The Good, the Bad, and Sometimes, the Ugly

I don't know what went screwy with cooking in the 60's and 70's.  I almost came to you empty-handed this week, admitting failure to find a recipe from the 70's.  I spent the past few days going through not one or two, but five cookbooks, looking for something.  It was not easy.  My friend in Ohio graciously put up with my texted photos of dishes from the 'Better Homes and Gardens Salad Book', where there's a chapter called, 'Salads from the Freezer.'  And despite her insistence that I make a frozen salad...I just couldn't.  I couldn't.  But...hey, it's not summer yet, I may be inclined give it a go in a month or two...we'll see.

The decade strikes me as a time of brown food.  I know I've mentioned it before.  Look through any illustrated cookbook from then and tell me if you don't agree.  Everything has a brown or overly warm tint.  A very unappetizing tint, like they were trying to coordinate with every kitchen done in paneling and full of appliances and kitchenware in avocado green, mustard, or chocolate brown.  

After trying to find a feasible recipe in book after book, I pulled the 'Tassajara Cooking' book down from the shelf.  It even has a brown cover!  Released by the Zen Center of San Franciso, it is a vegetarian cookbook that is more guide than traditional step by step recipes.  From the first page, the laid back attitude is in evidence:  'The way to be a cook is to cook.  The results don't have to be just right, measuring up to some imagined or ingrained taste...Just feed, satisfy, nourish.'

The recipe I chose is the Bulgur-Tahini Casserole.  (Casseroles are so 70's.)  As written, the ingredient list and directions barely make a full paragraph, with an additional two longer paragraphs of variations!   So I varied.  I substituted red winter wheat berries for the bulgur.  The dish is not an attractive one once ready.  It was very brown from the wheat berries.  I'm tempted to try again using rice or millet.  It's got a quiche-y kind of consistency from the eggs, but has a chewiness from the wheat berries.  The tahini is a winning ingredient, because sesame is one of my favorite flavors.   Serve with a salad and you're good to go.

If you decide to give this a try, I would LOVE to see photos or hear what you think of it.  

Wheat Berries-Tahini Casserole

Adapted from the Bulgur-Tahini Casserole recipe in the Tasajara Cooking book

Serves 4

1 cup wheat berries (dry)

3 cups water

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup tahini

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

Bring water to a boil in saucepan, add wheat berries, and cook over a low simmer until done to chewiness.  Drain any remaining water.  Grease a casserole pan (I used an 8 inch round Pyrex baker), and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Saute onion and garlic in pan until translucent, remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.  In a medium bowl, crack eggs and beat lightly.  Add milk, tahini, and salt, whisking until relatively smooth.  Add onions and garlic, mixing well, then add wheat berries, stirring to thoroughly combine all ingredients.  

Pour mix into casserole and bake for 25-30 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cook for a few minutes before serving.  

Right On Time

If I had stayed on schedule with the 'Throwback Thursday' posts I started in February, I should be posting a recipe from the 1980's this week.  Everything happens for a reason though, right?  Maybe it's not a coincidence that there were a couple of hiccups along the way and the week I cover the 60's is the same week that the final episodes of 'Mad Men' begin to air.  I am a huge fan of the show and well, I have yet to fully admit to myself that after these last seven episodes, it will be over.  Sometime in the near future, you may find me in a darkened room, bingeing on the series all over again.

This recipe is exactly the kind of dish I could see Betty Draper making as part of dinner where Don brings home a client to sweet talk into letting Sterling Cooper run their next advertising campaign.  She'd be wearing something pastel with a coordinating chiffon hostess apron--a cigarette in one hand, a potholder in the other as she opens the oven door and pulls out a Pyrex casserole filled to every nook with onions, golden and baked to perfection.  Simmering in a sauce of stock, honey, lemon, and butter, baked long enough that the onions keep their shape, but soften to the point where they practically melt in your mouth with each bite.  A dish so simple to pull together, just right to serve with roast chicken.  No...scratch that.  Not chicken.  Cornish hen.  Each guest made to feel special by having their own.  The kind of special gesture that convinces you that Don is your man.

The Spice Islands Cookbook, originally published in 1961, is a perfect example of a cookbook from the 60's.  Kitschy graphics, helpful charts, and lovely recipes such as Eggs in Aspic.  I wish I was kidding about that one.  I'm not.  But don't hold that recipe against the book.  It was the 60's, after all.

