my crush on mark bittman

LA in september

2011-09-25T17:42:00.001-07:00

aaaaaaand we are back. in the southland that is. sylla has opened a new store, my book is about to come out, school started again so we are both slightly busy.

i drove down from oregon with my mother and ate a lot of peanut butter & jelly sandwiches (the optimal road trip food if you ask me - we should write something on this topic), and also had surprisingly decent sushi in redding, calif. REDDING. it was our stop-over for the night, and while i did not have time to discover any other charms of that city, i did have a very nice dinner there. this, unlike PB&J, is a rare occurrence on a road trip.

LA greeted us with heat and humidity, ornery people on campus, and wonderful food. we had dinner at the bar at mozza, where we sampled 5 pasta dishes. i will be working that one off for days. we had breakfast on the terrace of the pain quotidien and saw some actor or another sipping coffee at urth café. we had sushi at my local favorite place (ajisai) and felt almost at home.

today the city was split in two because the triathlon course stretched from the beach to downtown, and tomorrow my neighborhood will become a mad-house because Barack Obama will be at a fundraiser at a restaurant down my street.

LA baby, LA.

welcome to the middle of summer

2011-08-08T10:29:00.001-07:00

here we are, in the dog days of summer. summer weather has finally reached oregon and i am in mexico city, where we await summer rains in the afternoon. in oregon and mexico all is green and opulent, and there as here i look forward to languid meals with friends and family.
simple pleasures for complicated times (hello debt rating downgrades, sudan, syria, looting in london and tea-party advances towards 2012) - as the world seems to be spinning off its axis, need a little break from the madness and will focus on tacos al pastor, cold beers and tequila. provided i don't indulge too much in the latter, there will be more posts this week.

welcome to the beginning of Spring

2011-03-30T11:39:00.001-07:00

Another season, another quarter. I am teaching a class on the history of food in Latin America. The title of the class? FEED ME! It's about time I taught to my mundane interests, rather than the interest posted on my department profile. And what better way to teach student that economics really does matter than to trace the history of the potato, or measure the effect of the fall in the price of coffee on social transformation in Brazil. Of course, there will be presentations on the regional variations in pupusa fillings, and the centrality of the cacao bean to everything from pre-columbian trade to Upper-East Side hostess gifts.

On the issue of potatoes, above a picture of yours truly, enjoying the Belgian miracle of frites on the Place Jourdan in Brussels last week. These are, by far, the best frites in Brussels. The Best.

And now, for an entirely new year.

2011-01-06T09:09:00.001-08:00

It's 2011. I am already exhausted. Am back in LA, have about a zillion students in one class, a new dog, and 8 deadlines that I need to meet by the end of the month. I also have veggies in the fridge, coconut milk and red curry paste, and if I find keffir leaves on my way back tonite, there might be home made vegetable curry for dinner...
I get very lazy in the kitchen when I am in LA. For one, the markets just are not what I have become used to in Oregon - I'm sorry Hollywood Farmer's Market, I am just not that into you. The second issue is that I mainly cook for myself here - the flat is hardly set up for dinner parties, and in LA, people eat out, a lot. And there's good reason to - amazing Ethiopian, Mexican, Japanese - sushi, robata, you name it, the list is long, and so many of these places are within walking distance.
All this to say, it's most likely that there'll be restaurant reviews of sorts and reports on scrumptious foods eaten for a while and few, if any, cooking experiences.
But, in case you missed this from the first paragraph, and without further ado - let me introduce you to my favorite hot-dog!

seasonal shifts

2010-10-07T16:13:00.000-07:00

Above is what I saw as I was driving home from this year's almost last Thursday Farmer's Market. And below is what I did directly upon getting home. Early fall tomatoes roasting with sweet red peppers and loads of garlic. The house smells delicious, and the soup will keep us warm during what will probably be a rainy evening.

Thank you McMinnville Farmer's market and see you next year.

Early fall tomato soup:
loads of roma/plum/san marzano tomatoes
a head of garlic - crush the cloves
sweet peppers/ purple peppers - or none if you don't like peppers
salt
olive oil
vegetable broth or water
-------

halve the tomatoes
cut the peppers in manageable sizes
spread it all out on a roasting pan, throw the garlic in, salt generously
adda pprox 1/2 cup of olive oil and make sure everything is well covered
roast at 400degrees for 30-45 minutes

when the tomatoes are disintegrating, the peppers are soft and the garlic is getting blond, take out of the oven and let cool
combine with 3-4 cups of broth or water (or more depending on how liquid you like your soups)
blend it all using an immersion blender

serve with a nice glass of wine and crusty french bread. maybe watch the rain and definitely cuddle up.

wearing thin

2010-10-05T16:48:00.001-07:00

It's been rather thin on the posting here, hasn't it? A million apologies. We've had very good reasons to be lazy here, largely because we have not been lazy elsewhere. For my part, I sent a book off to press, submitted a paper, commented on another one and am fulfilling a series of other obligations too tedious to share. S, for her part, expanded her bookstore and got her nails done. So there.
The pictorial essay of things I did (and ate) this summer is sprinkled all over this post because I still don't know how to control the placement of pics in posts.

i promise, i deliver, sort of

2010-08-04T11:04:00.001-07:00

The pot in the front = the most luscious black bean soup I ever had. Served with fried tortilla strips, fried pasilla chile, avocado cubes and queso fresco. It defies descrition - unctuous, savory, a little sweet, a bit smoky and spicy, tremendously soothing.
Left pot = chiles rellenos - these poblanos were stuffed with picadillo - an Spanish inheritance, itself redolent of Moorish influence: ground meat cooked with sliced almonds, raisin, peas and carrots, spiced with cumin and maybe a touch of cinnamon. The chiles were spicy, the stuffing was sweet and the tomato sauce was tart - it all balanced out perfectly.
In the back = white rice. But white rice a la mexicana - the raw rice is fried in oil with onions and a jalapeño, then cooked slowly with chicken stock. Divine.

