dinner at alice’s – i love wednesdays June 7, 2008

I enjoy every moment spent at this wonderful, warm home of 13. Everyone is inclusive, interesting, kind, and welcoming. Household members share cooking duties, and this night Alice “cleaned the fridge”, finding red quinoa (true?), lentils, golden and chioggia beets, carrots, cabbage, favas, and potatoes. Let me set the stage.  I arrive to find Alice in the kitchen with her “Yodeling Mad: Best of Country Yodel” CD playing, and she greets me with the phrase, “Everything is going in.” Into what, you might ask? Eight shepherd pies! She’s bought yummy vegan crusts, and we step by step assemble her vision into mounds of comfort and belly joy. After topping each pie with a generous helping of mashed potatoes, Alice drizzled them with olive oil, and applied pinches of sea salt and rosemary. I want to eat like this every night.

(photo credit – Glenn Bachmann)

watermelon bowl…You make conferences fun May 18, 2008

I loved my continuing education getaway. Long walks, pie, christmas tree lights, strawberry farms, fireworks, tangy frozen yogurt, periodic roller coaster screaming and especially…app-le ched-dar qui-i-iche quiche!!

Not too many people would get creative in a strange kitchen, let alone a hotel kitchen, but those rules seem not apply to Alice! She thought to secure tortillas, salsa, avocado, pintos, watermelon, and sardines, which led to a handful of delicious meals.

Half a watermelon serves as more than just breakfast. It serves your breakfast!

(Updated May 20, 2008 )
The breakfast consisted of pintos, salsa, and avocado on corn tortillas with watermelon on the side. Didn’t realize it looked like a watermelon salsa (which to me also would be good). I ended up having all of the watermelon “juice”, shown in cup, because I am greedy-greedy with fruit. Mmmm!

Alice, are you enjoying that delectable bite of sardines in mustard on yer rye toast?

Highlights include accordion solos, and a trip to the Crystal Cathedral – replete with
“free” bus ride. Is there such a thing? No, I guess not. No matter!

Get a load of this organ [my photo didn't come out in the low light so I appropriated this
(lower front view of organ) from the crystalcathedral dot org etc website]. All the rest are legit.

MMM! When we got back we had 2 salads extraordinaire, featuring lettuce, garbanzo beans,
cucumber, carrot, tomatoes, and another with jicama, lime, and chili powder. Topped with fried
egg! Usually I expect to freak out at least once when traveling with another…this trip – I slept
like a baby.

baked kabocha squash with vegetable stew December 2, 2007

Thanks for the kabocha cuteness, i can has cheeseburgers  !!

This was originally planned for the Harvest Dinner menu, but by the end of dinner I was still carving into the pumpkin. Another time, perhaps? Yes.

I couldn’t find a pumpkin so I used this kabocha squash, which has a very hard, green, bumpy skin and shocking orange flesh. Since the end result has a lid I took off the stem and thin layer before cooking. Safety first when cutting into this thing!! First I brushed the kabocha with oil, seasoned it with salt, and I baked the whole thing for 30 min at 350, then 30 min at 400.

I scooped the insides (could not take out the inner flesh while raw – this is a very hard squash) after it baked and spooned in the stew. This made me happy!

you are my favorite sweet potato gnocchi! December 1, 2007

You are!!

I’m back to my old self, and in the kitchen now that school applications are finished. Yay!!  Okay, these gnocchi were really good. I made approximately three dozen, and I still have half the dough. I read that once the gnocchi are cooked they can be frozen for up to six weeks. This is my plan of action.

These are sweet potato gnocchi in a brown butter and sage sauce. I usually don’t like cream or butter sauces, but this was perfect and simple. I likely will try another sauce with the leftovers – lots of options! First you make the dough. This was pretty straightforward, but I think my process could have been improved by a potato ricer or a food mill. Then you roll out ropes, cut bite sized pieces, and plop them in the salted boiling water. Finish the gnocchi in the pan with browned butter and sage.

I did find a helpful video online. Now I can finesse!

guest star tamales September 30, 2007

These were twice inspired (and you’re both in PA). The first one is “curly’s kale, corn and queso tamales” (not the sum of ingredients, but I wanted to capitalize on the alliteration). I wanted to make an extra special kale tidbit (even better that it lives in a cozy wrapper!) to honor dear, sweet Larisa who is the sole reason I’m blogging at all, and the curliest kale I know. <3 The second is “shauna-shortcake mixed fruit tamales.” Shauna, I will not disclose the meaning of your nickname, but if I may tell a side story…I visited Shauna (& Skimmy) in LA many years ago, and during that trip we went to a food stand. ‘Member? It could have been free standing in a neighborhood, or at the farmers market. Anyway, we had dessert tamales with fruit and white chocolate inside. (!) I think of that experience often. So when I was thinking fruit, creme and dough I thought, “shortcake” and therefore, Shauna. Now that I’m finished with the back story, here’s the savory one in prep. The filling consists of kale, green onion, jack cheese, corn, shredded squash, and green chiles.

And the finished plate (The Tomatoes shown on vacation):

The dessert tamales have cinnamon sugar in the dough, and blueberries, nectarine, and extra dark organic chocolate inside.

and here is the finished version with crème fraîche and dutch cocoa dusting.

meaty loaf and frites September 27, 2007

I’ve always loved meatloaf. Even when it contained meat! This is one of my favorite dishes to make. Very easy, you just take some veggie ground beef (I like Yves “Meatless Ground – original”), a 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, 1 diced bell pepper, a 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs, chopped shallot or mild onion, and about 1, maybe 2 eggs. Mix ingredients, and bake for about 4o minutes at 375 degrees. My secret is to crumble Semifreddi’s “Super Garlic Croutons” in the blender/food processor and make my own breadcrumbs. I made a tomato sauce for the top out of thinned tomato paste, oregano, salt and pepper, and placed golden heirloom tomato slices as a finish. Thanks, GP!