Baked Onions
Adapted from a recipe in The Spice Islands Cookbook
Serves 2-4

2 large yellow onions
1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp honey
1/4 tsp lemon zest, grated
1/4 tsp paprika
2 tbsp panko bread crumbs
1 tsp black sesame seeds

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Peel outer skins from onions and slice in half.  Place in casserole of baking dish, large enough to hold onions, but not so small that onions are crowded.  In a small bowl, whisk together the stock, one tablespoon of the butter, salt, honey, paprika, and lemon zest.  Once mixed, pour oven onions.  Cover baking dish with foil and bake until onions are tender, 50 minutes to an hour.  In a small skillet, melt the remaining butter, adding the panko and sesame seeds, heating until slightly toasted.  Remove foil from baking dish, sprinkle bread crumbs over onions, and bake uncovered for an additional 10-15 minutes, until crumbs turn golden brown.

Serve on their own or over rice.  

Meatless Monday

Okay...so I just did a little research.  Thank you, Google.  Thank you, Internet.  Did you know the Meatless Monday trend started 11 years ago!?!  I had no idea.  I think I only became aware of it a couple of years ago.  I have tried many, many times to do my part for this trend? tradition? (can you still call it a trend 11 years after its inception?  Does anyone know the rules to this?), but all too often absentmindedly end up having meat at some point on a Monday and think...oh, well...let's try again next week.

Today was one of those days where my eating habits are outright odd.  Sometimes when I'm home all day, I'll either graze for hours, or I won't eat much and what I do eat doesn't even really qualify as a proper meal.  Case in point...'breakfast' was a big taste of almond-peanut butter that I had just made.   The jar I use to store my peanut butter in was too small for the amount made and I didn't want to use a second jar.  I half considered toasting bread to have with my peanut butter, but I really didn't want to bring out the toaster, so there I was, spatula in hand, scooping almond butter out of the food processor bowl.  Lunch, a couple of hours later, was an avocado, sprinkled with a little sea salt and sumac, smeared on a couple of tostadas.  I guess from afar that might look like a meal, but it really wasn't.

So when the 5 o'clock hour came around I gave some serious thought to dinner and wanting to really have something more substantial than a spatula-full of almond butter.  Thinking back over the course of the day and realizing that I hadn't eaten meat, it was a prime opportunity to give this Meatless Monday a conscious effort.  A quick once-over of the contents in the fridge led to this.  I love mushrooms sauted slowly over a low flame, it draws out the earthiness and meatiness.  You can use any mushrooms you like, I tend to stick with white mushrooms (boring, I know).

Spinach and Mushroom with Short Grain Brown Rice
Makes enough for 2

1 cup short grain brown rice

3 cups water

sea salt

1/4 cup green onions, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

3-4 cups spinach, fresh, chopped

6 white mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

1/4 cup grated Asiago (or Parmesan cheese)
1 tbsp red pepper oil (optional)

Rinse the rice to remove any dirt or debris and in a large saucepan, add one cup of rice to 3 cups of water, and a pinch of salt.  Bring to a low boil, then turn heat to a simmer and cook rice until done (about 20 minutes).  Keep rice covered and fluff when ready.

In a skillet over medium heat, warm olive oil and butter until melted, then add green onions and garlic, sauteeing until garlic softens.  Add the mushrooms, slightly lowering heat, and cook until softened, about 10-12 minutes.  Add the spinach, stirring quickly, until wilted.

Plate the rice, topping with the mushrooms and spinach.  Drizzle with red pepper oil (or red pepper flakes) and shredded Asiago or Parmesan cheese.

Lingering

And here she comes...strolling back in after being AWOL for a little over a month...just like that.  ::Snap::  Just like that.  There isn't even a good excuse behind my absence.  I wasn't walking the streets of Rome or hiking through Denali National Park.  No, no, it was nothing like that.  It was just another one of those 'in a rut', 'no focus', 'all I want is a sandwich for dinner' and throw in a dollop of anxiety couple of weeks.

But here we are.  Halloween is four days away, which means that November is right around the corner.  Half-way down the next block is Thanksgiving, with the 'baking like crazy, drag out the box of decorations, and "holy crap, did you know there are only 26 shopping days this year between Thanksgiving and Christmas?!?!"' holiday season.  And it's barreling down the roadway like an 18-wheeler that's lost its brakes.