The are no pictures of the lovely birthay table with the white cotton Puebla tablecloth, because we were too busy eating. But above (bc I still don't know how to control the placing of pictures in blogger!) is a picture of the gorgeous talavera dishes the soup was eventually poured into.

This morning I had spicy green tomato chilaquiles - day old tortillas cut into pieces and cooked in tomatillo and chili sauce, then covered in manchego and roasted in the oven until the cheese melted. Spciy, tart and nutritious (right?). Breakfast of champions!

-J.

Leaving/eating elsewhere for one week

2010-07-29T16:31:00.001-07:00

This is where I am headed to tomorrow morning. Amazing, right? Those volcanoes - I love them. Maybe that's what I like so much about Portland - the nearby volcanoes make me feel at home.

Unlike Portland though, pollution is really bad in this city, and there's a fair chance I won't see them at all.

Special prize for whoever can tell me where I'll be. One more tiny clue: there WILL be food, and lots of it.

Orgasm in a spoon

2010-07-22T10:58:00.000-07:00

That is the only way I can describe this dish. Unctuous uni, creamy (but not too creamy) risotto, sweet and crunchy corn, a frothy parmesan foam to add just a touch of acidity. I died three times while eating it. Don't ask me who else I was with, I do not remember.
Thank you Sunny Jin (the chef at Jory) - you rocked my world last night.
-J

imitation is the highest form of flattery, right?

2010-07-17T17:01:00.000-07:00

is it any wonder i was hoping it would say "you write like MB".

it was not to be - apparently i write like DFW. R.I.P. mad genius.

http://iwl.me/s/d7939cdb

click above and find who you write like!

-J

When in Rome...

2010-06-02T11:27:00.000-07:00

I was in NYC last week for a book thing. The weather was perfect, I actually saw the sun! I got lots of walking in and we ate out a fair amount. A few things I discovered:
1. I am OVER pork belly. I mean, I like it and all, but please. Surely there is some other under appreciated part of the pig that can make a renaissance now?
2. Good coffee in New York is hard to find. In fact, I noticed I was drinking significantly less coffee while we were there because it all SUCKED so much. I am sorry about the language, but it was truly disappointing. The last afternoon we were there, we went to the Momofuku Milk Bar after lunch at the Ssam Bar next door. At the Milk Bar they serve Stumptown Coffee. So to get a decent cup of joe, we had to find a place that served Portland coffee. I know, Stumptown roasts in NYC now, but still. I should point out that we never went to Starbucks. Being from the northwest, we are sort of trained not to go there.
3. Cabs are good. I like the subway a lot too, but a quick little cab ride a few miles does wonders for the feet.
4. The hazelnut spread (not Nutella) from Le Pain Quotidien is to die for. I had a waffle with this luscious spread on it. No chocolate in it. I will admit that it was a teeny bit too sweet, but that didn't stop me from inhaling it.

Now I am back in Oregon, waiting for the sun to shine so I can get some fresh vegetables besides lettuce, kale, spring onions and other various greens (i.e. weeds).

-S

Apps (as in iPhone, not appetizers)

2010-04-19T16:32:00.000-07:00

Oh Mark, we have forsaken you! But our true love still runs deep, even if the time we have to devote to is has been slim with a side of competely absent.

But lo! Today marks an landmark day, because I just downloaded the Mark-Bittman-is-my-boyfriend iPhone app, also known as the 'How to cook everything on the go' app. That and your videos on the NYT have become funny again. Yay to the psychadelic ninja opening theme!

And I am sorry you don't pick up the phone when I call, but thankfully Matt (from mattbites.com) got through to you and shared the conversation (follow the link to it below).

But anytime you want to talk Mark, you know, just HOLLA!

http://mattbites.com/2010/04/19/mark-bittman-interview-how-to-cook-everything-to-go/

This one actually has something to do with Mark Bittman

2009-12-22T10:36:00.000-08:00

I almost keeled over last week when MB posted something on his blog about Mexico City open air markets.
Apparently MB was in the DF recently (it might have been as recently as last week when I was there!!! - omg I cannot believe we did not bump into each other!). He went to a traditional open air market, the kind of mercado sobre ruedas )literally: market on wheels) that sets up once a week in every Mexico City neighborhood. Sunday is "día de mercado" in small towns, but Mexico City was never a small town, so every day is market day somewhere in that monster of a city.
This is not something MB knew when he wrote the post, and clearly his DF guides are guilty of not explaining to him that open air markets are as democratic and popular as tacos - everyone can afford them, everyone likes them and everybody relies on them. Unlike the US trend, where open air market = farmer's market = expensive/organic/local whatever, shopping in the street and buying from if not a farmer, at least someone who is a few steps closer to the vegetable you are buying than the supermarket around the corner is a perfectly normal every day activity.
And very often, the plastic bags your pound of tomatoes will come in are brightly hued, as are the tarps that cover the stands in the market. In fact, if you fly into Mexico City during the day, you can tell which neighborhood has a mercado that day by the bright yellow, bright pink and bright orange tarps that cover an entire block or two. It looks amazing from above.
And it smells even better when you are in it. Apart from vegetables and fruit (including MB's favorite, the mamey, which he unfortunately insist on calling a mamay), there's always a huge flower stand or two, infusing the square footage around them in the smell of marigold and azuzenas, roses and carnations. These stands are always brightest and biggest. And then there is the juice stand, and the taco stand and the medicinal herb stand. Plus whatever other needs must be met that week (piñatas, flower pots, baskets, light fixtures).
Mexican markets are a microcosm of Mexico - everything is available and everything is possible, you just need to be flexible and know the local jargon, and you shall get it all, eventually.
For MB's post, click here.