As for the frites…basic russet potatoes, sliced into quarter inch width pieces. I read that in order to have crispy fries you need to soak them in cold water to remove excess starch, dry thoroughly, then fry them twice. The first fry was 325 degrees for about 4-5 minutes. The second fry was 375 for about 3-4 minutes or until golden. This method worked very well, I recommend it. Extra crispy and light!

And the very best part of all is that I get to have it for lunch tomorrow!! Yum.

grilled trout, lemon tempura, & olive toasts September 22, 2007

Here is my first non-vegetarian, or pescatarian meal. On rare occasions I eat seafood (I miss you already, veggies!). This being one, I grilled a small trout, stuffed with lemon, onion, cilantro, garlic, and oregano. I also made tempura (see batter), remembering in a previous post comment that Niece recommended I try using lemon slices. This worked very well! The rind is bitter, but I like bitter, and mellowed by cooking. Perfect company with fish. Mmm. I also prepared broccoli, carrot, onion, yellow potato, and zucchini tempura. To drink I had a refreshing pomegranate spritzer! Give this one a try!

pear season September 18, 2007

This tiny, sweet pear is one of the last of the crop from my boss’ tree.

food 4 kids: booby trap egg sandwich September 9, 2007

Big kids, too. Mmm – today I made an egg sandwich and decided to put a child-at-heart twist on breakfast. I hollowed out a poppy seed roll, and hid within it a fried egg on a bed of sharp cheddar cheese. Next, I placed arugula and spinach leaves on top for unsuspecting passers-by, and propped up the bun lid with toothpicks. Finally, I constructed a woodland/jungle scene of veggies (baby artichoke, blue lake beans, The Tomatoes, red onion, pickled daikon radish, bok choy, mushroom caps) and potatoes as the backdrop, on a lagoon of seasoned dried seaweed. At one point I was thinking of crafting a creature that set up this elaborate trap, but I then realized two things: that creature is me, and I’ve got to eat sometime!

veggie pesto pizza ‘n beer September 5, 2007

There are forces in this world I don’t understand. Not a very profound statement, but I am confused! Am I supposed to just follow signs, “understand”, and live life for what it seemingly brings me or wants of me? Or do I react to messages that run counter to my wishes and wants? Don’t know. Can’t she just stick to the food?, you might wonder. Uh, yes. ‘Cause that I do understand. That, and lemon colored lion t-shirts (see end of post).

So the pursuit of life’s simplicity brings me to today’s post: pizza ‘n beer. This is one of my favorite pizzas! Partially because I was hungry for dinner and didn’t have to make the crust, but mostly because this is really tasty bread. I used a flatbread available for purchase and immediate consumption. My second favorite pizza involves homemade crust with olive oil and cornmeal baked on the bottom. I went again to my loving, family run, local grocer Golden Produce on Church St. For about $10 I got organic components to make my dinner and lunch for the remainder of the week. Today’s toppings: fresh mozzarella, pesto, basil, heirloom tomato slices, and mushroom. Today’s beer: Hoegaarden

Today’s t-shirt: Raaawwr!!!!

“Aloo Masala” Twice-Baked Tuber August 28, 2007

Tonight I decided to make an Indian version of “twice-baked potatoes”. I searched recipes for twice baked sweet potatoes, or yams, and they all had maple, sugar, toasted nuts and the like. Yummy, yes, but not what I wanted tonight. I went to my favorite local grocer Golden Produce for a good selection of fresh vegetables and some inspiration. I was pretty open to what could go into this dish. I knew I needed some type of tuber… I think I bought a yam, but to be honest I don’t always know the difference. Growing up, orange colored pie was always sweet potato, never pumpkin, and I think when I had yams in a glaze or something, my brain recorded that they were sweet potatoes. So I incorrectly use them interchangeably. Okay, so 1 yam, 2 small yellow potatoes, and I was in business. I also bought some papadum, a yellow onion, and a small cantaloupe. After I made the stuffing, I realized that I’d forgotten to saute the onion and incorporate. I still wanted onion so I decided to make onion rings. I still prepared the papadum, too. My other plan was to make cantaloupe soup, but that will have to wait until the next post.

I cooked the yam and yellow potatoes until soft, scooped out the insides and forked them in a bowl with a touch of buttermilk, 2T sharp cheddar cheese, a pat of butter, and spices (garam masala mixture,+ tumeric, salt, cayenne, cumin, cinnamon and hot paprika). These are just flavors and colors I like, not necessarily a proper recipe.

Pre-baked tubers:

I fried some onion rings for garnish and crunch.

And here we have it!

fried squash blossoms August 22, 2007

Wow, I loved these. Sooo yummy. My lovely blossoms were a treasured gift from last night! To preserve them until today, when I could prepare them properly, I nested them in a damp paper towel and refrigerated ’til tonight. I made the batter according to recipe, and dipped the babies, then gently laid them in hot oil, seconds away from popping.

I let them cook a total of 3-4 minutes, turning once. Next, I drained them, plated them, and promptly ate them.

You know who you are…thanks <3