Laying low for a while

I’ve been pretty busy lately, and in the last few days lost a loved one to a horrible freak accident.  Processing this loss has been complicated by a flood of news coverage about the accident and large number of calls from friends who have heard the news on CNN or read it in the newspapers.  In light of this tumultuous time, I am officially taking a “break” from this blog.  Tomorrow will be one year from the first entry I made here, and I had originally wanted to try to do some cooking to mark the occasion, but I can’t bring myself to make anything special, so I’ll have to come back to it in a few weeks.

In the meantime, I wanted to share with you the talents of my late friend Jerry Fuchs. He was an incredible drummer, and an incredible friend.  I loved him and told him at every opportunity how special he was to me.  I feel lucky to have known him, and lucky that I do not have any regrets about never telling him how much he meant to my life.  Also here is a beautiful clip from Lance Bangs’ Arthurfest feature.

Being well-fed by others: Bruschetta Pizza in California

BD and I are in California for the week, visiting our friends, and currently, spending a few days at Yosemite National Park.  I’ll have pictures up on Flickr maybe when we get back.  In the meantime, I thought I’d take advantage of the free internet and early morning quiet to tell you about some really good hospitality our friends Eleanor (commonly known as Eleanor THE BEST) and Paolo provided for us when we got to town.  In addition to putting us up in their place, they fed us a delicious dinner!  Paolo made this incredible california-style bruschetta pizza that I ate two and a half slices of even though I was kind of full!

I put in a recipe request, but for now I’ll have to simply guess at and describe how this was made, because Paolo was not interested in any kitchen help:

Bruschetta Pizza (the guess recipe)

• Some kind of cheesy artisan bread, halved to make two pizzas
• tomatoes, chopped
• garlic, minced
• basil, confetti-d
• summer squash, thinly sliced
• shredded cheddar-jack (?) cheese blend
• chopped mixed greens tossed with a light balsamic & salad oil dressing

1. Saute the tomatoes in the garlic over medium-low heat for a few minutes until they are slightly cooked but not totally broken down*
2. Saute the squash until tender*
3. Top the bread with tomatos, squash and cheese and bake at some reasonable temperature like 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
4. Remove from oven and top with lettuce salad and basil

*I suspect that the magic of this pizza might have been in the cooking of the tomatoes and squash, and though I could see Paolo maneuvering with these two pans, I have no idea what he was doing.

In any event, this pizza was incredible and I’m craving more already.  I’d have to say it might be the best thing we ate so far on this trip – although I had an amazing watermelon salad & macaroni and cheese dinner at Farmer Brown’s in San Francisco on Wednesday night.

Speaking of Wednesday night, I should also take this opportunity to give a “shout out” to Paolo’s band, The Mumlers, who we went to see play after dinner.  They were super entertaining and they are going on tour with the Black Heart Procession in a few weeks, stopping at several places on the East Coast.  If you are an east-coast, music-loving reader of this blog, go ahead and check them out.  Their myspace is linked above, but you can also find their tunes on iTunes, including some iTunes exclusive tracks.

Here is a picture of Paolo enjoying his creation, just before he spit it on me from laughing so hard.  Luckily my camera escaped unscathed….

Pain a L’ancienne

Yep, I baked them breads myself.  And despite the name, “Pain a l’ancienne” it was relatively pain-free….. badum-cha… okay maybe my humor is a bit off, but for real, for real, I am feeling the call of breadmaking.  And yes, Wendy, I’ll be bringing some to the office in the morning.

So, yeah, Pain a L’ancienne is a slow-fermenting bread that actually proofs in the fridge overnight, and in the process develops a really unique flavor.  And how do I know this?  Well, I know it because I read about it in Peter Reinhart’s book of genius:

Extraordinary bread, indeed!  They are super crispy and crusty where it counts, but so airy and light and soft inside.  The nice thing about this bread was that the whole thing was mixed & kneaded on my stand mixer (best garage-sale find ever), which is why that crack about these pains being pain-free was actually the truth!  The thing is, even though I didn’t get to really work this dough with my hands, I found that it was still very rewarding to make.  Plus, it just is so nice to have this really amazing bread on my kitchen counter that I can say, “I made it!”  Don’t they look pretty?

okay okay, so I made some bread.  Well, yes.  But then I showcased these breads by making delicious sandwiches for dinner.

they were supposed to be pear & gruyere sandwiches, but the pears I bought yesterday did not get ripe enough today, even though I tried the “brown bag with a banana” trick.  So I used an apple instead.  