5 days later

2009-12-05T22:48:00.000-08:00

It's been a very busy 5 days and Matsuhisa may have been the culinary highlight. Other things kept me from posting - 4 of my students who gave a presentation on Peruvian cuisine for their history project, yum. Then another 60 needed guidance before the final next week. And my dad visited - we ate, we went to the opera, we bought books and boots, we had a fabulous time. When he landed home, he emailed me "All is well. Miss Matsuhisa ... and you."
Notice he missed Matsuhisa first.

I have no pictures of food, mostly because something rather common at this place. Once the food arrives on your table, you are so consumed by desire to eat it that all other priorities fall to the wayside. The thin slivers of snapper cooked by the lime juice and sea salt only melt on your tongue. The hamachi and jalapeño slices, just raw enough, just spicy enough. I won't even mention the miso braised cod, which melts like butter in your mouth. The show stopper were the King Crab tempura - ever so slightly battered, in a deep dish sprinkled with a vinegary broth and slivers of red onion. SO good, we had to get a second portion.

Since my dad left I haven't had proper meal. I have been surviving on grape nuts, kefir and Wasa crackers. Today I dug deep in the cupboards for a surprisingly satisfying dinner.
Chopped onions and garlic cooked till translucent, add baby peas and cook down with a cup of chicken stock (I had some if the Trader Joe's low sodium stuff), add salt and pepper and basil (I had some frozen basil in the freezer). Cook pasta until almost done, drain and toss with peas. Add grated parmesan from dessicated old chunk from back of fridge and eat watching Office reruns.

Now if only I could figure out how to get the picture to go where I want to, this evening would end perfectly!

Day the 30th - Nablopomo no more.

2009-11-30T13:20:00.000-08:00

To be fair, I got WAY more than a lousy sense of satisfaction from posting every day for 30 days. It did push me to be more creative, push me to focus on something else than what was right in front of me (even if that usually meant whatever I was eating), and it pushed me to commit to something else than what I get paid for, or whatever I do when I procrastinate un-creatively not to do what I get paid to do. And I am very happy that I did stick with it. That a cold, a trip to the Bay Area, various professional melt-downs and canine emergencies did not detract. The challenge fulfilled its promise of keeping me anchored.

What lies ahead?

Well December of course. I am going to Matsuhisa with my father tomorrow night (the birthplace of the Nobu empire). You didn't think I'll let that go by un-blogged?

And December will also bring a return to Oregon and my co-blogger, so maybe we'll do something extra special with MB's holiday suggestions. Like what I don't know. But stay with us. There's more to come.

Too much.

2009-11-30T07:57:00.000-08:00

After a weekend of excess, (actually, I wasn't that bad, all things considered), I am starting the week with a simple and almost austere breakfast. No pie for me today. Black coffee and grapefruit. One of my favorite things about December is that this is when I can get good citrus. As a child in California, we had an orange and a lemon tree in the back yard. We also had parents who worked full time and raised three children, so doing things like properly fertilizing said citrus trees was not a priority. The oranges that the tree produced with were gross. Dry in the middle, sometimes no juice at all. Once they had clearly been frozen on the tree during some freak frost and it ruined the oranges. The lemons had a pith that was half an inch thick. My father always insisted that for breakfast we each have a quarter of whatever orange was available, regardless of texture or taste. The result is that I have not been a huge citrus fan as an adult. However, a few winters ago, I rediscovered the grapefruit. Having a bit of sunshine for breakfast in this occasionally bleak Pacific Northwest weather is a wonderful antidote to the blahs.

-S

day 29 - my wish list, part 1

2009-11-29T12:12:00.000-08:00

All I want for Christmas is this deep fryer. And a pound of beef tallow. And some Belgian bintje potatoes.

If I had all that, I could make you the real belgian fries, the kind of fries that defy all expectations, and taste better than any deep fried potato you can get this side of the Atlantic.

The secret is in the double frying, and of course the potato (and the bintje's very unique ratio of size to starch - similar to, but not quite as good as a Yukon Gold), the sprinkling of salt and the mayonnaise. The double frying, which so many people ignore elsewhere, is what makes a Belgian fry perfect. It also should be beef tallow, not duck fat. I know its become the gourmet bistro trick of the last year, but duck fat just does not do the trick. Also - did you know that McDonald's used to use beef tallow to make their fries? It's one of the reasons Julia Child declared them to be so good. There are many rumors as to why McDonald's switched to vegetable oils in the 90's, none of which we need to go into now. But if you;ve had a McD's fry lately, you'll know they taste as sallow and weak as any other fast food fry. Beef tallow my friends, beef tallow!

And the yolky mayo to take it over the top.

day 28

2009-11-28T20:54:00.000-08:00

If MB and I had to drive down from the Bay Area to LA on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I would certainly hope we'd drive down in a stretch something driven by someone else than MB or I. That way we wouldn't notice the rest of California driving down the 5 today. Nor would we mind getting stuck in traffic for EVER on the last 50-mile stretch into LA.

