that this is the beginning of high asparagus season in this area so I had asparagus fresh from the fields via the farmstand. I wonder if the Mexican or Peruvian imports have as much flavor.

Surprisingly, this dish does not overwhelm with the taste of asparagus. Even the less exuberant asparagus eater in my house enjoyed the dish. The lemon (I used one of my last Meyer lemons) lightened the flavor perfectly, though I added a little lemon juice - probably 1/2 lemon's worth - at the suggestion of many of the reviewers. The sauce is silky due to the addition of the pasta cooking water and, apart from the white pasta, is relatively healthy. It's mostly vegetable based with a hit of olive oil and parmiggiano reggiano. I reduced the olive oil slightly from the recipe with no ill effects. I used three tablespoons of olive oil instead of a quarter cup.

The dish appears so simple with its brief ingredient list, but there are several steps to the process that you need to plan ahead for. Prep the asparagus, zest the lemon, and most importantly, put that water up to boil right away - you need to boil the pieces of asparagus spears for six to eight minutes (which I thought seemed a little to much so I reduced it to four or five minutes), and then blanch the tips, before you cook your pasta in that same water. If I wasn't also preparing a salad and a salmon dish to go alongside, it probably wouldn't have been a problem. When I make this next, I would not concurrently prepare something that requires last minute attention, as this is an of the moment sauce that should be served immediately.

Click here (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pasta-with-Asparagus-Lemon-Sauce-103382) for the recipe at Epicurious.

Trying to Get Going Again

2010-04-26T09:23:00.016-04:00

I've been away far too long - busy, busy and not cooking so much, but the farm stands are reopening and my ideas are flowing a little bit once again. I had a lovely afternoon yesterday, brunching with other DC participants on food52.com. The gracious Mrs. Wheelbarrow hosted us and it was a great opportunity to chat, for hours, with other food obsessed (in a good way!) people. Most of them are also bloggers, so now I've now got some new blogs to read and learn from.

I brought my smoked trout dip (http://healthierkitchen.blogspot.com/2009/11/and-now-for-something-little-different.html) and a springtime farro dish. I was hoping to find peas and ramps at the farm stand that morning to create a dish with farro, peas and a ramp pesto. Unfortunately, I could get neither peas nor ramps, so I had to think fast. I love farro and thought that would still be a good base, but instead of peas, I used asparagus, pea shoots, parsley and some sharp micro greens. I quick thawed the last of my frozen pesto to use as a base. Giada DiLaurentiis does a farro with coarse pesto but it is very parsley based which I don't love as much as other herbs. For this, I started with some previously made basil pesto and added some finely chopped parsley and rough chopped pea shoots to the mix. Because this pesto did not have cheese added, I used a few tablespoons of goat cheese to make things a little creamy. Lastly, I sprinkled the micro greens on top for a little extra flavor. The beauty of the dish is the bright, springy flavor and the flexible ingredient list. You can easily sub peas for the asparagus and pea shoots and feel free to use any sort of pesto you like.

If you make your own pesto, try it without the parmigianno or pecorino sometime, and add a few tablespoons of goat cheese to the pesto and hot pasta or farro. It's a lighter and creamier taste and is nice for a change.

Farro, while not available in every store, is quite a bit easier to find these days than when I first started making it. I have seen it in Whole Foods, Balducci's, and Harris Teeter grocery stores, as well as my local organic market (Mom) and in specialty Italian grocers (in my area, Vace). It is not cheap, running between $6 and $10 for a just over a one pound bag, but one pound of farro is much heartier than one pound of pasta. It truly feeds a crowd.

I like to serve this as a side dish, but you could also use it as a main dish alongside a lettuce salad. As a side dish, it could accompany fish, chicken or meat quite well.

Springtime Farro

(serves 8 - 10 as a hearty side dish)

6 cups salted water

small bunch fresh asparagus, ends trimmed and cut into one-half to one inch pieces

2 cups farro (a little less than the 1.1 pound Rustichella d'Abruzzo package)

1/2 cup of your favorite pesto

1/4 cup goat cheese, if your pesto is cheese-less (If you're concerned about the cheese, feel free to try 2 tablespoons at first and taste after mixing. Add the other two tablespoons, one at a time, if you like)

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

1 large handful pea shoots, rough chopped

salt and pepper to taste

1. Bring salted water to boil in a large saucepan. Once boiling, drop in the asparagus pieces. After 30 seconds to a minute, use a slotted spoon or a skimmer to pull out the asparagus pieces and drop them either into a bowl of cold water or into a strainer and run it under cold water. Do not drain the water as you'll use it for the farro as well.

2. Once the water comes back to boil, put in the farro and cover pan. Lower burner and simmer for about 20 minutes. Taste farro to make sure it is soft, yet firm in the inside. Drain, reserving a half cup of the water.

3. Place all ingredients into a large bowl and mix gently, but well. Add some of the reserved cooking water if it seems dry.

4. Taste, and add salt and pepper as needed.

One Year and Holding, Barely

2010-03-03T08:03:00.005-05:00

Today, Healthier Kitchen is one year old. I had high hopes last month when I thought about an anniversary post. Maybe I'd create a really spectacular new recipe or even plan a dinner party filled with healthier recipes to blog about. The reality is I have nothing for you today.

All I can tell you is that, until last night, the last two weeks have been filled with restaurant food, carry out, a couple of old standbys, and ready to heat items from Costco and Trader Joe's. Last night I finally worked up a jambalaya using brown rice (I think no one knew), chicken andouille sausage and jumbo lump crabmeat, but I failed to photograph the dish and truly don't have the time or energy to write it up today. I owe you this recipe.

Instead, I thought I'd go back a year and remind you of some of my favorite recipes. In looking into the archives, I realized that the list of recipes I wanted to share today include just about everything I posted last March. I suppose this could be a seasonal thing - the foods I was cooking last March are just "March-ish" foods. On the other hand, it could be that I started the blog with a whole lot of energy in March, and lost creativity thereafter. Or, it could be that I'm too distractible by life's ups and downs.

At any rate, I invite you to revisit, or if you're new to the blog, visit, March, 2009. My very first post set out what I was hoping to accomplish with this blog and let everyone in on the unbelievably simple way to make irresistible cauliflower, as oxymoronic as that may sound. The salmon recipe is still my favorite. The mayo free cabbage slaw would be a great side dish for a St. Patrick's day dinner, and the banana-oat bread is just the thing for those softening bananas. I gave you my special, formerly secret, chili recipe. I also linked to Michelle Obama's healthy, faux creamed spinach. Perhaps my favorite post is the tribute to Laurie Colwin with the red lentil soup. This is the perfect time of year for that soup and anytime is a good time to read Laurie Colwin, particularly now, as her Home Cooking is about to be re-released later this month. To find any of these, simply check out the archives to the right in the margin and click on 2009, then look at March. You could also look for specific foods in the recipe index also in the margin on the right.

Enjoy!

Valentine's Dinner for Nine

2010-02-18T21:00:00.014-05:00

Valentine's evening proved to be the perfect time to try out my March Gourmet recipes. We had family visiting from out of town for President's weekend and we were nine for dinner - four adults, my two teens and my nieces and nephew who are 11, 8 and 5. I ended up making two recipes from different issues of March Gourmet magazines, both of which were delicious and perfect for Valentine's dinner.

The first, Chicken in Riesling, was from 2008 (find the recipe here). I had made this once before back in September or October and moved it into the "keeper" file as all four of us liked the dish. It's rich without being heavy as a result of the lighter touch of the creme fraiche (!) and lemon juice. It's a one pot meal with carrots and potatoes cooked right in with the chicken and Riesling. The header notes to the recipe say that it's just another chicken in wine stew, like a coq au vin.

I simplified a little, as you all know I have a hard time leaving a recipe alone. I cut the butter, and used olive oil for the leeks, but added in a tablespoon of butter into the stew at the end for richness. I also used cut up chicken pieces instead of the whole chicken. I used a mixture of breasts, thighs and legs, with extra legs for the kids. I used more than the equivalent of one chicken this time, as there were so many of us. Lastly, I used a mix of some really lovely, tiny little yellow potatoes I had purchased for heaven knows what a week or so earlier, and some cut up baby red potatoes to fill in. Only downside? My brother-in-law thought the tiny potatoes looked enough like olives that this usually hearty eater took a rather petite serving of this dish. Once every one had been reassured they were potatoes, everyone dug in. You can see from the photo that he was justified in his confusion.

This is not close to the health quotient of the quinoa/bulgur/lentil dishes I also love, but this would make a great meal for company or a special occasion. It's just rich enough that you simply can't overeat, but light enough that you don't feel like you need an immediate angiogram. The sauce is compelling, silky from the creme fraiche and dab of butter and with that tangy hit of lemon. The recipe says to add the lemon juice to taste and I ended up using 2 tablespoons.

This is lovely with a baguette as you will want to sop up some of the sauce. You don't need to serve any other vegetable, but if you like, a salad with a touch of lemon juice in the vinaigrette would be a nice complement. We drank more Reisling with dinner.

Later, the adults enjoyed some Kir Royale Sorbet from March, 1994 (find the recipe here), while the kids had ice cream sundaes. The vivid red color of this sorbet makes it the ideal Valentine's day dessert. Plus, it was light and tart after the chicken. I used frozen raspberries as there are no domestic raspberries available in our DC area markets this time of year.

Behind the White House Photo Opps, School Gardens Desperate for Help

2010-02-08T11:36:00.006-05:00

I just wanted to share this with everyone. This came from a DC schoolteacher and was originally posted on another blog. I've wanted to write about this issue since I read the always incendiary Caitlin Flanagan's piece in the January/February issue of the Atlantic, entitled "Cultivating Failure." This snowstorm has given me the time to finally do so.

In her piece, Flanagan criticizes the Edible Schoolyard concept as she claims it doesn't help students in the failing California schools to pass standardized tests. However, as is her way, she doesn't just opine, she pokes everyone in the eye with her extremist posturing. Instead of providing an even, journalistic article, Flanagan begins with a completely hypothetical example of the American born child of an illegal Mexican immigrant farm laborer who is here by virtue of his parents' sacrifice to offer him a better life, entering sixth grade in Berkeley, CA, only to "head out the field, where he stoops under a hot sun and begins to pick lettuce" rather than learn math. She continues with her diatribe by insulting Alice Waters, school volunteers, and ultimately faults the school system for falling prey to the "visionary and charismatic" Waters and "allowing these gardens to hijack the curricula of so many schools."