Delicious Sandwich

• 2 pieces of crusty bread, a small roll, halved, or a piece of baguette, sliced in half 
• 2 slices of gruyere cheese (one for each piece of bread)
• 1/2 apple, sliced very thinly
• 1/2 onion, sliced very thin
• a few leaves of lettuce
• honey

1. Preheat oven to 300 F
2. slice onions & caramelize over low heat (use butter or olive oil, sparingly – you only want to use what you need to to keep the onions from sticking to the pan)
3. arrange one slice of gruyere on each piece of bread (you don’t want to go overboard with gruyere, its pretty high in fat, plus its very pricey, but I guess if you like a really cheesy sandwich, go for it)
4. place sandwich halves in the upper-section of the oven, and bake 5-7 minutes until cheese is melted
5. toss lettuce leaves with honey
6. top sandwich half with caramelized onion, apple (pear) slices, and lettuce
7. enjoy remaining apple slices instead of chips, hooray!

Challah!

When I think of Rosh Hashanah, the jewish new year, I think of three foods: apples, honey, and challah.  This year I decided I would make my own challah, my very first.  It was an all-afternoon affair, but the reward was well worth the time and effort.  

Challah (2 loaves)

• 1/2 cup warm water for yeast
• 1 packet dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2/3 cup warm water
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 7 1/2 cups (about) all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon water

1. Combine warm water, yeast and 1 Tbsp sugar in small glass bowl and mix. Let yeast mixture stand at room temperature about 10 minutes (mix should be foamy).
2. In a large bowl, using a heavy duty mixer, beat eggs, oil, salt & remaining sugar until blended and slightly thickened (5 minutes).  Beat in remaining warm water and yeast mixture until blended 
3. Either with a dough hook on a mixer or by hand, mix in flour 1 cup at a time, forming a smooth dough.  Finished dough should not be sticky.  When dough has come together and is smooth, knead by hand for 2 minutes until elastic (if you press your thumb in, the dough shouldn’t hold the thumbprint)
4. Lightly oil a large bowl, add dough, turning it over to coat it with oil, cover
5. with a towel, and let rise in warm, draft-free area until doubled in volume (about 1 hour)
6. Punch down dough, recover, let rise 30 minutes
7. Grease 2 large baking sheets, place dough onto lightly floured surface
8. Divide dough into 2 equal pieces, divide each piece into 3 smaller pieces, roll each piece into an 8-10 inch rope and braid, tucking ends in.  For a round dough you just push the ends together and kind of tuck them into each other (see below).
9. 
10. Place each braid on baking sheet. Cover with towel and let rise in until almost doubled, about 30 minutes
11. Preheat oven to 350°F.
12. Whisk egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water to make wash, and brush dough with egg wash.  Add sesame seeds or poppy seeds, if you like.
13. Bake 40-45 minutes or until challah is golden brown & sounds hollow when you tap the bottom of it

This challah was so delicious and surprisingly easy to make, I will definitely be doing it again!

PLUS, as an added bonus, the leftover challah from last night’s dinner did not go to waste this morning, I used it to make french toast w/ cinnamon-sugar bananas.

Salsa Verde & Burritos

Last weekend BD & I made our semi-weekly trip to the Emmaus Farmer’s Market and I was delighted to see some tomatillos for sale, looking ripe and tart and just perfect for salsa verde.  For my readers who have never used a raw tomatillo to cook with, this fruit is somewhat tart when its green, and sweeter when its yellow, and it has lots of little seeds like… well like a tomato, but also has a husk like corn.  And its sticky.  Sounds like fun, no?  

I decided that I would put these tomatillos to good use and make salsa verde, a very simple and delicious accompaniment to one of my all time favorite meals: the burrito.  Yes, I acknowledge that this burrito is probably one of the least appetizing foods I have ever photographed and posted for this blog, but do not be fooled, it is both delicious and comforting, and can be filled with whatever you like.

Personally, I am a burrito purist.  I like burritos to consist of a hot flour tortilla filled with some sort of cooked bean and some grated cheese, with peppers or hot sauce mixed into the beans if I’ve got any.  I will tolerate the following toppings: salsas, pico de gallo, sour cream, and a basic guacamole.  When I am feeling very adventurous, I like to add pitted fruits like nectarine or peach inside, but I’d say I only do that for one out of every four or five burritos.  You might be starting to catch on that I eat a lot of burritos.  I’d say that at least two times a week I engage in some sort of burrito or variation, and that is probably why this blog is not more frequently updated.