The lovely driver of said stretchmobile would also be the one to stand in line at the Kettleman City In n' Out Burger and bring it back to us, so we wouldn't have to share space with that half of humanity that was not across the street getting Sundaes at McDonald's.

MB and I would probably have a lengthy debate as to whether the In n'Out burger is better than the Burgerville burger, and we'd be busy discussing it for the next forever hours as we inched our way back to SoCal after 2 very short but lovely days in the Berkeley hills.

PS: the weird non-food picture was taken while driving very slowly through the Cajón pass.

day 27 - the day after

2009-11-27T15:22:00.000-08:00

Not to skimp on the 27th post of the month, but : "what she said".

My co-blogger and I had a similar morning, except I did my guilty eating at Café Fanny in Berkeley. But it felt a lot like what was going down in McMinnville.

The Morning After

2009-11-27T09:20:00.000-08:00

We had a lovely day. Roasted bird, red cabbage, brussels sprouts and bacon, roasted root vegetables, sweat potatoes, stuffing, gravy (that my brother saved from separating). Then pecan pie, pumpkin pie and apple pandowdy. Now, for my favorite part of this holiday: a morning run then hot coffee and leftover pie for breakfast. I am truly thankful for that!

-S

the 26th - it's done!

2009-11-26T22:44:00.001-08:00

Unfortunately I stopped taking pictures once dinner got started, which is why there is no evidence of infamous vegetarian shepherd's pie. Just above is a picture of what is essentially the lower layer of the pie. I made a creamy buttery batch of mashed potatoes and celery root, layered it in a very pretty casserole dish and broiled it it for 15 minutes while the chicken (no pics) cooled. It was DELISH! Definitely the vegetarian special occasion meal of the moment. It takes at least half a day to prepare, but it is totally worth it. It is sort of the vegetarian version of boeuf bourguignon without the boeuf or the heart-valve clotting effect.

The soup is another keeper - it insanely easy, and tucked away at the beginning of the last historic Gourmet magazine, it is one of the many reasons you need to get a copy of it while you still can. The carrot and beet play off each other very subtly, and the soup doesn't taste of one or the other, but of a sweet and tart and slightly spicy earthy bowl of goodness. And you can't beat that soup for color! I added a dollop of sour cream and some toasted walnuts. It was pretty, and it was yummy.

We had a lovely dinner, and I was and am thankful to have shared it with the people I was with.
And now I look forward to eating left-overs and not going near a pot for at least 2 days!
But I'll report on that too, because there are 4 more days of November left, 4 more days of Nablopomo, 4 more meals (at least) to tell you about, and 4 more evenings to collect myself and post something before I collapse in bed with an episode of Community on Hulu.com, or one of MI-5 from netflix (if you don't know what I am talking about, drop me a comment and I'll elaborate), 4 more days during which I'll live my life with an eye towards what may be blog-worthy!

Day 25 - stock, soup and everything else made it

2009-11-25T22:38:00.000-08:00

Even with traffic getting out of LA and an unexpected car-oil replenishment in Kettleman City, the beast and I have arrived, and the stock and soup were still frozen by the time we got here.
I almost finished my neighbors granola bars, but its the excedrin migarine pills (with the caffeine) that kept me going...
There will be much cooking tomorrow, and hopefully some pictures of the vegetarian shepherd's pie I've been thinking so much about, and my co-blogger's chicken, which is replacing the turkey this year, yay!

The 24th - hanging on by the skin of my teeth

2009-11-24T23:09:00.001-08:00

It's been a tough couple of weeks. Not because of Naploboetc - that may actually turn out to be exactly the lifeline I intended it to be. But everything else is making my joins creak and bones ache and head throb.
Today I had a very rare quiet hour in my office - door closed, lecture and slides done, 1 hour to go before office hours. I'd picked up a salt bagel from a local bagel shop that does a decent job (by SoCal standards) and had the NYT crossword puzzle with me - I must have sensed I would have time to do it today.
I sat at my desk, salt bagel shmeared with scallion cream cheese and a slice of tomato in the left hand, pen in my right, bent over the crossword puzzle until both were done.
It was quite easily the best hour I have had since the matzo ball soup on Saturday.
Tomorrow I am driving 374 miles north - my delightful neighbor gave me a batch of her home made granola bars, and between those and the peanut butter & jelly sandwich the beast and I will share on our drive up, I think I will be quite satisfied.
I hope to be able to get the recipe for those granola bars , because they are insanely good, and because I'd like, for once, to give you and actual recipe on this blog. The bars are sweetened with brown sugar and dates, and they have oats and sunflower seeds and almonds and god knows what else in them. My neighbor says their healthy. Right.

day 23 - she cooked in riverside

2009-11-23T21:58:00.000-08:00

I wish I could expound on the huitlacoche I made, and the tortillas I bought at the Maxi Supermercado on Brockton avenue in Riverside, and the very kind man who gave me a glass of horchata water for free, but I can't. I had 2 beers, and 2 excedrin, and waaaay too much carnitas, huitlacoche, puerco en salsa verde, guacamole and salsa, and now I am sitting here with my friend F and A talking about how cute their daughter C is.
This will have to suffice.
Buenas noches!

on the 22nd day, she made stock and soup

2009-11-22T20:52:00.001-08:00

Today I solved the NYT crossword puzzle (it was an easy Sunday puzzle), finally saw and spoke to my parents on skype, and I made a vegetable stock for the vegetarian sheperd's pie for thanksgiving (on your right, the vegetables for the stock roasting) and the scarlett carrot soup (on the left, in its pre-blended stage). I also made bulgur and chickpea salad and chocolate chip cookies for a faculty meeting tomorrow.