When I first read her piece I had an instinctual opposition to everything she was saying, but I wanted to stop and think about whether I was actually responding to her thesis or if I was just put off by her hyperbolic and ridiculous assertions. Was she hiding a kernel of truth under a bushel of hyperbole? Has she exposed the Emperor in the "altogether" or is she a bitter and biased shrew all too willing to once again criticize well intentioned school volunteers, not to mention Alice Waters?

After a second thorough reading of her piece, I concluded that her argument was too flawed to be persuasive. While Flanagan is correct that the situation in many California schools, much like DC schools, is desperate, isn't the problem due more to budget constraints not the existence of an Edible Schoolyard garden in several schools? Perhaps most importantly, she did not speak to staff or families in a school with a garden to get their perspectives on how helpful and effective they are as teaching tools and as a means for nutrition education.

We are all distressed by the poor state of many schools today, and as important as it is to shore up the math and reading instruction, it just doesn't make sense to ignore other enriching learning experiences, especially those that can greatly affect the health of the students.

Check out what one DC school teacher has to say:

Behind the White House Photo Opps, School Gardens Desperate for Help

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My Guilty Pleasure - A Little Too Creamy for My Girl

2010-02-08T10:00:00.002-05:00

I have a confession: I love creme fraiche. I know this doesn't seem like a proper food item for the healthierkitchen lady to love, but it's true. Most of the time Greek yogurt does the trick for a creamy touch, but every once in a while, a dollop of creme fraiche provides a touch of alchemy. It's so concentrated that a little goes a long way, so the fat and calories per serving is not as extreme as it might seem at first glance.

Creme fraiche is, according to its label, a French cultured cream. Not sure what that means, I consulted The Food Lover's Companion. As best as I can gather, in this country, creme fraiche is something of a thickened cross between heavy cream and buttermilk. What I know is that it is tangy and silky and delicious and makes a great sauce without curdling when heated.

Molly Wizenberg of Orangette and My Homemade Life fame had a recipe in Bon Appetit last year which jumped right out at me. I am always looking for salmon recipes as we eat salmon so often. This one seemed so different, so unique, so simple, so creme fraiche. I made it a few times and while I thought everyone else enjoyed it too, it later came to my attention that my daughter didn't much like it, blaming the creaminess of the creme fraiche. Not like creme fraiche?

I guess I had mistaken her lack of enthusiasm over the salmon to have been caused by the salmon itself, as my daughter is not much for flesh of any kind. She offered up one of my other salmon recipes (check it out here) that she loves as proof that it's the creme fraiche that's the problem.

Just the other day, while fiddling around with the stir-fried forbidden rice, I thought about how nice it would be to have some salmon with the rice sometimes. My first thought was a Cooking Light glaze with miso that I've been making for some years (remember that one, Charis?) but that recipe and all the similar versions I've collected include some sugar and just didn't jump out at me as enough of a complement to this rice.

Then I remembered the creme fraiche salmon and Maddy's complaint. Despite an attachment to cheese, Maddy really doesn't love dishes that are too creamy. She does, however, love spicy foods. Remembering a tube of wasabi paste left in my fridge from another marinade, I played with the combination of the creme fraiche and the wasabi. This is the result. It's really much better with wild salmon, and a piece that's not too thick. I also calculated the calories and fat grams of the creme fraiche, per serving and it's really not too bad. If my math is correct (always questionable) then as used in the recipe below, it only adds 27.5 calories and 2.75 grams of fat per serving.

I originally envisioned serving this with the forbidden rice that was the spark of inspiration, but it would also be great with mashed potatoes as well (try my comfort mash!).

Salmon with Wasabi-Creme Fraiche

adapted from Molly Wizenberg and Bon Appetit

(serves 6)

2 pound fillet of wild salmon
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons creme fraiche
1 teaspoon wasabi paste
2 scallions, thinly sliced

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place salmon fillet on baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and lightly sprinkle with salt and fresh ground pepper.

2. In a small bowl, mix the creme fraiche with the wasabi paste and spread on the salmon fillet.

3. Sprinkle the scallions on top.

4. Place in oven for about 15 minutes until the salmon is cooked through.

Much Ado About Rice

2010-02-01T10:00:00.005-05:00

Much as with pasta, the conversion to brown rice in my house has been greeted with reluctance, at best. The nutty, rich taste of brown rice is completely lost on my family, who though they will eat it grudgingly if put before them with no starchy alternative within sight, will always choose white rice when they order their chicken-onion rice bowls at Fu Shing.

The reasons for attempting the switch to whole grain rices are similar to those in favor of using whole grain bread - the grain still has the bran and germ which provide the bulk of the health benefits. The refining process removes not only the brown color, but the vitamins, minerals, and fiber that help keep us healthy. Compelling as these arguments for brown rice are, if it doesn't also taste good, I can't sell it at home. I think they figure that since I practice yoga, my appreciation for brown rice is inevitable, and therefore, not at all persuasive. I will say that the simple act of serving it repeatedly without offering a white rice alternative has at least stopped the complaining. However, I want to do better. I want to convert their taste buds.

By experimenting with a variety of brown (and other whole grain) rices, I've found a few that are more pleasing to my family's taste than regular old brown rice. One type I like is brown basmati rice which is a little lighter in both color and taste than shorter grain. As a complete aside, white basmati rice, seems to be a marginally better choice, in terms of sugar conversion or glycemic load, than other Asian white rices, including sushi rice, as the starch content is lower. Brown basmati is flavorful and aromatic, but not quite as nutty as other brown rices.

Brown Kalijira rice, which is ridiculously challenging to find, but which my Harris Teeter carries (I have asked my local organic market to order it!) has been the biggest revelation. It is a tiny, pearl-like, heirloom grain that has a little of the hearty, nutty flavor of standard brown rice, but which is much more delicate and rich. Cooked in some chicken stock or with a little olive oil in the water, it is a standout side dish. Cooked right in the pan for a one-dish chicken dish, it is stellar. So far I've only seen Lotus Foods brand. An additional benefit of the small grain size is that it cooks in half the time of regular brown rice.

Lotus Foods also sells a black rice, generally know as "forbidden rice," although I was unable to figure out what is forbidden about it. This is more widely available than the Kalijira, and available in other brands as well. When I first bought a package some years back, I had no idea what to do with it and it sat in the pantry cabinet for months before I finally made some underwhelming dish with it. Recently, though, I came across a fried rice recipe that piqued my interest and actually was a big success with the doubters. I simplified it a bit and I'm providing my adaptation below. You can also cook it just like other rices on the stove top. The taste is a bit nutty and the grains have a little bite to them, and most importantly, my family has liked this combination of taste and texture. Black rice is actually dark purple and colors the water a deep purple as it cooks so watch out for staining of dish towels or white rubber spatulas. Like brown rice, it's also a whole grain, and like the brown Kalijira, it's also an heirloom variety.

Lundberg brand sells many types of rice but my favorite is the Jubilee blend. Though not quite as light tasting as the Kalijira, it is also a mix of several types of smaller grained rice including russet colored Wehani and purplish-black Japonica rices (both created by Lundberg domestically) in addition to a few types of brown. This mix provides for a slightly reddish-hued, multicolored blend that brightens up both your taste buds, and the look of your plate. No blah brown color here.

An additional option is the pre-cooked bags of brown rice that you can find in the freezer sections of Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. They are not quite as rich and nutty tasting, and are probably have slightly less of the healthy vitamins and minerals, but they microwave up in about two minutes and are great in a pinch.

I've been making fried rice with brown rice for a while thinking that since it has a little soy sauce in it anyway, no one would immediately realize that it was brown rice. That only sort of works. I hear "is this brown rice?" with a knowing look passing between them, as though they are on to me and will continue to eat, but only grudgingly. With the black rice, it's immediately apparent that this is a different animal, so no rhetorical questions. And, since it tastes so good, chewy and nutty, I also don't get much of that eyeball rolling.

Try some of these other types of rice. You might find that the flavor of brown Kalijira appeals to your teen in a way that Uncle Ben's brown rice does not. Or that your six year old daughter who loves only pink and purple will actually eat the plum colored forbidden rice. Or maybe not. I think we might have an easier time converting the white rice eaters if we treat these grains as completely different items, rather than as a substitute for what we're all used to.

I've actually played around with this recipe using a couple of ounces of diced up bacon or pancetta or some slivered shiitake mushrooms. This is an easy recipe to use as a base and experiment a little. I particularly like it with seafood and fish. Roast some shrimp and broccoli (see my earlier post) to top it off or serve it alongside some salmon. One caveat...do the initial cooking of the black rice well before you want to make the fried rice so it can cool. You could even make the rice the night before and refrigerate it, which would make prep the next evening extremely quick.

Fried Forbidden Rice

(adapted from chef Sang Yoon and Food & Wine)

(serves 4 - 6 as a side dish)

1 cup black ("Forbidden") rice
1 - 2 tablespoons canola or peanut oil
1 medium onion, diced (I particularly like red onion in this)
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
4 scallions, thinly sliced

1. Prepare 1 cup black rice according to the directions on the package. I throw a teaspoon or two of oil into the water before coooking so it doesn't stick. Once cooked, set aside to cool, uncovered.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and then the onion. Cook the onion until it gets soft and translucent, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in the garlic and cook for 2 - 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add the rice into the pan and cook until warmed through.

4. Stir in the soy sauce.

5. Once arranged in serving bowl, garnish with scallions.

Another Tagine, sort of

2010-01-27T17:03:00.015-05:00

I do so hate to be repetitive, but my last tagine post really doesn't count as it a) didn't include a recipe, just a link; b)was more for the February Gourmet, unbound roundup than my usual readers; and c) tagines are delicious so why not try more than one. This dish is a Moroccan tagine-style lamb stew which is pretty quick to prepare and if you've ever made the infamous Chicken Marbella you'll feel instantly familiar with some of the ingredients.

This looks like a long ingredient list, but much of it is spices. Once you measure and mix the spices, this is not too complicated. This might not be Rachael Ray speed but it should come in under an hour.

I've been buying my grass-fed lamb right from the Jamison Farm booth at the Bethesda Central Farm Market. So if you're local you can do that too. They have been coming all winter to the winter location on Bethesda Lane on Sunday mornings. I purchased this last batch when it was about 18 degrees out. I have also seen grass-fed local lamb recently at Whole Foods. Grass fed is less fatty than commercial, and the flavor is a little subtler with less of the oily note that some lamb takes on.