So before the insanity begins, let's linger on Fall.  Let's take the time to watch the change of colours in the trees, enjoy the days with a nip in the air (I have worn long sleeves, a jacket, and a scarf already--all on the same day!) and even enjoy the Indian Summer weather (like today's 90 degrees).  I went to the farmers market in Burbank last Saturday morning.  It was lovely.  I hadn't gone in awhile.  It felt good getting up early and heading out in the morning chill, even before my first cup of coffee.  By late morning, that chill was replaced by an absolutely gorgeous Saturday of bright sun and blue skies.  I ended up at Granville Cafe, having brunch with the woman that knows me best (pegging my menu choice before I uttered a word), where we enjoyed a patio table, eavesdropping on conversations from the next table, and totally digging on the Dutch pancake with prosciutto and Gruyere in front of me.  A thin, dinner-plate sized pancake with slivers of ham and cheese speckled in the batter.  Some of the prosciutto pieces were a little crunchy from settling to the bottom while on the griddle, some bits of cheese were just perfectly melted.  I left exactly two bites on my plate after coming to the realization that I was just shy of eating the whole thing.  You cannot say I don't have a hearty appetite.

I spent the next couple of days fixated on those tastes.  While I considered making my own Dutch pancake, I opted to use the baguettes that had veered down the stale path and made a bread pudding, though I swapped out the Gruyere with smoked Jarlsberg and a bit of cheddar.  It felt practically decadent buying prosciutto, since it's not something I buy all that frequently.  A savory bread pudding is one of those foods that screams Fall to me.  It's a perfect dish when the weather begins to turn cold.  It's also easy as pie to whip together.  You'll probably have left-overs.  This is just as delicious for the next day's breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Prosciutto and Smoked Jarlsberg Bread Pudding

Serves 4-6

5 cups bread, cubed (i.e. baguette or sourdough)

½ cup onion, sliced thin

1 cup white mushrooms, sliced thin

1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 ½ cups half and half

3 eggs

¾ cup shredded smoked Jarlsberg

½ cup shredded smoked Cheddar, plus ¼ cup additional Cheddar

1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

¼ tsp garlic powder

2 oz prosciutto, chopped

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  In a skillet, over medium heat, sauté mushrooms and onions in butter and oil until onions turn translucent, about 5-7 minutes.  Set aside.  In a bowl, whisk half and half, eggs, 1 cup cheese, salt, pepper, parsley, and garlic powder.  Add cubed bread and toss to coat evenly.  When thoroughly combined,  add prosciutto, mushrooms, and onions.  Turn into a 2-quart baking dish (I used a round casserole), sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup cheese over top and bake for 50-60 minutes.  Remove from oven and let sit for a few minutes before serving.    

Out of Sorts...

...I know, I know...it's been a few weeks since I posted. Here we are nearing the end of yet another holiday season and soon we'll be saying 'hello' to a new year. Another Christmas season and I wasn't in much of a holiday mood. The past few months of not having a job, coupled with the holidays, just kept me in a down mood. Some days, very down. I did end up finding a full time job (albeit, temporary) and a part-time job (also temporary), both in retail. While I'm thankful for both, it's not alleviated the constant knot of worry and anxiety in my stomach, since both jobs pay close to only half of what I was making earlier this year. I listen to all the news reports about the country about to go over the fiscal cliff as I stand precipitously at the edge of my own, trying to scrape together the money to pay rent.

 It's made me think about the service industry, one of the fastest growing sectors and one of the poorest paid. Living on minimum wage or just above is not easy. Low pay, no benefits, and you're expected to put a smile on your face and sell, sell, sell. Someone said to me recently that working in retail is corrosive to the soul. Not a bad way to put it. For the sake of my soul...it's time to get out.

 Why am I sharing this? I tend to throw up a lot of smoke and mirrors around myself to keep how I feel and what I'm going through close to the breast. But ultimately, how I feel affects what I cook, how I cook, and even whether or not I cook. For the past couple of months, I've done very little cooking and baking. A lot of what I cooked I put in the 'baby food' category. It was a need for comfort food. Think mush...grits, polenta, rice...and that's if I decided to turn on the burners. There were a lot of sandwiches in there too. And there were a lot of days when eating was just an afterthought because I needed an energy intake. I did bake for the holidays, though not nearly as extensively as I have in the past. But it's my way of showing love and appreciation to my friends and family...and those brief times made me feel better.