My intention was to keep a photographic record of the enterprise. However, the vegetable stock recipe asks that you degaze the pan with red wine, which I did. I then served myself to a glass of wine, and from then on - no more pictures...

The stock is more like a vegan gravy:

-onions, mushrooms, red bell pepper, carrots parsley and garlic - roast with olive oil for 40 minutes at approx 350 degrees

-take out of oven and straddle over two burners over medium heat, add 2 tbsp of tomato paste and mix

-add one cup of red wine (I had a Cote du Rhone on hand) and deglaze

-(serve self glass of wine)

-pour all that mess into 4 qt pot, dd 4 cups of water and let simmer for 40 minutes

- pour out over fine mesh sieve and discard solid.

That's it. This is the gravy that will hold the sheperd's pie vegetables together, but I can imagine using this stock in any vegetable stew that requires richness and a deeper umami-like flavor that vegetables don't always have.

The choc chip cookies are for my colleagues, but I should have one right? Just to make sure they're good...

Day 21 - behold the matzo ball

2009-11-21T23:29:00.001-08:00

Isn't this a thing of beauty? After my co-blogger posted a roast chicken that has had me salivating all day, I needed to at least honor her efforts with a picture of my dinner.

Oregon is sorely lacking in decent deli food, so when I am in LA, I indulge that side of my cravings.

After a rather awesome work-out rolling around on hard balls, making ourselves cry in pain, my friend Alli (who has all the news of LA restaurants on her blog) were starving. The instructor told to take it easy on ourselves and not to indulge over dinner. We were not to eat anything cold, raw or alcoholic. As if we hadn't suffered enough already!

Alli knew of an old deli in the neighborhood, and I am SO grateful we went there and not to any of our West Hollywood delis. Roll n Rye makes the best matzo ball soup. Rich and deep in flavour, with nice juicy chicken bits and noodles like the ones my grandmother put in her soup. It was divine. Their potato pancakes were not bad either. Not as good as crunchy and fresh as my mom's, but they hit the spot.

The black and white cookie looked good, and the waiter was selling it pretty hard, but I controlled myself.

Roasted chicken, wine tasting and books.

2009-11-21T08:22:00.000-08:00

So I made my roasted chicken. It was pretty darned good. I used the fabulous Zuni Cafe Roasted Chicken recipe - slightly modified. There seem to be several versions online, but I like this one the best as the writing is humorous and witty and the recipe complete. Basically, I failed to start prepping my chicken the day before. That morning I pulled a frozen bird out of the freezer and let it thaw. The Zuni recipe wants you to clean and dry your bird for a day or so before you roast it. I have done this before, and while the chicken was good, I am not sure that it was noticeably better. This one I just washed and dried, stuck some rosemary under the breast and in the cavity, then liberally covered with salt and pepper. Cooked it on my trusty cast iron skillet in the oven, flipping it at 20 minute intervals. Everyone loved it.

Here in the valley, this weekend and next are big wine tasting weekends. We are going to do our part a bit today and taste some hopefully nice pinots this afternoon. Since we are close enough to the holiday season that the store is busy (yeah!) I will be working in the morning. This leads me to consider a slow cooking soup for dinner tonight. I have some dried fava beans in my pantry that I will be using with some of the left over chicken. Will report on progress later. I haven't given Thanksgiving cooking a second thought yet! Kudos to my co-blogger for being organized. I have considered just roasting the annoying cat and calling it good, but I think that my children would be unhappy.

Oh, as I wrote this, I INHALED a cornmeal waffle with chestnut honey on top. So. Good.

-S

It's the 20th - countdown begins

2009-11-21T00:52:00.000-08:00

As of tomorrow (technically today) I will be counting down towards the last day of November, which also happens to be the eve of my father's visit to LA, which is quite irrelevant on this blog, except that he and I like food, although I am quite sure he does not share my MB love. He probably doesn't even know who MB is.

Anyway, I started shopping for Thxgiving today - I acquired celery roots. Those things are ugly, but they contains such lusciousness! They are proof that you cannot judge a vegetable by its dry, warty, ugly, peel. And they keep well. I know there's a metaphor here somewhere, but I am too tired to figure it out. Good night!

On the 19th day of NaBloPoMo

2009-11-19T21:32:00.000-08:00

On this, the 19th day, I had dinner at Bouchon in Beverly Hills. Among the many things we ate was Thomas Keller's signature roasted chicken, which I have to say, was pretty amazing. It takes two days to get it ready - what with the brining and the convection oven and then normal roasting - and the end result is very good. Unfortunately everything else was quite oversalted, so my memory of the chicken is a bit overshadowed by my swollen self. I am sure my co-blogger will ACE her chicken, and she'll mind her salt.

The dessert was a nice enough chocolate mousse, presented in a minute but very cute little pot one a very pretty plate. Don't you think it is pretty?

On other issues, did anyone notice how amazingly in-synch MB and I are??? I post about my list of thxgiving preparations yesterday, and HE makes his list of 101 dishes to prep before the big day. It's like we are connected or something...

Just try...

2009-11-19T14:21:00.000-08:00

I am going to make a roasted chicken tonight. You can't stop me either. Nope.

-Sylla

Day 18 - and only 7 more days till Thanksgiving

2009-11-18T16:41:00.000-08:00

That's a scary title - considering I am driving up to Berkeley on Wednesday and will have to prep a series of things before I leave so I have time to the rest of the prepping on Thursday morning. There will be 7 people at this year's dinner. One of them is a vegan, the other a vegetarian, 2 are extremely picky. Only 3 of us will eat anything.