This recipe is also pretty flexible. Don't think twice about the raz el hanout if you don't have it. Some of the flavors are already covered in the spice mix. You can add a can of rinsed garbanzo beans towards the end of the simmering if you'd like, or, as I did the last time I made this (and which you can see in the photo), add a few handfuls of cut up butternut or acorn squash in when you return the lamb to the pan. And don't worry about those people in your family who don't like olives - just have them quietly push them to the side of their plate like my family does. The olive lovers can scavenge at will.

I like to serve this with couscous as it soaks up the sauce nicely. I use whole wheat couscous, as we don't notice any taste difference from the regular. To make couscous easily and mostly clump-free, put one cup dry couscous in a medium-sized microwave safe bowl. Add a pinch or two of salt and mix gently with a fork. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and mix again with fork to distribute the oil and coat the grains. Add 1-1/4 cups water to bowl and mix gently but thoroughly with fork. Let sit on counter for 10 minutes or so, mixing occasionally with fork until the water is mostly absorbed. Cover bowl with plastic wrap (make sure the level of couscous is well below the top of the bowl so that the plastic is not touching the food) and microwave for 2 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve. This method also saves cleaning a pot!

Quick Moroccan Style Lamb

(serves 4 - 6, depending on appetite)

2 - 2 1/2 pounds boneless lamb shoulder or boneless leg of lamb, trimmed of fat and cut into bite-sized pieces (at the Jamison stand I try to buy the lamb they call "kabob" - it's already cubed shoulder meat)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1-1/2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon raz el hanout spice mix (optional)

2 - 3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups homemade or low or no sodium chicken stock

1 cup pitted "bite sized" dried plums (prunes), or if regular sized then halved

1/2 cup Spanish green olives, pitted

2 teaspoons lemon zest (if you have preserved lemon you can use the skin of 1/2, rinsed and minced)

2 -3 teaspoons chopped parsley

1. Combine the salt, pepper and other spices in a large bowl. Add the lamb pieces and toss to coat.

2. Heat a large saute pan or a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the oil and brown the lamb chunks, in batches if necessary to avoid overcrowding pan, browning on all sides. Remove the lamb chunks from the pan as they cook. Remove some of the fat from the pan if a lot has rendered. Leave only a light coating.

3. Lower heat to medium and cook the onion and garlic until onion is softened and translucent, about 4 or 5 minutes.

4. Add stock to the pan and scrape up any browned bits from bottom of pan.

5. Return lamb to pan along with any juices, and add prunes, olives and zest (and squash if using).

6. Raise heat and bring mixture to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer on low or medium-low, covered part way, for about 30 minutes. If adding garbanzo beans, then add them after about 20 minutes of simmering. If mixture seems dry at any point, add a half cup of water or stock.

7. Taste for salt and pepper, garnish with parsley and serve with whole wheat couscous.

Gourmet, Unbound - February Edition

2010-01-21T20:56:00.005-05:00

As I did in January, I am participating in the February roundup on the blog Gourmet, Unbound, a forum for bloggers and Gourmet devotees to honor the now defunct magazine by cooking a recipe from a February Gourmet from any year. This month I chose an Algerian tagine made with apricots, orange marmalade and spiced pine nuts from February, 2008. Though the dish itself is a little sweet, the spiced pine nuts balanced that pretty well so it wasn't cloying. Everyone seemed to enjoy the dish. Ideally, I'd serve this with whole wheat couscous.

This dish is not too far off from the basic parameters of healthierkitchen. To ramp up the health factor, I added some cut up carrots and butternut squash (which I purchased already cut up at Trader Joes). I also omitted the butter, but it's not such a big deal with this recipe as it calls for only 1 tablespoon for the whole dish.

The largest change I made, apart from adding the vegetables, was to use about 2 pounds of boneless, skinless thighs in lieu of the whole chicken. Because I didn't have the bones to make the broth richer, I added chicken stock instead of water later on. I added about two cups of stock instead of the the 1 cup of water, as I had added a mound of vegetables.

Here's the link to the recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/food/views/Chicken-Tagine-with-Apricots-and-Spiced-Pine-Nuts-241506

This and That

2010-01-21T10:30:00.006-05:00

These last two weeks have been a whirlwind of cooking: I've been trying out new recipes every few days, as well as fine-tuning older recipes, I assisted an Indian cooking class at CulinAerie, and I entered a contest or two. My refrigerator is bursting with ingredients and my family is getting tired of eating all the bits and pieces of leftovers after all these experiments. But, it's been stimulating and my creative cooking juices are flowing, so to speak.

In the news, Michelle Obama has announced a commitment to fighting childhood obesity (hey- check out my blog!!), in part by working on healthier school lunches. Today, the New York Times, reported that lowering your sodium intake can, in fact, help your health. I thought we already knew that, but I guess it bears repeating. It seems the question is whether or not cutting back some sodium is actually as big of a health move as quitting smoking. It seems to me a no-brainer even if it's a relatively smaller healthy step to take. If you know where the sodium is lurking, it is actually quite simple to cut back without losing flavor. Keep using some salt in home cooking, but watch out for fast food and keep reading the labels on packages. For example, there are so many really tasty tomato sauces in jars that have far less sodium than others. Choose those. Campbell's has announced that it will cut some of the sodium from its soups, which is great, because canned soup is one of the worst offenders. Francis Lam, formerly of Gourmet before its demise, and now of Salon.com, wrote a great piece last week about just this issue: don't be afraid of a little salt when cooking at home, but watch out with processed and fast foods. Message? Much like Michael Pollan's, Mark Bittman's (and mine!)... cook more and you will have control over what goes in. You can read his post at: www.salon.com/food/francis_lam/2010/01/12/sorry_bloomberg_we_love_salt/index.html.

I was playing with some toasted bread crumbs one day for a broccoli pasta dish I was testing and I discovered how nicely they added a little something extra to some very thin, very plain flounder fillets I planned to serve that night. At first, I wasn't sure what I'd do with the flounder, maybe something Asian with soy and fish sauce, but then I remembered something my father used to do with scrod when I was a little girl. He rolled the fillets up into little pinwheels, sprinkled some corn flake crumbs on top and baked them. Since I was already toasting some whole wheat bread crumbs for that other dish, I used those instead. The flounder came out tender and flaky and, actually, quite delicious for bland white fish. And did I mention easy?

Buying fish is fraught with all kinds of issues these days and on this particular day, flounder was the only fish at the store that was fresh, not frozen, domestic, not foreign caught, and not on the "avoid" list from the Monterey Bay Aquarium (i.e. sustainable, not over fished and not particularly unhealthy to eat). OK, so healthy, and good for the world, but boring. These bread crumbs jazzed up the fillets without overpowering them.

This is another one of those "it's not really a recipe" recipes. It's easy and adaptable to what you have on hand. If you have no lemon, you can skip it. Want more garlic? Add more! Hate parsley? Try chervil if you can find it. Generally, gremolata is a mixture of minced garlic and parsley with lemon zest thrown in. It adds a bright flavor to heavy meat dishes such as osso bucco, but here it is a light touch to add interest to a light fish. It's generally not cooked, but as I was toasting the breadcrumbs anyway, I thought I'd take a little of the edge off the garlic by cooking it briefly.

On a recent trip to the Penzeys spice store up in Rockville, I purchased some dried lemon zest. I'm a little skeptical that it can come close to fresh, but I'm going to try it out. Has anyone used this sort of product before? While at Penzeys I replenished my supply of Aleppo pepper. I use it on so many dishes - it's milder and more flavorful than regular red pepper - though I know it's hard to find. You can order on line from Penzeys here: http://www.penzeys.com/. Browse the site a little as they have great blends as well, such as several different curry powders and chili powders. You can get all sorts of other specialty items such as saffron, Szechuan peppercorns, coriander and cumin seed, and so on.

Flounder Fillets with "Gremolata" Bread Crumb

(serves 4)

4 - 6 flounder fillets, depending on size ( I used 6 for 4 people as they were so thin). Ask your fishmonger for advice on amount.
1 lemon to be used for both zest and juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup bread crumbs, I prefer whole wheat - Whole Foods has a great version with little or no sodium
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Wash and zest lemon. You did get that Microplane zester, didn't you?

3. lightly salt and pepper the fillets and sprinkle a little lemon juice over them. Roll each fillet up gently and place onto a sheet pan or baking pan (lined with aluminum foil if you prefer easy cleanup).

4. Heat a small skillet over a burner set on medium heat and add the olive oil. Add in the bread crumbs and mix well.

5. Add the garlic to the pan and stir frequently for about 2 or 3 minutes. Add in the parsley and lemon zest, mix well to combine and then stir frequently for another minute or two. Take the pan off the heat.

6. Sprinkle a little of the bread crumb mixture over each rolled up fillet.

7. Place baking pan into heated oven and roast fish for about 10 or 15 minutes, depending on thickness. My fillets were very thin and cooked very quickly.

Peanut Chicken

2010-01-11T10:30:00.002-05:00

This dish is sort of like chicken sate without the skewers, with a healthy dose of broccoli to move it into the "healthier" category. I've been making this since I was in law school and I vividly remember making it for Paul on one of our early dates. He claims it's one of the main reasons he married me. We won't debate that topic here. What is not in dispute is that it has been a favorite of all of ours and has been very kid friendly. When the kids were smaller, there were times that one or the other passed on the chicken chunks or the sauce or even the noodles, but there was always another part of the dish they ate happily. There's nothing fancy or gourmet about this dish, but it is delicious and relatively easy to prepare.

We like this to be particularly saucy, so I use a little of the pasta water to thin the sauce, rather than overdoing it with the peanut butter. Use fresh lemons for the lemon juice if you have them, but you can substitute bottled lemon juice in a pinch. I've served this with regular and thin spaghetti, whole wheat spaghetti and even couscous. This would also be great with soba noodles. If you don't eat gluten, I'm sure it would be great with rice noodles as well. If you don't have a wok, just use a deep skillet.

One thing I've never really discussed that I know many people already do but might be helpful for some, is to have everything ready before you start cooking. While this is always helpful, it is particularly important when using a wok as the cooking can go very quickly and you'll want to have all your ingredients ready at the outset. You can put everything into little bowls like the French mise en place. I cut my broccoli first and get that on to steam, and then cut the onion and garlic. Next I cut the chicken so it doesn't cross-contaminate the vegetables. The board then goes into the dishwasher. I use a separate knife for cutting meats and chicken as well. I steam the broccoli lightly before adding it to the wok because I find that it otherwise takes too long for me to cook it on a regular home stove. I sometimes even make the sauce before heating up the wok, though more often, I hand that over to Paul to mix while I work the wok. It's sort of a tradition after all these years. We even have a particular little stainless steel bowl that we always use to mix the sauce. Weird, I know.