 So today I pushed myself to start the break-out...out of my mood, my depression, my cloudy day, and my unfocused mind. I started small; I roasted a couple of eggplants the other day and made an eggplant and roasted red pepper dip, which led to making ricotta, then digging in the fridge and finding carrots and cauliflower, which became a roasted carrot soup. Pita bread became Parmesan-black pepper pita chips to go with the soup. Tonight I will make wine biscuits from the dough I made this morning. This is the most action my kitchen has seen since before Thanksgiving.

 Now it's up to me to keep the black clouds and cold at bay, with the warmth and glow from the oven. Let's bring 2012 to a close, welcome 2013 with open arms, and seek the opportunities a new year brings.

  Roasted Carrot Soup 

 1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks 
2 cups cauliflower florets 
1/2 medium onion, sliced 
2 tbsp olive oil 
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock 
1/4 cup heavy cream
 salt pepper 

 Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. In a large casserole dish, toss carrots, onions, and cauliflower with olive oil. Sprinkle with a little kosher salt and pepper. Roast until tender, about 35-40 minutes. 

 Transfer vegetables to a stock pot and add the chicken stock. Heat until stock is simmering. Turn off heat and with an immersion blender or regular blender, puree vegetables. Add heavy cream and blend to incorporate. Salt to taste.

Bourbon Pecan Truffles

Cranberry Pecan Shortbread

Double Chocolate Marcona Almond Biscotti

You're At That Age...

Late next week marks the 2-month anniversary of being out of The Day Job.  I mentioned it previously here. I am still among the ranks of the unemployed.  I spend a lot of time indoors, on the computer.  With the weather being what it's been...hot...it's not necessarily bad, but I'm finding myself going a little stir crazy, sometimes a little down.

I've also noticed that I've put on a few pounds.  You'd think with all this free time, I'd keep a regular gym schedule.  You'd think.  I've gone here and there.  Three days one week, once another week, a couple of weeks not at all.  Then I noticed something.  [Men, cover your ears if you don't want to hear 'women's talk.']  I noticed where the weight was going.  Right to my stomach.  That's right...belly fat.  What you hear about on television commercials.  Ugh.  The jeans are getting a little snug.  I went to lunch with my ex-manager last week and was lamenting about the weight gain and where it was settling in.  She smiled and said, 'You're at that age...'  It wasn't meant to be mean.  She's been there, seen that, and accepted it.  I'm not ready to accept it.  Five years ago I stepped on the scale and was shocked at the number I saw.  [No, I'm not telling!]  I was incredibly uncomfortable in my body and seeing the number cemented the change I was going to make.  It's been a journey.  More successful than not.  I've lost 4 pant sizes.  Five on a good day.  I know I'm getting older, the metabolism changes, it takes more effort to lose weight and keep it off.  And, it's no secret...I love food.

The blog is indicative of how much I love food.  I have weaknesses.  You may know them.  Their names are Cheese, Potato Chips, and Bacon.  I hate the word 'diet'.  I haven't thought of myself as being on one for at least 20 years.  I believe in changing how you look at food, finding a balance, not denying yourself and if you go overboard one day, you rein yourself in the next.  I've been thinking about the hows, whats, whens, and whys of my eating habits over the past few days.  I'm wondering if I'm eating too much fruit and not enough vegetables (to balance out the sugar), not enough protein, too many carbs (I'm Italian, life must include bread and pasta!), or just too much late at night.  And let's not forget the vino.  I have a rule when I'm working, no drinking if I work the next day.  Well...that rule has been thrown out the window.  Not that I'm a tipsy baker or anything, but I've had more wine than usual (for me) over the past couple of months.

Where is this all headed?  I guess what I'm trying to say is...a tiny little light bulb when off above my head.  No screaming 150 watt bulb, but a mellow 25 watt.  A gentle reminder.  To take care of myself.  To get back on track.  To be more conscious of what I put in my mouth.  Do I regret making whole milk ricotta the other day?  No...especially when I paired it with figs and honey!  Will I limit myself to a realistic serving of potato chips?  Yes...those kettle chips are evil!  And I'm going to stop making excuses to skip the gym.  I can happily say that after I go this Saturday, I will have made it to the gym five days this week.  It's been a long time since I've done that.  I also have to push myself to do more...kick it up a notch...or six.  Take advantage of this time I have.  I still have a goal weight in mind.  And I'll be damned if I don't reach it.