The plan is to make the vegetarian shepherd's pie from the very last issue of Gourmet magazine. It involves making a deep and rich vegetable stock and roasting enormous amounts of vegetables and peeling pearl onions etc. It will also involve two baking dishes since the recipe calls for cream and butter in the mashed potato&celery root puree, which I will leave out of the vegan version.

Then there will be chicken instead of turkey, and my fingers are crossed that this increases to probability that the picky eaters will have some of it this year.

I am quite sure they won't care for the acorn squash stuffed with bulgur, pine nuts and cranberries, or the fennel& radicchio salad, or the scarlet carrot soup (again from the last Gourmet RIP). But maybe they'll have some of the mashed potatoes I'll save from the shepherd's pie before I mix in the celery root. And there'll be lots of bread for them to nibble on (thank you Acme).

This w-e I will make the rich vegetable stock and freeze it. On Tuesday evening I'll make the scarlet carrot soup (beets give it the color) and the vats of frozen stock will keep it cool on the way up. I need to find a cooler that'll keep all this stuff safe from the hound, who like 3 of the 7 dinner guests, is a complete and uncontrolled omnivore.
Come to think of it, what I actually need is a locked safe...

Day 17 -dinner at the Apple Pan

2009-11-17T22:54:00.000-08:00

After an early morning, office hours, lecture and a very long drive to pick up the dog, all I could do when I got home was pour myself a bourbon on the rocks. Me, my dog and the NYT xword puzzle = perfection.
I recovered from the day, I relaxed.

There's nothing in the fridge though, and I really should not be around knives after having bourbon, so when my friend Marne came over we decided dinner was going to be a burger. We went old school - all the way to the Apple Pan, where there's plaid wall paper dating from 1953 on the walls, and wood paneling, and the menu hasn't changed since they printed it. We had burgers and fries with a side of hickory sauce - the tartest relish and ketchup concoction imaginable, and it was delicious! We sat at the horse-shoe shaped counter and Marne flirted with the septuagenarian waiter and I left with my hands sticky from that sauce.

What a way to end a very long Tuesday. Upwards and onwards to Wednesday and day 18!

Day 16 - and a lunch made in 16 minutes or less

2009-11-16T15:13:00.000-08:00

My flight back to heLL-A leaves at 8.30pm, there's a booksigning in P'land at 6, a class to prep for tomorrow and an overdue paper to revise, so this is a busy Monday.

So busy that lunch was improvised with the 4 eggs left in the fridge and a quick stop at the Lafayette Mercado. Result: calabaza jalapeño omelettes with quesadillas and green salsa. I snuck in a very non-vegetarian chicken and potato cruchy taquito with roasted jalapeños and green onions.

Perhaps it was not the low-fat lunch we should be focusing on, but it was good. And it was quick!

Day 15 and a list of 15

2009-11-15T20:22:00.000-08:00

This was a w-e if excess: a 2-day pinot charity fest that culminated in dinner last night with many bottles and then one more to cap the evening. All I wanted today was caffeine and comfort food.

I started the day with a bagel and lox (it was ok, but Portland is not NY in this respect) and ended with the most perfect grilled chicken breast and green salad, courtesy of chef Chris at the Dundee Bistro. It was not on the menu, but when I explained the nature of our w-e and my need for comfort, he knew what I meant.

His dinner takes #1 place on today's top 15 list of Juliette's comfort foods. Below a complete list not exactly in order of preference, the makings of which are almost always available in my fridge and pantry.

#1 grilled chicken and green salad with tangy lemon&olive oil dressing
#2 home made tomato soup
#3 my mom's rice pudding
#4 gouda, butter and wheat bread sandwich
#5 my grandmother's chicken soup
#6 soft boiled egg with toast "soldiers"
#7 corn flakes with sweetened milk
#8 PG tips tea with splash of milk (not technically a food, but serious comfort nonetheless)
#9 cream of wheat with sour cherries
#10 cucumber sandwiches made with soft English white bread
#11 sliced tomatoes
#12 plain yogurt with brown sugar
#13 apples (any kind as long as they are tart and hard)
#14 cheddar cheese + avocado + mango chutney
#15 Ritter Sport milk chocolate with hazelnuts

What's on your list?

I know, I know, two posts in one day.

2009-11-15T13:19:00.000-08:00

Since I actually did some cooking today, I thought that it was worthy of a post. We are headed to some friend's house for Sunday Supper and were instructed to bring a salad. I had several very large beets in my fridge from my CSA that really needed attention. Another friend suggested I try a salad with beets and oranges. After reviewing several different recipes, I made some modifications and developed this. It is really quite simple.

Beet Orange Salad

Prepare two to three large beets (I mean really large. These were softball sized, so adjust your beet quantities accordingly). I am not going into detail as to how to prepare them, assuming that you either a) already know how or b) can figure it out. Once they have cooled, sliced them into thin (2mm thick) slices, then cut into wedges, like an apple. Really, you can cut them anyway you want.

Take three large mandarin oranges. Peel and slice the sections out so there is no pith and no membrane on them. Cut or rip each slice in half.

Toss together in a large bowl with about 3-4 TB coarsely chopped chives. Take one small red onion and slice as thin as you can - like paper thin. Add about 2-3 TB of the onions and the chives to the bowl. Toss.

Add salt to taste - something with texture to it like fleur du sel is ideal. Add freshly ground pepper - also to taste. Take best quality olive oil and drizzle on top. Add about 2-3 TB of red wine vinegar. Toss all together and taste. Adjust seasonings as needed. Often cold dishes need more salt for the flavors to really meld. I also added more vinegar to cut the sweetness of the beets.