Before getting to the recipe, I'd just like to acknowledge the vendors at the Bethesda Central Farm Market, who were out there on Sunday despite the ridiculously cold weather. It was no more than 25 degrees when I was there around 11 a.m. and was, I'm sure, much colder when the first arrived to set up. I had received an email telling me that the farm stand would be open, so I felt compelled to bundle up and get out there to support them.

Peanut Chicken

(serves 4 - 6)

1 tablespoon peanut or canola oil

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces

1 onion, diced

2 small (or 1 large) cloves garlic, minced

1 head broccoli (it will be about 4 -6 cups depending on size), cut up into florets and lightly steamed (do not overcook - you want the broccoli to be bright green). I like to have a lot of broccoli so I buy a big head.

6 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter

4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

3 tablespoons lemon juice (1 -2 lemons, depending on how large and how juicy)

1 pound whole wheat spaghetti or whatever noodles you prefer

1. Put up a pot of hot water for the noodles you'd like to serve with this.

2. In a hot wok lightly coated with peanut or canola oil, saute chicken pieces over medium-high heat until chicken is just becoming white, about 5 - 7 minutes.

3. Add onion and garlic to the wok and continue to cook until onion is soft and chicken is cooked all the way through (if you're not sure, cut into a piece to see if the inside is no longer pink), about 5 minutes more. If it seems dry in the pan, throw in a splash of low sodium soy sauce.

4. Add broccoli to pan and lower burner to medium-low. Make sure to keep an eye on the pasta water and add the pasta when boiling. When you drain the pasta, reserve 1/2 cup of the water for the sauce.

5. In a small bowl, mix the peanut butter, soy sauce and lemon juice to make a paste.

6. Add peanut butter paste into the wok and mix well, adding 1/4 - 1/2 cup (add 1/4 cup at a time) of the pasta water if you like a looser sauce. Stir until all the broccoli/chicken mixture is well coated and heated through, 1 -2 minutes.

7. Serve over noodles. If you are serving eaters who insist on a little spice, simple pass them the rooster (Sriracha) or other hot sauce.

New Post, New Year

2010-01-04T13:09:00.022-05:00

I'm not particularly mushy, I don't think bad luck comes in threes, and I tend to implement my resolutions when I think of them, rather than on a day set by the calendar so, really, what is the significance of the "New Year" to someone like me? I spent some time thinking about this after reading a couple of op ed pieces cheering the arrival of a new decade after the horrible decade that just passed. I found the concept confusing at first - a lot of really bad crap occurred during this decade both for us as a nation and for my family personally - but do you write off an entire decade? Seems extreme. Some good must have happened as well. But, when I thought back over the past ten years, I finally concluded that this era was more heavily weighted with sadness, drama and stress than my prior adult years. So I'll join the others and hope that this year marks the beginning of a calmer, healthier, and more peaceful decade than the last.

One of my holiday gifts was the new 16 cup Cuisinart with three different sized bowls! I'm very much looking forward to using it for just about everything. Although my trusty old Cuisinart which I received as an engagement gift in 1988 is mostly still working, it leaks a bit, particularly when I make pesto, leaving a trail of green oil around the base. I am also without the stem used to attach the other blades for shredding and slicing. I did check on a replacement web site a few years ago and found the missing part but didn't purchase it as it was $40.00, plus shipping, which seemed like too much of an investment in what was then an almost twenty year old appliance. At the time I figured I'd replace the whole machine the next time they went on sale. Due to a combination of laziness and then a bad economy, that didn't happen until this past December. Recipes will follow shortly!!

Despite this being one of the coldest weeks I remember in DC, I had an urge for Bircher Muesli. I've written before about how much I like oatmeal and muesli is simply another way to eat it. However, it is traditionally served cold, which seems like the last thing I'd want this week. Somehow, it worked. The beauty of this dish is you make several servings at once, so you can serve your family or friends at once, or have your breakfast ready made for a few days in a row. You start this dish the night before by mixing the oats, milk, yogurt and sweetener and then refrigerating the mixture overnight, and adding the fruit and nuts in the morning before serving. So, after 5 minutes of effort in the evening and 5 more the following morning, you have a healthy and filling breakfast. Fiber, people, fiber!

I first had Bircher Muesli at the home of a friend who, rumor has it, wheedled it out of the chef at a local Swiss coffee shop. I've since experimented with several versions and this is what I've come up with. I find that it's creamy enough with the skim milk as I use the Greek yogurt which is thicker and creamier, even in its non-fat variety.

Bircher Muesli

(serves 4)

~1-1/4 cups old fashioned oats (not quick cooking)
~2/3 cup skim milk
~2/3 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
~1 apple, peeled and grated or finely chopped
~1/4 cup organic cane sugar or honey (or 3 tablespoons agave nectar) - the honey or agave will create a slightly stickier consistency than the sugar
~raisins or other dried fruit (optional)
~toasted slivered or sliced almonds, about 1 -2 tablespoons per serving, 1/2 cup for whole batch. Lazy girl that I am, I buy mine pre-toasted at Trader Joes, but you can toast yours by putting them in a single layer on a baking sheet for about 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
~cut up fresh fruit (whatever fruit you like - I like bananas, strawberries, blueberries, and pear, depending on the season)

1. Evening before you want to serve the muesli: In medium to large bowl, mix together the oats, milk, yogurt, sweetener, grated apple, and dried fruit if using. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

2. In the morning, remove bowl from refrigerator and add the fresh fruit and sprinkle the nuts on top.

3. If you like, you can also sprinkle some wheat germ on top for extra fiber and flavor.

In honor of Gourmet

2009-12-19T22:50:00.014-05:00

I have been receiving Gourmet, monthly, since 1990 and, until a few years ago when I began clipping the recipes I wanted to try and then recycling the remainder of the magazine, I saved them all. I guess I'm a pack rat of sorts, honestly come by via my Dad. My kitchen is packed with over a hundred cookbooks as well as assorted issues of Bon Appetit, Food and Wine and my shelf of Gourmet. These magazines somehow made the cut (or wholesale purge of extraneous possessions) during moves in 1990, 1994 and 2006. With each move, the commitment was greater - the first time, there were fewer than a year's worth, while during the last move they filled a couple of boxes. A few months ago, I considered tossing them, or maybe donating them to a school yard sale, but didn't and now that Gourmet has closed up shop, I'm so glad I saved them.

I've always enjoyed reading Gourmet, even in the earlier days when I worked long hours and carry out was my best friend. Cook or no, there was much to love about the magazine, with it's literary articles, glossy photos that draw you right up to the table and the extensive travel features. All you needed was a love of food. For me, travel is always intricately tied in to the food of the locale, so I loved reading about how food affected and even guided other people's trips. This was especially so after Ruth Reichl took over. It's been a treat to travel the world with Gourmet.While many of the recipes might have been more complicated or time consuming than I would make regularly, others have been simple and delicious.

I've been skimming some of the collection lately and am planning to participate in a monthly project in which food bloggers cook an item from that month's issue from any year, and then submit it to one central blog called Gourmet, Unbound. Sort of a Gourmet tribute blog. In preparation for the January event, I made a soup from the January 1990 issue - my very first - called Portuguese Kale and Potato Soup.

I prepared this soup in anticipation of a snow storm cum blizzard which eventually dropped 23 inches of snow according the the tv news. Pretty unusual for the DC area! We initially ate it as we watched out the window for the snow to begin, which unfortunately happened before our teenaged son could get home from an evening activity. The snow began falling around 9 p.m., and the roads iced up pretty quickly, making for a white-knuckle trip home for him around 10 p.m. By morning, we must have had almost a foot of snow. We cleared the walkway and front steps, window well covers, HVAC units and the car left outside and parts of the driveway a total of three times, twice on Saturday and again on Sunday. Between the two bouts of shoveling on Saturday, we were able to eat the leftovers for a warming and delicious lunch.

I had planned to use the kale I had growing in my outdoor ornamental pots, sort of a pre-snow final harvest, but the plants were saggy and wan due to the recent cold snap. Instead, I used some really perky and bright chard I had found at the grocery store earlier in the week and had not yet figured out how or when I would use. While at the store in a final pre-storm shopping trip, I also tried to replace the moldy chorizo that had been hiding in my deli bin for more months than I can remember. Though successful with the chard, I was unable to find chorizo in that store and substituted Portugese linguica sausage which is pretty similar. I figured that it's a Portuguese soup anyway. In fact, this is really a caldo verde, which should use linguica. Lastly, I didn't even bother to remove the russet potatoes from the pot to a blender. I simply crushed the chunks against the side of the pot with the back of my spoon.

Healthwise, with a pork sausage, there's always a little fat. However, you could easily substitute a lower-fat spicy turkey or chicken andouille sausage. As always, though, check the sodium content on the stock and sausage! With all the greens, and carrots, though, this is not so bad a choice, especially after a good shovelling workout.

Funny, as I searched Epicurious for a link to the recipe, I found that in the last issue Gourmet published, November 2009, they included a similar soup. While they didn't rename it, this time they acknowledge that the soup is actually a Portuguese caldo verde, and recommend using either chourico or linguica sausage, as I did.

It was delicious and warming for this time of year, and relatively easy to prepare. You can find the recipe as printed in 1990 at:

www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Portuguese-kale-and-potato-soup-10261

Comfort Mash

2009-12-14T09:29:00.004-05:00

Celeriac (seh-LER-ee-ak - I finally looked up the pronunciation!) or celery root is a knobby, brown skinned vegetable with cream colored flesh that has a taste similar to celery with a little more bite. It is actually the root of a type of celery grown specifically for its root, rather than the root of the type of celery we commonly eat. It's currently available at farm markets and is about the size of a baseball or softball. It's a lot less ugly once you peel it.

Not long ago I cut some up and roasted the pieces with carrots, onions and potatoes. Not a success. I was the only one who ate the celeriac bits and virtually every other piece (save for the three the others tasted) was left to sit forlornly in the pan. In this recipe, however, my family ate the celeriac happily, or at least without complaint. In a mash or puree with potatoes, the celeriac provides a welcome bite and a dash of extra flavor which comes in handy when you're limiting the fat in the recipe. I did this mash with chives, skim milk and just one tablespoon of butter for the whole bowl. To my taste, this is good stuff.