Don't worry...the baking won't stop.  I have way too much fun with that.  I have way too much fun in the kitchen, period.  I'm still working on Semplice Gourmet, so experiment after experiment will be happening.  I just have to balance myself.  Again.

I've been thinking about coleslaw for a couple of weeks.  I bought a head of red cabbage last week and finally got around to bringing it to fruition today.  There is sweet, sour, vegetables, protein, and a few carbs here.  Keyword?  That's right...balance!  And it was so good.

Red Cabbage Slaw
(Makes a lot)

1 small head red cabbage, shredded
1 cup shredded carrots
1/4 cup red onion, minced
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 large red bell pepper, minced

Honey Dijon Vinaigrette

3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon apricot jam
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon whole grain Dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon pepper
pinch salt

In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, carrots, red onion, garbanzo beans, and bell pepper.  Stir to mix well.    In another bowl or a jar with a lid, add the honey, jam, vinegar, garlic, mustard, olive oil, pepper, and salt.  It's easy in a jar.  Secure the top and shake, shake, shake.  If you're making it in a bowl, whisk well until all the ingredients come together.  Feel free to adjust to your taste, whether more honey, mustard, or pepper.  Add to the bowl of vegetables and mix, mix, mix.  Let it sit for a few minutes before you eat or serve it so the flavors can mingle.  

Wheat tortilla, shredded grilled chicken, and slaw.  A sprinkle of sesame seeds.  Call it dinner.

Soup for You

It's taken until March for Los Angeles to get a decent dose of Winter; a couple of good rain storms where the Los Angeles River is more than just a narrow channel of concrete, the surface streets become white-tipped rushing waters, and there's a rare rumble of thunder and flash of lightning.  Those are the days best spent inside, in comfy clothes, rain pelting against the windows, and soup simmering on the stove.

Thanks to an overabundance of onions in the Italian Pantry and a flip through Mollie Katzen's Recipes:  Soups cookbook, it was easy to find a recipe worth trying.  When I first saw my plethora of onions, I was going to make French Onion soup, but the Swiss Cheese and Onion recipe in Katzen's book was really appealing.  There was a small issue though...I didn't have any Swiss cheese (or sherry, for that matter), but I did have horseradish (extra hot!), which was the ingredient that tipped the scales in favour of this recipe.  I could do without the sherry.   But I did have vermouth.  A touch of alcohol is a touch of alcohol, right?  After a search of the refrigerator's contents, I came up with Provolone and Mozzarella.  The soup would take an Italian spin (surprise, surprise!).

This also gave me the opportunity to break in the cast iron Dutch oven I finally bought for myself.  I could kick myself for waiting this long to get one, but I'll be using it frequently now.  Wait until you see the results of bread baking in it!  Okay...back to the soup.  It's a quick soup, coming together in less than an hour.  As I said before, the horseradish really adds a smoky depth and a wee bite.  I added a little more than the required teaspoon because:  1.  I love horseradish and 2.  I like a little bite in my food.  You can add more, less, or not at all, but I think you would be doing yourself a disservice if you left it out altogether.  Provolone and Mozzarella mellowed out the taste, and I will be making it again with Swiss, but it's good to know that the substitution doesn't lessen the deliciousness.

Onion Soup
(Adapted from 'Swiss Cheese and Onion Soup' by Mollie Katzen)
Makes 6-8 servings


2 tablespoons butter
2 medium onions, sliced thin
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 tablespoons dry vermouth
1-3 tablespoons flour
2 cups water
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
1 1/2 cups warmed milk
1 1/2 cups mozzarella and/or Provolone cheese (grated)
pepper, to taste




Melt the butter in your pot.  Add onions, garlic, salt, and mustard.  Cook over medium heat until the onions are soft (8-10 minutes).  Sprinkle in the flour by the tablespoon, stirring constantly.  The more flour used, the thicker the soup.  Mix well.   


Add the vermouth, water, and horseradish.  Stir and cook for 5 more minutes.  Add the milk and cheese, stirring as the cheese melts into the liquid.  


Let simmer for a few minutes more, adding pepper to taste.  

I followed Mollie's suggestion and served the soup sprinkled with a dash of paprika and homemade croutons.  A swirl of crème fraîche would be lovely too.

And yes....soup reminds me of 'Seinfeld.'