Enjoy!

-S

Hrumpf.

2009-11-15T07:40:00.000-08:00

This morning I want to talk, briefly, about something that is amazing. Anyone who has ever received a home edition of the Sunday New York Times knows that they come in these curiously strong blue plastic bags. These bright blue bags act as a beacon of hope on a cold wet morning, when snuggling in bed with coffee and the paper is all you really want to do. You peer out the window, hoping that your delivery person made it through all the sleet and snow of Saturday night, and *gasp* then *sigh*, you see the blue bag on your front walk. The morning is safe, and you can return to bed for a few more minutes of sleep while waiting for the coffee to brew.

These blue bags are great not just for holding The Times, but a myriad of other things as well. In our house, they get stuffed in a basket by the front door and when we are taking the dog for a walk, we grab one to use as a poop-bag. I have also used them to hold sandwiches, a collection of parts from a child's crib, and dog treats. They must be made of very special plastic because they rarely break, and in the wettest weather, my paper is always dry.

Except for this morning. You knew this was coming right? My paper is wet. From the masthead to the fold - soaking. So I have spread the paper out in my living room to let it dry. I type this while I nurse my frustration and wait for the bread to toast. I know, I should be grateful that I can even get home delivery out here in the boondocks, but this really chaps my hide.

-S

Day 14

2009-11-14T11:10:00.000-08:00

I like food, and I am not particularly disciplined about that. I run a messy kitchen when I am cooking, and I enjoy riffing on recipes, reinventing them and going off book.

I also love my dog, and she has benefited tremendously from my love of food and my lack of discipline. I got her in the days before the Dog Whisperer, so her education/training, if any, was brought about through luck, not design. We have spent a lot of time together, that dog and I, and maybe she did learn a thing or two from me...

Note: that bump she has on her shoulder is gone. Now she is bumpless and still ravenous.

Friday, November the 13th day of NaBloPoMo

2009-11-13T23:14:00.000-08:00

I am not a supersticious person by nature, except that I think Friday the 13th is a lucky day, I like black cats and walk under ladders. And my Friday the 13th day of this adventure was indeed a lucky day. I was not expecting to have a late lunch with my Oregon sister and dear co-blogger and her daughter (thereby, technically, my Oregon niece).
And yet that is what I did. They surprised me at the end of my hair appointment - we had tofu fries and veggie rolls at a modern and sanitized version of a Thai-ish noodle bar in a nice open air Oregon mall where a disturbingly high number of stores have closed since last year. And then we had a bag of candy from a store I think will make it through this recession (because people will delay buying shoes, but candy is immediate therapy).
These two fabulous girls - these two! - they were my therapy, and between them and the candy and the insane weather (hail! sun! rain!), this was exactly the kind of day that erases all the grime of LA from me, and encompasses many of the reasons why I want to (will) live here.

And the rest of the day was spent sampling pinot noirs.

Not a bad way to spend a Friday 13th, is it?

Day 12 - and I am on a plane

2009-11-13T01:04:00.000-08:00

A long time ago I swore I would never forsake my Blackberry for the sleek, glib, facile iPhone. The universe has a way of laughing in my face, loudly. First there was the broccoli revelation: after 39 years of professing I was a true blood broccoli hater and that the stuff made me gag, I had the most amazing broccoli dish at Nick's Italian cafe in McMinnville. Its tangy garlicky tartness made me a broccoli lover forever. Then there was that Coldplay song that made me eat my words about Chris Martin making my eardrums bleed. And ultimately the iPhone, upon which I am writing this post, one finger-tap at a time, from up on high in my Alaska Airlines seat. iPhone apps RULE, especially those that let you draft post from miles in the sky.
Because of this app, I can write this, my 12th post, before the end of the 12th day. And I can share the news that the Chipotle burrito franchise closest to LAX has the most unexpectedly interesting clientele - orange county mom with two surly kids, office friends, a soldier, a Mexican mother-daughter pair, a very tattooed dude, a very preppy guy, and a father with his son and teh son's girlfriend, not talking to each other, not one single word for the duration of their burritos. And while my burrito could not hold a candle to yesterday's cheese or the coffee cup I'll get from my boyfriend tomorrow morning, it sure as hell beat the pitiful dining options in terminal 3.
While we are on the subject of apps - I love the epicurious app, and the wholefoods recipe app which is surprisingly easy to use and practical. And the measurement conversion app of course.
Internets, or my fellow and dear co-blogger, what are your favorite food related apps?

Landing in 15 minutes. Must turn iPhone off. From high above Ashland, Oregon

Your committed nablopomo blogger

The symmetry of the number 11

2009-11-11T23:53:00.000-08:00

I like the number 11. It's the smallest double digit prime number. And since it is still 11 o'clock - I am beating the clock and will manage to post today!
Apart from liking certain numbers , you know what else I like? I like cheese. A lot. And after yesterday's salt soup fiasco I vowed like Scarlett O'Hara never to do that again.
I had an errand to run in Beverly Hills today. There's not much I like about BH, but there is one place I LOVE. And I mean, I luuuurve it. Meet today's boyfriend: the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills.