You can prepare this as a puree if you like, by running the potatoes and celeriac through a ricer, or you can simply mash the potatoes with a regular old potato masher. I usually opt for the latter as I like a thicker consistency to my mashed potatoes. This is a milder dish though, than a rustic smashed potato with olive oil, which I also love. This one looks a little more refined and would be great with the mustard crusted salmon I wrote about in my March 10, 2009 post. Though the dish does technically contain a vegetable along with the potatoes, I like to also serve a green vegetable alongside to provide some color contrast on the plate.

Comfort Mash

(serves 6)

2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks

1 celeriac knob, preferable one closer to baseball sized than softball sized), peeled and cut into chunks smaller than the potatoes

1/2 - 1 cup skim milk

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 tablespoons chives, minced

1 tablespoon butter

salt and pepper to taste

1. Put the potato and celeriac into a large saucepan and cover with cool water by about 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce the heat to medium - low and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Check a chunk of celeriac and a chunk of potato with a fork to see if soft.

2. Drain the vegetables in a colander and return them to the saucepan over medium heat. Stir the potato and celeriac around in the pot for a couple of minutes to dry them out. Turn the heat to low and either mash the potatoes in the pot or if you want a finer, more pureed consistency, put the vegetables through a ricer (and put the puree back in the pot). Add the skim milk, one half cup at a time, and the olive oil. Mix well. Add the second half cup of milk if it seems too dry. Add the chives and butter and mix again and then add salt and pepper, started with about a quarter teaspoon of salt and a few grinds of pepper, adding more to taste.

Odds and Ends

2009-12-07T15:14:00.000-05:00

First, I'd like to give kudos to "Mrs. Wheelbarrow" for her stunningly good and simple challah and veggie stuffing that I linked to before Thanksgiving via food52.com. After many years of trial and error and many different stuffings, this one is a keeper. The outside got nice and crispy while the inside was just a little creamy. I adapted her recipe only minimally, using turkey stock instead of vegetable and adding a little extra stock so I could cut the amount of butter. I also used a mix of both cremini and chanterelle mushrooms instead of the button mushroom stems. I made a double recipe and still, there was not a bit left.

Next, I'd just like to bore you all, briefly, with another public health/food concern. Consumer Reports has discovered that much like with feedlot cattle, feedlot chickens have a higher incidence of bacteria, etc. The organic and air chilled chickens had a lower incidence of contaminants. Wonder what would have happened if they tested pastured chickens from small farms. Whatever type of chicken you buy, it's crucial to keep the raw chicken and any of it's liquids from contaminating the rest of your kitchen and grocery bag. The Well column in the New York Times had some suggestions for this: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/how-safe-is-your-chicken-dinner/.

Lastly, I have been wanting to mention that I had my cholesterol and other related blood work done a few weeks ago and was very gratified by the results. Just about all of my numbers are significantly better than a year ago, and, frankly, for most people, the numbers weren't all that bad to begin with. While this is in no way scientific, I do believe that the improvement is directly related to sticking with my exercise plan and eating a healthier diet. This has included eating less fat, sodium and refined flour products, and more vegetables, wild salmon, oatmeal, walnuts and other foods high in Omega-3s.

Cranberry Oat Bars

2009-11-30T08:43:00.007-05:00

For the first time, I am enjoying some experimentation with fresh cranberries. After a few unsuccessful attempts at homemade cranberry sauce that just didn't surpass the guilty pleasure of the canned jell, I gave up trying a few years ago. I mean, who doesn't love ridges that let you know precisely where to cut the jiggling goo into perfect slices? Trader Joe's has a pretty good cranberry chutney that I liked for a while, but this year, a very simple recipe that I linked to last week revived my interest in the bags of fresh cranberries that are piled high in all the stores these days. I've made that recipe several times now, and expect that I will continue making it through the winter. Cranberries freeze well, so you can stock up now and have some available until next Thanksgiving.

Recently, I came across a recipe for cranberry oat bars that looked appealing and seemed easily adaptable to qualify as a "healthier" dessert with a one-to-one switch of whole wheat pastry flour for the specified white flour. Unfortunately, I had completely missed the last line of the ingredient list which called for 1 and 1/2 sticks of butter. By the time I noticed this little deal breaker, I had already preheated the oven, put the cranberries, sugar and orange zest into a saucepan, and, most importantly, had already started craving the taste of one of these bars. I guess that's why it's better to prep the whole dish before starting the recipe.

What to do? I kept one half stick of butter in the recipe as I thought the crust would require some. I substituted one half cup of canola oil for another half stick. Lastly, as there was already orange zest in the filling, I used 4 tablespoons of frozen orange juice concentrate that I had in my freezer, instead of the third half stick.

Though more butter might have produced a crisper crust, we loved the tart flavor and texture of these cranberry bars. The oats, which I really like, come through loud and clear. This is still a dessert, though it is probably not any worse than some of the granola bars and lunchbox snacks floating around.

Cranberry Oat Bars

(greatly adapted from the Washington Post, which says it adapted it from Rick Rodgers' Christmas 101: 100 Festive Recipes With Menus and Timetables for Stress-Free Holiday Entertaining. At this point, who knows?)

makes 16 bars

for the filling:

2 cups fresh cranberries
3/4 cup sugar (I used organic cane sugar)
zest of 1 large orange (get out the Microplane!)
3 tablespoons water

for the crust:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats (not the quick cooking or instant kind)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter (1/2 stick) cut into small cubes
1/2 cup canola oil
3 - 4 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 inch square baking pan with cooking spray.

2. Place cranberries, sugar, orange zest and water into a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Lower heat to medium and let the mixture simmer for about 5 - 10 more minutes, stirring often, until the mixture has thickened and reduced a bit. Take off the heat and let cool.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the butter cubes and with your fingers, begin to work it into the dry ingredients. Once partly combined, add the oil and 3 tablespoons of the orange juice concentrate and continue using fingertips until wet ingredients are well incorporated. If it feels too dry to be able to mold a little, add another tablespoon of the orange juice concentrate and incorporate.

4. Press half the flour/oat mixture into the greased pan so that the bottom of the pan is entirely covered. Spread the cooled cranberry filling on top. Sprinkle the rest of the flour/oat mixture over top of the cranberry filling and tap it down gently so that the top is even and all the cranberry mixture is covered.

5. Bake on the middle rack for about 45 minutes, until the top is nicely browned. Take pan out of oven and let cool completely.

6. Cut into 16 bars. Once bars are removed from pan, let bars cool further. Store in a container with a tight fitting lid.

This is a Bird Free Blog

2009-11-23T08:41:00.003-05:00

It seems that every blog, magazine, newspaper food section and cooking show is all Thanksgiving all the time right about now. I have been lucky enough not to make Thanksgiving dinner in several years (thanks Karen and Jon!!!), instead hosting a big buffet the following evening, with many cousins and extended family in attendance. It's more people, but no china required. As a result, I'm bursting with seasonal recipes and versatile ideas for a fall potluck or a winter dinner party. Thanksgiving dinner? Not so much. So I'll remain silent and defer to some others who have some great holiday recipes.

For a really easy cranberry sauce that is fresh and tart, check out Bea at La Tartine Gourmande's recipe here: http://latartinegourmande.com/2009/10/12/cranberry-harvest-in-new-england. I've tried it both as-is, and substituting half the sugar for agave nectar and although both taste great, the recipe, as written with the sugar, has a better consistency. I took Bea's advice and have been swirling some into my morning yogurt!

For stuffing, check out the stuffing contest on http://www.food52.com/. I am torn between the two finalists: one is a vegetarian stuffing featuring challah or brioche with mushrooms, celery and vegetable stock, and the other using ciabatta, sweet potato, shiitake mushrooms and chorizo. I might make both to bring to Thanksgiving dinner!

I will be spending Thanksgiving and the days before and after, with my extended family. We'll share many meals and conversation, and hopefully some long walks in the park as well. Whatever your plans, I hope you enjoy a very happy Thanksgiving!

Fall Farro Salad

2009-11-16T13:33:00.002-05:00

I first came across farro a few years ago in a cookbook by Giada De Laurentiis, in which she used farro as the grain to support a coarse herb pesto. I've made that dish many times with great success and often bring it to picnics and other summer events. I've been a fan of farro ever since. The taste is a little nutty and the texture a little chewy, in a good way, and it provides a welcome and healthy change from the usual pasta.

According to the Food Lover's Companion, farro is a wheat grain grown and used in Italy since ancient times. It is also known as emmer wheat and although it looks like the much less expensive spelt, it is not the same grain. Please don't make the mistake I made and substitute the one for the other as whole spelt grains take forever, I mean forever, to soften up to an edible texture. After I'd been purchasing farro for a while at Balducci's, one day they no longer had it. During my quest for another source, I tried my local organic market, where a helpful clerk assured me spelt was the same thing. I learned after attempting to cook the dish I'd made many times before, that spelt just doesn't want to loosen up. I pretty much simmered it to death and was still left with hard bits of rock instead of the tasty chewy kernels I usually had.

In the couple of years since, farro has become more readily available. I try to buy it at my local Italian grocery as it's least expensive there. They still have it at Balducci's, and now have it at Whole Foods and that same organic market that mislead me with its bulk spelt. Many regular grocery stores carry it now too. The only brand I've ever seen, though, is rustichella d'abruzzo from Italy. I've seen it anywhere from $7.00 to $10.00 for a 1.1 pound package, which seems like a lot until you see how much the farro grows during cooking and how many this one pound-ish package serves.

I've been seeing more and more recipes lately using farro in the risotto style - sometimes called farrotto - and in lieu of pasta in other dishes and soups. I call this dish a salad because I finish it with what amounts to a vinaigrette, but it can be served hot, cold or at room temperature. One of the beauties of farro is that it doesn't get soggy in sauce or dressing and doesn't harden up in the refrigerator.

This recipe can be adapted quite easily to become vegetarian. I use a little pancetta or prosciutto to start it off, but you could easily substitute caramelized onions for the smoky flavor (see my April 02, 2009 post on caramelized onions!). Just substitute vegetable stock or water for the chicken stock and you'll be all set.

Though I don't actually include them in the recipe, you also see brussels sprouts in the photo above. I added them in this time as I had some sitting around in the refrigerator. If you want to add brussels sprouts, add them halfway through the time for the cauliflower to cook as they cook much more quickly.