This particular burrito was made with refried black beans with lime juice and some habanero-cheddar cheese.  The salsa verde added a very delicate sweetness that balanced the spice perfectly.

Salsa Verde:

• 1 lb tomatillos, husked and rinsed
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 small onion or 1 shallot
• 1/2 a jalapeno pepper 
• juice of a lime or 1/2 a lemon
• salt
• cilantro (if you don’t think it tastes like soap)

1. Boil tomatillos 7-10 minutes until tender, drain and rinse with cold water until they have cooled to handle
2. put all ingredients in food processor and process until smooth

You can also roast the tomatillos if you prefer, but it will bring out the sugars which can make it overly sweet depending on your tastes.

Enjoy salsa verde on a burrito, or as a dip, or on top of grilled vegetables.

Pesto Party

Pesto is one of my favorite things to make.  I generally prefer a basil pesto, with lots of garlic and lemon, but I’ve also come to love sage pesto, arugula pesto, walnut pesto, and I’m going to have to try this recipe that Carolyn posted on LV Eggplant for Pea Pesto.

I volunteered to make a pasta salad for a retirement party today, and although I debated going for something more interesting than my super-boring (but yummy) pesto salad, ultimately I decided that at this point in summer, showing off the delicious basil and baby tomatoes of late summer would be satisfactory, and hey – sometimes an old standard is what works best.

My boring (but yummy) pesto is:

• fresh, fragrant sweet basil
• zest of a lemon
• juice of a lemon
• anywhere from 3 – 10 cloves of garlic depending on my audience
• pine nuts
• olive oil
• grated parmesan or romano cheese
• salt & pepper to taste  

all put together in a food processor.

When the State Kills the Innocent

I’ll start by saying that I am against the death penalty, universally.  I have felt this way, in varying degrees, since I was quite young, probably I really gave it thought for the first time in middle school.  Although my thoughts on this subject have grown more complex since that time, I am steadfast in my opposition to the death penalty.  

I was watching some comedian’s stand up routine the other night, and he joked about how Texas, instead of trying to abolish the death penalty, has “an express lane.”  I didn’t laugh.  In fact, the more I thought about it, the less funny I found it.  

I read this piece in the New Yorker yesterday, that is really, truly, worth your while, regardless of your thoughts on the death penalty.  If you can spare a few moments to read it, please do.  

As anyone who has read my blog since before I wrote almost exclusively about food knows, I feel the weight of the world pretty heavily some days.  Some days are worse than others – usually the worst days are the ones in which I am faced with the reality of people’s heinousness towards each other.  Reading that article turned yesterday into one of those days, because it highlights the heinousness of the justice system in our supposedly great country.  It illustrates the imperfections of “eyewitnesses” who are quick to condemn the suspected, the recklessness of jurists who, quite simply, don’t care about guilt or innocence, even when a life is at stake, the ineptitude of public defenders who start mounting a defense assuming their clients are guilty, when really, they’re just poor.  

Obviously in the 1137 executions in this country since 1976, we have surely, surely, executed more than one innocent person.  But the New Yorker article above outlines the circumstance of just one.  It weighs a lot.

I’m learning to put the heaviness aside.  When I was in high school there were days that I could barely get out of bed because I felt the weight of dropping atomic bombs on Japan so heavily.  But I’m working on it.

SQUASH!

This is a teaser post.

At the Emmaus Farmer’s Market yesterday, BD and I picked up many delicious vegetables (and an amazing whole grain bread).  Among the delightful picks was my first “winter” squash of the season!

There is a myth, I think, that winter squash is best eaten in November.  The truth is that most of the winter squashes start ripening around now, and most of the ones that are grown locally will be harvested by Halloween.  True, they will store until December or January, but since there is such a thing called a “freezer” now, I don’t worry so much about storing things in a dry pantry.  

Anyway, yesterday I bought a spaghetti squash.  It was delicious and sweet but not overly sweet.  I baked it up, shredded it into spaghettis, tossed it with olive oil & salt & pepper, and munched it down.  

I am a squash fanatic so it likely that I will be making a lot more  squash meals over the next few weeks, and I’ll try to blog them instead of just eating them in less than 3 minutes, but no promises…

What are your favorite ways to make “winter” squash?  I’ll be posting some of my favorite recipes: soups, pastas, etc… but I’d love to hear yours!

Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes

Last weekend I had a task: several dozen vegan red velvet cupcakes for my friends David & Maggy’s wedding.  They had already arranged for a traditional wedding cake, but wanted to make sure they could accommodate any dietarily restricted friends & family who wanted to partake.  I had to preface my offer for cupcakes by making clear that I am not a baker by trade, and although I do plenty of baking, I definitely do not know how to frost things or decorate or make it look like a “pro” job.  But David and Maggy had no fear of my ineptitude and asked me to go for it anyway!

So, I did.  I baked and I baked and I baked some more.  And I iced and I iced and I iced some more.  And then I topped, and topped some more.  And it was very fun and relaxing.  That is what I love about baking is that it is very methodical and repetitive and that is very soothing to me.  

I adapted my cupcake recipe from “Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World” by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero.  This is probably the best vegan cupcake cookbook ever.  I don’t know if its the only one, but even if there are others, they are unlikely to be as good as this one.  It kind of makes me want to buy Veganomicon.  Do any of you have it?  What’s the verdict?  Worth the investment & space on my bookshelf?  

For the icing I have my own “secret” recipe, that is, in fact, not perfect, so I’m not inclined to post it, but if you want it, you can leave a note and I’ll send it to you.  Basically it consists of vegan cream cheese, vegan sour cream, earth balance, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar.  It tastes pretty good but it got VERY melty in the hot August sun last weekend.

I topped 2/3 of the cupcakes with chopped toasted pecans, and 1/3 with red & white sugar sprinkles in case anyone was averse to pecans.  

In any event, the cupcakes were great, and I saw people going back for seconds and thirds, so other people must have liked them too!

Summertime Harvest Risotto

I love summer foods.  I love fresh vegetables grown either in my garden or some other neighborhood locale, and I love the brightness that fresh herbs add to my cooking – although I really did not get my extensive garden into the ground this summer, I do have a pretty righteous potted herb garden, we’ll see how many of those herbs I can get to keep growing once I bring them inside…

Anyway, back to the subject at hand.  Risotto.  I think that sometimes people are reluctant to make or eat risotto in the summer, but this is my “pitch” that risotto can be enjoyed any time of year.  Yes, it is warm and hearty in the winter, but it also can be delightfully fresh flavored and is a fairly simple “one pot” kind of dish for easy summertime cooking.  In fact, if you have one of those fancy pants gas grills with a side burner, this would be a great way to show off grilled summer vegetables.  

Anyway, the risotto above is “summertime harvest” because it features some of my favorite summertime vegetables: zucchini, asparagus, and peas along with some fresh mint and lemon to provide bright fresh flavor.  I actually made it in two pots, because I decided for last night I wanted to saute the vegetables using the lemon juice to really infuse the vegetables with the lemon flavor as much as I could, but didn’t want the lemon to overwhelm the risotto.

Summertime Harvest Risotto

• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 large or 2 small shallots, minced
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1 cup white wine (we used pinot grigio)
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1 zucchini, diced into maybe 1/4-1/2 inch cubes
• 1 cup peas
• 6-8 asparagus spears, trimmed, tips cut off, and then diced into about 1/4-inch pieces
• 1 lemon (zest it first, then juice it)
• 1 big bunch mint, chiffonade cut (thin strips, like confetti)
• freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional)
• salt, pepper to taste

1. Heat 2 tbsp oil over medium-low heat, add 1/2 the minced garlic & all of the minced shallot and allow to cook 10-15 minutes until softened, but not browned.  
2. Add rice and stir to coat.  Cook, stirring continuously, 2 minutes
3. Add white wine, and cook, stirring frequently, until almost all liquid is absorbed
4. Add one ladle of veggie stock and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until liquid is almost all absorbed
5. Repeat with veggie stock until all is used (should be 4 or 5 ladles between the 2 cups of stock)
6. When the last ladle of liquid goes into the risotto, heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat, add remaining garlic, vegetables, lemon juice, and saute 2-3 minutes until cooked al dente.  Remove from heat.
7. If you are cooking alone, the final few minutes of cooking will involve you stirring the risotto with one hand and the vegetables with the other.  When the vegetables are done, stir 1/2 the lemon zest and 1/2 the mint chiffonade into the veggies.
8. Season both veggies and risotto to taste with salt and/or pepper.
9. To serve, ladle risotto onto dish, top with some vegetables and garnish with remaining mint, lemon zest, and grated parmesan.