While the instructions on the package of farro advise you to soak the farro before cooking, I've never needed to when I've cooked it this way. This is a delicious complement to fish, chicken or meat. I've made it with all of them.

This is what the package looks like:

Fall Farro Salad

(serves 8 - 10 when served as a hearty side dish)

1 large head cauliflower, cut up into small florets
2 tablespoons olive oil
sprinkle of salt
4 cups no or low sodium added chicken or vegetable stock (if making vegetarian version)
4 cups water
1.1 pound package of farro, rinsed
4 ounces pancetta or bacon, diced
1 medium red onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 large stalk celery, diced
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
juice of one large lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
handful rinsed capers, optional

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

2. Toss the cut up cauliflower with 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a Ziploc bag or bowl. Make sure all pieces are coated with olive oil. Spread cauliflower in a single layer in a shallow baking dish. I use a half sheet pan lined with foil. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over cauliflower.

3. Let cauliflower roast, stirring and turning pieces over occasionally, until tender and golden brown, about 25 - 35 minutes.

4. While cauliflower roasts, bring the stock and water to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Once the stock boils, add the rinsed farro and stir. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the farro, covered, until tender, about 20 - 25 minutes. Drain farro and set aside in a large serving bowl.

5. Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat, saute the diced pancetta until it darkens and gets a little crispy. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent and carrot has softened, about 10 minutes. You can season these vegetables lightly with salt and pepper while they cook, if you like.

6. Add onion mixture to serving bowl with farro.

7. Add cooked cauliflower to serving bowl.

8. Add parsley, oregano and half the chives to serving bowl.

9. Add lemon juice and olive oil to serving bowl and mix contents well. Taste for salt and pepper and add if necessary.

10. Garnish with remaining chives and some capers if you like a little extra, salty tang.

And Now for Something a Little Different

2009-11-10T09:03:00.002-05:00

Smoked trout pate is not the most practical dish I've ever made, but once I indulged myself by purchasing the smoked trout offered by the fish seller at my local farm market, I had to come up with something to do with the one pound plus piece of smoked local fish. I served this as an hors d'oeuvre at a potluck dinner recently and one guest told me "I just can't stop eating this!" We liked it so much, I made it again the following weekend with the rest of the fish! I got the idea after reading a small blurb that a chef in NY makes her restaurant's trout pate with cottage cheese and creme fraiche, with no actual recipe given. I just experimented until I got a taste I liked.

Once you have the ingredients, this is as easy as can be to put together. This is also a dish that you can adapt to your taste and play around with the ingredients and quantities a little. The first variable is the fish. Taste a piece before you begin mixing. Some will be saltier than others. Mine was not salty at all, just smoky, so I added salt at the end. Likewise, choose the kind of cottage cheese you prefer, but a smaller curd would definitely be preferable. I use 2%, but you could try 1%, no sodium added, or, if you want something really rich, full fat. The creme fraiche transforms this from an everyday recipe in terms of health, to a once-in-a-while treat, but who doesn't need a treat every now and then.

Smoked Trout Pate

(serves a small dinner party as one of an assortment of hors d'oeuvres with cocktails)

Smoked trout fillet (about 1/2 pound)
2/3 cup cottage cheese
2 heaping tablespoons creme fraiche
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
olive oil, salt and pepper to taste

1. Remove the skin from the fish and discard. Crumble or flake the fish into a bowl using two forks (one in each hand moving away from each other in the bowl) or your hands if you prefer. If the top of your fillet has a hard crust from the smoking process, you can pick out the larger, hard bits if you prefer. I like to leave in most, as they have the smoky flavor, but I try to make sure to break them down.

2. Add cottage cheese and creme fraiche and mix well with a spoon. If the mixture seems dry, add another dollop of cottage cheese. I like a smooth consistency so using the back of the spoon, I "smoothed out" some of the cottage cheese curds against the side of the bowl.

3. Sprinkle a pinch of salt (if your fish isn't particularly salty), a couple of grinds of pepper and 2 teaspoons of olive oil into the bowl and mix well.

4. Add chives, reserving a pinch for a garnish. Mix gently, and taste - add salt if need be.

5. Put into serving bowl and sprinkle the remaining chives on top. If not serving right away, refrigerate, but take it out about 1/2 hour before serving so it can come to room temperature which will make spreading easier. Serve with thin slices of baguette.

Sunday in the Rain

2009-10-30T08:42:00.010-04:00

Sunday mornings have taken on a new routine around our house. After breakfast and some quality time with the newspapers, Paul and I have been heading over to the Bethesda Central Farm Market. It's a reminder of years past when both kids were in Sunday school and we would have "date morning," going to the gym and then strolling through the market in Dupont Circle before settling down with some coffee and the New York Times crossword puzzle.

We have come to know many of the vendors that we visit each week, and even recognize some of the regular shoppers. We have purchased everything from cider to merguez sausage, from bag your own lettuce mix to fresh trout to cheese. There are fruit and vegetable vendors, a fish seller, several farmers selling grass fed beef, bison, lamb and pastured chicken. We love stopping at all the stands to see what is new and different each week, tasting a piece of sausage here, an oyster there. Several weeks ago, there was a pizza truck there, run by three Italian brothers making Neapolitan pizzas in the built in pizza oven.

This past Sunday was a little different, as the light drizzle turned into a steady downpour just as we arrived. Many of the spots were empty and there were many fewer shoppers, but we bought some halibut from Mr. Lingenfelter and a baguette from the Atwater Bakery. Despite the weather, we were compelled to buy not one, but two containers of Pitango Gelato for the second week in a row. Last week was chocolate with dark chocolate chips and strawberry sorbet; this week we fell prey to the tasting spoons of espresso and cinnamon.

One of my favorite things to buy at the market for a weeknight dinner is a package of chicken thighs. They are easy to cook and difficult to overcook. Often, I just slather on a little mustard and then sprinkle some bread crumbs on top. Other times, I look for something different.

Though the cooking time takes this recipe just slightly out of my preferred time range of 30 to 45 minutes for a weeknight dinner, the preparation for this recipe is minimal and then the chicken just does its own thing in the oven leaving you time to assist with homework, reading, coloring , or preparing a side dish. I made these last week on the night that I had to take one child to a drama class at 6:30. I popped them in the oven before leaving and as the other child, a "responsible" teen, was home, left them to roast while I dropped drama girl off and came back. You could easily throw some potatoes or cauliflower in to roast at the same time and dinner would be complete. That night, I roasted some cut up fingerling sweet potatoes I'd bought at the farm stand the week prior, and then sauteed some kale when I returned home.

This is another delicious Ellie Krieger recipe from The Food You Crave (Taunton Press, 2008).

Maple-Mustard Chicken Thighs

(Serves 4 - two pieces per person)

8 bone-in chicken thighs (about 2 1/2 pounds), skin removed
1/3 cup grainy French mustard
1 clove garlic, minced (about 1 teaspoon)
3/4 teaspoon dried marjoram (I didn't have any so I substituted 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano)
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Rinse the chicken and pat dry with paper towels.

Combine the mustard, garlic, marjoram (or oregano), and maple syrup in a small bowl. Spread about 1 tablespoon of the mustard mixture evenly on top of each chicken thigh, being careful to cover as much of the surface as possible to form a "crust." Arrange the chicken in a single layer in a large baking dish. Bake until mustard mixture has formed a crust and is slightly hardened, and the juices run clear when the chicken is pierced in the center, 45 to 50 minutes.

Ellie Krieger's Lasagna Rollups

2009-10-19T12:33:00.006-04:00

I love pasta. My family loves pasta. We are conflicted about our strong preference for pasta. Or at least I am. As I've committed to cutting back on the "white stuff" I have definitely turned pasta into more of a special dinner than an everyday event. And, I keep trying to find a whole grain pasta that I can love. In the meantime, I've limited whole grain pasta to use in dishes that feature vegetables and nuts which complement the flavor of the heavier, grainier flavor of whole wheat pasta.

My feeling is that for that once in a while Italian favorite, don't mess with the white stuff. I've said this before, but I just can't subject my family to a delicious, long cooked Bolognese, for example...on top of whole grain pasta. It would be like serving it with a seedy, sprouted, whole grain bread, which though it can be delicious toasted and topped with almond butter or jam, for example, or in a sandwich with turkey, avocado and white bean spread, just doesn't go with a traditional Italian specialty. Some things we just don't mess with. In our house, Bolognese gets white pasta, usually penne, and a baguette. Since a sauce like this is a once in a while dinner around here, I figure that's OK.

I've recently noticed a quiet revolution in the whole wheat pasta area that gives me hope that we can incorporate a little more pasta back in to our regular rotation. Many Italian producers have begun making whole wheat versions that are significantly better in both taste and texture than the first brands I tried a couple of years ago. I think the texture has been the biggest obstacle for me with whole wheat pasta - it tends to be stiffer and chewier than white pasta. And not in a good way.

A couple of recent purchases have put some of those concerns to bed. I recently tried Garofalo brand whole wheat spaghetti, which cooked in about the same amount of time as regular spaghetti, and had much more of a regular spaghetti texture. I made it with roasted vegetables, but I will definitely try this one in more dishes in the future.

I'm sharing this recipe with you straight from the cookbook though I've inserted a few of my own suggestions in brackets. This is one of the few recipes I haven't messed with and usually make exactly as is. I highly recommend Ellie Krieger's book The Food You Crave to anyone looking for recipes that are both healthier and still delicious. I've liked everything I've made from this book, and it also provides the nutrition information (just so you know, I am not being compensated to say this. I really like this book).

For this recipe, I use whatever brand whole wheat lasagna noodles I can find, and I haven't been disappointed in any. In this recipe, the taste and texture of whole wheat work beautifully. This is a hearty vegetarian meal that I have served to children (not just my own, who we know will at least try anything I serve). It's not a weeknight dinner for us, as it takes just a little too long for everyday, but it's a great Sunday evening dinner and the leftovers are great for lunch the next day. It's a lovely presentation although my photo does not do it justice at all.

The recipe includes a home made sauce, but mostly I use a good jarred marinara sauce to speed things up. I have found many brands that are not too high in sodium. Just use your favorite. An eggplant or artichoke sauce would be great too. I find that although the recipe calls for the rolls to either bake sitting upright or flat, the noodles are just a little too wide for them to sit upright easily in the pans I have. If you have a really deep pan, it would be fine. So I usually lay them flat. Once, though, in a fit of ambition, I cut the already cooked lasagna noodles lengthwise down the middle so that they were thinner. When I rolled them up they were not as high when seated upright in the pan. This is actually a better size for smaller children. If you do this, just remember to sit them with the ruffled side up for a nicer presentation.

　
Portobello Lasagna Rollups with Easy Tomato Sauce

(reprinted, with permission, from The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger,

Taunton Press, 2008)

12 whole-wheat lasagna noodles (about 3/4 pound) [W: I have found this is 1 1/2 boxes of whole wheat noodles]
2 teaspoons olive oil
12 ounces portobello mushrooms, chopped [W - you can find these presliced]
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups Easy Tomato Sauce (recipe follows) or store-bought marinara sauce
One 15-ounce container part-skim ricotta cheese
One 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup grated part-skim mozzarella cheese (3 ounces)

Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Cook the noodles according to the package directions. Drain well and spread them out on a sheet of aluminum foil or waxed paper to prevent them from sticking [W: I use waxed paper sprayed with cooking spray].
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and all the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Season with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, stir in 1 1/2 cups of the tomato sauce, and simmer for 2 minutes.
In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, spinach, egg, the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, a few turns of pepper, and the nutmeg.
Spread 1 cup of the remaining tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Spread about 2 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture onto a lasagna noodle. Top with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the mushroom mixture, then roll the noodle and stand it up or lay it down in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles, ricotta mixture, and mushroom mixture. Spread the remaining 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce over the lasagna rolls. Top with the Parmesan and mozzarella, cover loosely with foil, and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes more.
SERVES 6
Serving size: 2 rolls
Per Serving
Calories: 500;Total fat: 18gMono: 4.3g,Poly: 1.2g;Sat: 7.5g,Protein: 26g;Carb: 56g;Fiber: 12g;Chol: 76mg;Sodium: 1110mg
Excellent source of
calcium, fiber, iron, niacin, potassium, protein, riboflavin, thiamin, vitamin A, vitamin C
Good source of
copper, pantothenic acid, selenium
　
Easy Tomato Sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 11/2 cups)
2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons)
Two 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes, drained and the tomatoes chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and
cook, stirring a few times, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add the remaining ingredients and cook,uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
SERVES 6
makes 3 cups;Serving size: 1/2 cup
Per Serving
Calories: 94;Total fat: 3gMono: 2g,Poly: 0g;Sat: 0.3g,Protein: 2.5g;Carb: 14g;Fiber: 3g;Chol: 0mg;Sodium: 476mg fiber

A Taste of New Orleans

2009-10-14T20:28:00.029-04:00

I just got back from a great trip to New Orleans and jumped right in to try to make a Cajun favorite, Red Beans and Rice, with a healthier twist. I will caution you that this is probably not the lowest sodium dish you could choose to make, however, I have attempted to cut as much as possible.

First, I had to figure out the correct ingredients, and then I needed to locate them. After researching Red Beans and Rice on the internet, I worked out a few basics. I'd start with onion, celery and garlic to form a base, and use turkey kielbasa for the sausage. I knew I'd seen some turkey kielbasa recently in Trader Joe's and I also saw some in Harris Teeter. I ended up finding the beans at my local organic market - cans of Eden organic no salt added "small red beans." I decided to use canned because I wanted to simplify. I also found beans labelled "light kidney beans" and these would work fine too. I did not have to purchase the Cajun seasoning as I already have a mix that I make up in bulk to use when I make jambalaya. I'd be happy to provide that if anyone has trouble finding a low sodium seasoning mix. Check in the spice section of your grocery store. If you find a no or low sodium version, try that and you can always add a little salt to it if you're not too restricted.

The active time preparing this dish is pretty minimal. There's not much more to do than cut up the sausage and vegetables, and open a few cans. I had only planned to simmer for about 30 minutes, but dinner got pushed back. I ended up letting it simmer for closer to an hour, though, so it got nice and thick. I'm recommending 45 minutes, but if you have less time, 30 minutes would probably also do it.

I served it over brown rice instead of white, and with a mix of sauteed kale and spinach on the side. Pretty delicious and full of healthy protein and fiber.

Cajun Style Red Beans and Rice

(serves 4 or 5, maybe more if you don't have a teenaged boy)

1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound smoked turkey kielbasa (look for one that is not too high in sodium), cut into about 1/2 inch to 1 inch chunks

1 onion, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

2 fat cloves garlic (use more if they're small), diced

1 - 2 teaspoons Cajun spice mix, depending on your taste

1 cup low or no sodium chicken broth

1/2 bottle beer, a little more is OK too

3 cans no salt added small red beans or light kidney beans

3 bay leaves

1. Place large pot or Dutch oven over medium to medium-high heat. Add one tablespoon of the olive oil, or enough to lightly coat the bottom of the pan.

2. Add the pieces of kielbasa and let them brown on all sides.

3. Once browned, remove the kielbasa from the pot to a bowl or plate and set aside.

4. Lower heat to medium. If pot seems dry, add another tablespoon of olive oil.

5. Saute onion, celery and garlic, stirring frequently, until onion becomes translucent, about 5 - 6 minutes.

6. Add the Cajun spice mix and stir thoroughly into vegetables. Continue to saute for another minute or two.

7. Put the kielbasa chunks back into the pot, add the stock, beer, beans and bay leaves. Raise heat and bring to a boil. Immediately lower heat to low, cover pot, and let simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. After about 40 minutes, use the back of the spoon to crush some of the beans to thicken the sauce.

8. Taste for salt - I did not add any as the sausage is salty enough and my Cajun blend has some salt in it.

9. Remove the bay leaves and serve with brown rice.

New York Times Exposes the Problems with Commercial Ground Beef - No Surprise, but Eeeew.

2009-10-05T16:01:00.001-04:00

Today I am both sad and disgusted at the news in the food world. I am truly surprised and saddened by Conde Nast's announcement that it will be closing Gourmet magazine (not to mentioned pissed because I just renewed my subscription). This is a loss to the circle of us who have a love of reading about food and cooking. Gourmet has been the pinnacle of great food writing and photography, introducing us to new ingredients, new places and cuisines and new ways of looking at food and thinking about food. I have had a subscription since 1990, give or take a year or two in the '90s while I was busy having babies. I have always looked forward to receiving that glossy monthly treat, never utilitarian, always stimulating, even where the recipes were way beyond my tolerance for detail. While I also receive Bon Appetit (another Conde Nast publication) each month, and do enjoy it as well, it just can't compete with the quality of the writers, photographers and food editors found at Gourmet. What could Conde Nast be thinking? Could the ad revenue of the two magazines be so far different?

And then there's the front page of Sunday's New York Times. Do not read further if you either have 1) a sensitive stomach, or 2) no desire to ever stop purchasing ground beef from commercial manufacturers no matter how absolutely disgusting the latest news about E. coli contamination is.

Like Upton Sinclair in The Jungle, and Eric Schlosser in Fast Food Nation before him, Michael Moss exposes the darker side of ground beef. While none of what he reports is actually a surprise to me (I gave up commercial ground beef after Fast Food Nation and have tried to move completely away from feedlot raised meat since reading Michael Pollan), Moss pulls no punches in exposing egregious and inexcusable lapses by both the industry and the federal government agency charged with monitoring it.

If you're interested in reading the article and haven't already, here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html. After tracing one particular burger that sickened Stephanie Smith during the gound beef E. coli outbreak two years ago, and through interviews and government and corporate documents, Moss concluded that "eating beef is still a gamble. Neither the system meant to make the meat safe, nor the meat itself, is what consumers have been led to believe."

If you read the article, you will see that the so-called "burger" that caused this woman (Moss does note that her reaction was extreme) to become paralyzed from the waist down, was, as my favorite daughter would say "so wrong on so many levels." Here are the highlights. As I said above, if you have a sensitive stomach, just stop reading now and join me for my next post.

1. Feedlot cattle are kept in small penned areas with barely enough room to move. They defecate where they live so to speak and their hides are often coated with fecal matter. Though there are supposed to be procedures in place to ensure that the hides are cleaned before the meat can be contaminated, there are many slip ups and no one is inspecting each carcass let alone each piece of trimming. Last year, workers at Greater Omaha (one of Cargill's suppliers) sued the company alleging that "they were not paid for the time they need to clean contaminants off their knives and other gear before and after their shifts." Guess they're not paid to clean their equipment between contaminated carcasses either...

2. One package of commercially ground beef or burgers can come from multiple sources. The burger that sickened Ms. Smith was composed of products from four different sources in three different states and Uruguay.

3. I use the word products in #2, because it's just not clear to me how this burger could even be called meat. Moss describes the actual contents of this burger, from a package made by Cargill, labelled "American Chef's Selection Angus Beef Patties," which actually almost sounds upscale. In this "burger" was a mix of slaughterhouse trimmings (some of which was fifty percent beef and fifty percent fat) and a "mash-like product derived from scraps that were ground together in a fourth state. One of the sources is a company that "processes fatty trimmings and treats them with ammonia to kill bacteria" producing what it terms "fine lean textured beef." Cargill combines these products from different suppliers to arrive at the fat content it is shooting for - in this case, about 26.6 percent fat. Why not use one piece of meat? It would cost Cargill thirty cents more per pound. Moss reports that most grocery store ground beef is blended in this way. The USDA regulations allow even meat labelled ground sirloin to be made from trimmings.

4. The low grade bits and scraps are more likely have come from parts of the cow that have had contact with fecal matter.

5. Cargill does not test meat supplied to it for E. coli bacteria, but relies on its suppliers to check.

6. Many slaughterhouses will not sell to grinders who check the meat for E. coli. Unfortunately, the slaghterhouses are the source of the problem, according to a senior policy analyst with the consumer group Food and Water Watch.

7. Just weeks before Ms. Smith's burger was made, USDA inspectors repeatedly found that Cargill was violating its own safety procedures for handling ground beef. In that very plant, inspectors found "large amounts of patties on the floor," grinders "gnarly with old bits of meat," and one worker who commonly dumped inedible meat on the floor near the production line. However, the USDA inspectors did not fine or sanction Cargill.

8. Though Cargill does check the product for E. coli once it's ground, because its meat comes from so many different suppliers, even if a burger tests positive for E. coli, the company is unable to identify which supplier provided the product that went into it. Just a few weeks before making the burger that sickened Ms. Smith, Cargill found some E.coli in a finished hamburger, and as it couldn't identify the supplier, decided to wait to see if there was a pattern of contamination before doing anything. (**one bright spot in the article - Since 1998 when someone was sickened by its meat, Costco checks all trimmings before grinding. Tyson will not supply them.)

9. As a result of the outbreak, Cargill has agreed to increase scrutiny of its suppliers and will increase testing of finished ground beef, but will not institute testing of incoming ingredients.

10. It takes so little E.coli bacteria to cause a contamination that there is concern of infection via kitchen counters, towels and implements that have come in contact with the meat, even if you cook the meat well enough to kill the bacteria.

What's a carnivore to do? First, it seems that you can limit your exposure by buying ground beef made in store from a single piece of meat. The fewer pieces of meat that go into your ground beef, the less the chance of contamination. According to the article, Publix will grind the meat for you if you purchase a piece of steak. I wonder which other stores will do so. Obviously the safest way would be to grind your own meat but I can't imagine that's convenient for many poeple. Next best, only purchase ground beef from sources that you can ask if they test their "trimmings". That requires the beef to be ground in-store.

I guess it's important to ask what cuts are going in to the meat and if they're using a slaughterhouse, whether the slaughterhouse tests for E.Coli. It's a lot easier to ask these questions when you purchase directly from the source. It's also arguable that simply avoiding the feedlot system and purchasing meat from small farms decreases that chances that hides, and, therefore, the carcasses, are contaminated in the first place. Gonna cost a little more though.

Please let me now if you have any comments and ideas about all this!

Deconstructed Manti - Sort of

2009-10-01T12:48:00.011-04:00

A friend asked me recently how long I spend making dinner. I think that most nights the answer would be 30-45 minutes. As you know, my pantry is usually hurricane-ready and I do a lot of farm stand shopping during the weekend, so I can usually pull something together in that amount of time. Most of my go-to weeknight recipes are ones that are simple and rely in great part on ingredients I normally have. I might have to pick up some fish or shellfish or a rotisserie chicken day to day, but I try to keep kitchen time on a weeknight to a minimum. I know Rachael Ray says that her 30 minute meals are quicker than ordering take out, and I guess that's true to some extent, but it is still more effort to cook and to plan ahead to have the right ingredients. The reality is that it is easier to order in Thai food or pizza than it is to make even a basic meal at home.

However, for me, because of the need to eat healthier - watch sodium, calories, fat, etc. - and my desire for my family to eat healthier as well, I find the effort is unavoidable. It is just too hard to to know what is really lurking in the delicious carry out, for me to eat that way more than a couple of times a week. Since I do tend to eat lunch out several times a week, I try to prepare most dinners at home. Planning ahead and only choosing recipes that can be accomplished in that amount of time is how I make it work. I read many, many recipes each week. The only ones I try on a weeknight are those that I think I can squeeze in between pickup from tennis practice and delivery to drama class. Of course there are weeks when even this level of home cooking is just not going to fit into the schedule. I look at the cooking at home as a moving target.

As I don't have a demanding career now, this is a possiblility for me. I think if I didn't have this amount of time, I'd hire a family chef to do for us what I couldn't do myself. Although it seems expensive and a luxury to hire someone to prepare your meals, at least they'd be to your family's specifications. Some cook right in your own kitchen and leave your meals ready to go right in your refrigerator. It's like convenience food, but without all the additives, extra sugar, fat and sodium.

Michael Pollan recently wrote in the Sunday New York Times magazine (August 2, 2009) about how Americans, depite their love of cooking shows on TV, have given up cooking and have relegated it to a hobby akin to camping, hunting, gardening and riding horseback. His basic point is that in contrast to this trend, cooking at home is directly connected to a more healthful diet, and, therefore, to better health. It's a touchy subject, though, as the call for a large scale return to home cooking seems to some like a reversion to the 1950's for women. While Pollan opines that men can cook too, it seems to me that it does fall on women a little more heavily in many homes. In opposition to the argument that a return to more home cooking is a regression in rights for women, Pollan suggests that the move from home cooking to industrial cooking and farming was not spurred by woman entering the workforce so much as by effective marketing by corporations and the economics of the large supply of available convenience foods.

Regardless, as the evidence mounts suggesting that we can improve our health by eating fewer prepackaged and mass produced convenience foods, I feel I have no choice but to try to make this cooking at home work. So my goal is to make it as painless as possible. Full disclosure - I love to cook. But I do not love weeknight meal preparation. That is almost a different animal all together, what with all of our busy schedules. In support of cooking, take this one example from Michael Pollan's article with you: not only has mass production driven down the price of many junk foods, but items like French fries didn't become so popular until industry made it so easy for us to purchase and eat. Likewise, he notes that the mass production of cream-filled cakes, taquitos, chips and cheese puffs has made them all everyday items. He says "the fact that we no longer have to plan or even wait to enjoy these items, as we would if we were making them ourselves, makes us that much more likely to indulge impulsively." It's really hard for a home cooked meal to compete.

To makes things easier for myself, when I see grass fed ground lamb, I buy a package or two to keep in the freezer. They are often sold already frozen, are really fine to freeze, and are very versatile in cooking. If I can remember to defrost it, I can be a rock star around this house with one dish in particular that my family loves. This is my version of Melissa Clark's deconstructed Turkish dumplings from the New York Times food section. Even though Paul does not like eggplant, he doesn't seem to care that this dish is filled with it. And really, so what if he pushes it to the side of his plate - more eggplant for me! This time I've got grass fed lamb from Jamison Farm in Latrobe, PA. They've been coming to the new Bethesda Farm Market, which is located in the parking lot behind Jaleo on Sunday mornings. There is also a Thursday market on Bethesda Lane from 3 - 7 pm. Check it out at bethesdacentralfarmmarket.com. There is also a great fish guy there!

Pasta with Turkish-Style Lamb, Eggplant and Yogurt Sauce

Adapted from Melissa Clark, New York Times

(serves 4 - 6)

1 large eggplant

olive oil cooking spray

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt

2 large cloves garlic, minced, and kept separate

1 large shallot, minced

1 pound farfalle (bowtie) pasta, a multi grain might work here though we use regular pasta

1 pound ground lamb, preferably grass fed

Aleppo pepper flakes, if you have it, to taste, or ground chili powder.

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

2/3 cup plain fat free Greek yogurt

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Put up water for the pasta.

3. Cube the eggplant into a 1/2 inch dice.

4. Spray a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil with olive oil cooking spray and spread the cubed eggplant out in a single layer. Spray tops of cubes with the cooking spray. Sprinkle the eggplant with a little salt. Roast about 20 minutes or until the eggplant is getting brown and some bits are crispy.

5. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallot and one of the cloves of minced garlic. Saute a few minutes until the shallot has softened and become slightly translucent.

6. Cook pasta according to package directions.

7. Add the gound lamb to the skillet with the shallots and garlic. Sprinkle the Aleppo pepper flakes or chili powder over the lamb. Several good pinches should do. Mix well and cook until the lamb is uniformly brown and no pink spots remain (If you are not using grass fed, you might even want to do this in a separate pan so that you can drain the meat from the fat. The grass fed lamb will not produce so much fat).

8. Add dill to skillet and sprinkle a pinch of salt. Stir eggplant into the mixture in the skillet. Taste and add salt and Aleppo pepper as needed.

9. In a small bowl, mix the yogurt with the reserved minced clove of garlic.

10. Drain pasta and add to the skillet to mix if your skillet is large enough. Otherwise, place pasta on serving platter and cover with the lamb/eggplant mixture. Top with the yogurt sauce. Sprinkle a little Aleppo pepper on top of the yogurt. Garnish with a little chopped dill.

Red Corn Chowder

2009-09-30T09:37:00.009-04:00

The change of season is rarely smooth in the DC area. Many falls we go directly from blasting the air conditioning to cranking up the heat in a matter of days. This year, I'm hoping for a slower transition. Though the other day I was wearing a tank top, yesterday and today there's a definite chill in the air. It's still in the 60's (unless you're up at 6 am when it's a bit colder - I'm crazy but just making sure the darling teens have something to eat before leaving the house) but I'm starting to think about soups and using the oven again. The farm stands are piled with the bounty of both summer and fall during this bridge season. Zucchini, basil and tomatoes are sharing table space with butternut squash and kale. As a result, this is a great time to take advantage of recipes that also bridge the seasons, calling for the best of both summer and fall.

I came across this beauty on a blog called The Wednesday Chef (she's a beautiful writer - check her out at http://www.thewednesdaychef.com/), on which Luisa Weiss experiments with recipes published in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times Wednesday food sections. I had seen this Pete Wells recipe in the New York Times myself, but it just didn't click for me. After reading Luisa's description, I decided to try it after all, and it was a hit with the whole family. She made some changes and I made some more. The resulting recipe is below. It's not something I would have made several weeks ago, but it's perfect for this time of year - a hot soup calling for fresh basil and corn.

I had planned to use some homemade shrimp stock (I do remember I said I'd tell you what to do with those shrimp heads!! Keep checking back as I will get there) to make this, but completely forgot to defrost it. I think the water worked fine, but next time I might try the stock.

Red Chowder with Corn and Scallops

(adapted from The Wednesday Chef and Pete Wells)

serves 4 - 6

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, diced

2 to 4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

1 celery stalk, diced

Half a large fennel bulb or one whole if small, diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

Salt

4 cups fish stock, clam broth or water

4 ears corn, shucked, kernels cut off and reserved ( you can substitute frozen kernels - about 2 or 3 cups - later in the season)

1 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks

1 bay leaf

Red pepper flakes, to taste

1 28-ounce can low or no sodium added diced tomatoes (Trader Joe's now carries 14 oz. cans of no sodium added diced tomatoes - just use two cans)

Freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 pounds bay scallops (you could also use cut up peeled shrimp which is how the recipe was originally written)

2 basil sprigs, leaves cut into fine ribbons

1. Set a large pot over medium heat, and add the olive oil. Saute the onion, garlic, celery, fennel and carrots in the olive oil until softened, about 10 minutes. Season with salt.

3. Add the stock or water to the pot. Add the corn kernels, potatoes, bay leaf and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, cover the pot, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Using the back of a wooden spoon, crush a third to a half of the potato chunks against the side of the pot. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and juice, return to a boil, lower burner again, and simmer for 10 minutes more.

5. Add the scallops, stir well. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding salt, black pepper and more red pepper flakes to taste. Let the soup simmer for 4 or 5 minutes more on a very low flame. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with the basil ribbons. I also drizzled a little bit of delicious olive oil on top of each bowl.

Eat happily with a whole grain baguette!