I walked in as if I were walking out of the desert and into a cold glass of diet coke. I inhaled the smell of mold and tangy goat milk, and looked into the eyes of a real cheese monger and told him -"I want three pieces of cheese. They'll have to be enough for dinner, and they have to rock my world".
They did. I got one sharp Sardinian cheese that tasted like a mature version of a Ptit Basque, and a Spanish creamy blue cheese that made my knees melt, and the most pornographic tiny burrata. I ate the cheese with a delicious balsamic cream (yes you read right: balsamic.cream. it was amazing) and shaved fennel with a tiny bit of lemon, olive oil and sea salt. The last of the gooey burrata (the part that was spread out over the plate, mixed in with some lemony fennel dressing and drops of the balsamic cream) was neatly scooped up with chunks of a honey crisp apple - those really are every bit as good as everyone says they are.

Ah redemption, thy name is burrata.

day 10 - getting into a rythm

2009-11-10T19:33:00.000-08:00

I just had TJ's onion soup. Remind me never to do that again. It is made largely of salt. The ingredient list onions, and broth, but mainly it's all salt.
Why would someone who idolizes cookbook authors eat such crap? Because of a chronic case of lethargia, brought on largely by a case of Los Angeles. This town does not inspire to cook. Or perhaps it's the LA kitchen? Or the fact that it is still too warm to embrace winters soups and stews, but the tomatoes don't taste like anything anymore either.
This w-e, as I lay in bed waging war against the flu, the one bright spot was the arrival of the NYT on Sunday. It's not just about the x-word puzzle (although it is largely about that) - I always (mostly) enjoy the food essay in the magazine.
This week's essay was about the return of a retro appetizer - the bagna cauda. Not only do I LOVE bagna cauda, it also reminds me of one of this summer's dinners in Oregon, and it reminds me of my Oregon mama Joanie who told me how to make it and what pot to use and what best to dip into it.
Bagna cauda uses three of my favorite ingredients: butter, anchovies and garlic, and my other boyfriend - olive oil. Mix those four together and you have the mother of silky smooth baths of savory yumminess, which I am pretty sure is the literal translation of 'bagna cauda'.
I made it for a dinner party we had this summer - 4 people plus us, and I had never met them before. The bagna cauda and a big plate of sliced crusty bread, chiogga beets and fennel and we were all fast friends by the time we were scraping the garlicky anchovies off the bottom of the pot.
That an a couple of bottles of bubbly made for the perfect introduction on a perfect Oregon summer's evening, the perfect memory of which will hopefully carry me away from the salty TJ's experience I am laboring to digest.

Cold + wet = soup.

2009-11-09T19:15:00.000-08:00

My co-blogger has inspired me to try to blog more. This is a crazy-busy time of year for me. But, there is something soothing and so normal about posting periodically. Since the weather is crap right now: really cold and wet, a soup for dinner was in order. Lately, we have been eating a lot of soups. They are fairly easy to make, don't take too long and are very forgiving. Here is what I made tonight:

Chicken Pesto Soup

In a deep pot or dutch oven saute in olive oil:
1 onion, coarsely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 leeks, chopped
2 small fingerling potatoes, chopped in small pieces
2 small sweet potatoes, yes, these are chopped too

In a cast iron skillet cook up two chicken breast until just barely cooked. Remove breasts from pan and set aside. Add some water and soften the browned chicken goodness with the water. Add this to the dutch oven with all the vegetables.

Add 6-8 cups low sodium chicken broth to the dutch oven. Add 3 TB of prepared pesto to the dutch oven and stir well. Chop up two large handfuls of fresh arugula and add to the veggie-broth mixture.

With an immersion blender or something like that, blend the soup together until moderately smooth. If you like really smooth, blend longer. If you like a little chunky, blend for a shorter period of time. Cut chicken breasts into bit-sized pieces and add to soup.

Add fresh ground black pepper and salt to taste.

I am going to serve this with a little assiago cheese and a baguette. I think everyone will be happy. The photo above does not do it justice, but it is good.

Sleep well.

-S

Day 9 - and 20 years ago

2009-11-09T08:15:00.000-08:00

I usually remember memorable meals, or I remember what I ate at memorable events. 20 years ago I was in Berlin at what qualifies as top-10 memorable moments of anyone's life. I was living in Brussels then, and after a flight from Brussels to Frankfurt with Lufthansa and then a connecting flight to Berlin on American Airlines - it was still East Germany so getting IN to Berlin still involved some acrobatics - I was there.

I think I crossed Checkpoint Charlie on one of the last days it was still operational as a real checkpoint. Within hours of our crossing into the East, chunks of the wall were being sawed off. I don't remember how I found a hotel room, I don't remember where it was, but I do remember walking towards the Siegesäule by the wall with an increasing number of people.

The hum of all those people walking towards a wall that had defined the city for almost 30 years, everyone from punk rockers in leather to nice middle class ladies taking a hammer or axe to the wall, my friends reaching up to hand a pack of Marlboros to the East German soldier standing on the wall. That soldier would never had been able to stand on that wall before the week in November. I don't think I realized, as they stood stoically on that wall, looking down at us, occasionally accepting cigarettes or flowers, that for many of them, that this was the first time they had stood so close to the other side, that it was the first time they could look into the city and the people they had been separate from for decades. They looked liked they weren't quite sure what they should do, so they stood sentry on the wall - but what I wouldn't give to hear the internal dialogue going on in their heads as they saw the no-man's-land strip between the wall and the watchtowers on the Eastern side, and the throng of people, television crews, cars and ice cream trucks on the other side. I wonder where those guys are now.

I spent 3 or 4 days in Berlin that time, and I have absolutely no memory of what I ate. I walked every where, I don't think I slept much, and I must have had at least a couple of Bockwürstchen in the street, the kind of sausage only Germans know how to make, with mustard that again only Germans serve. And I can't imagine I would have spent half an hour in Germany before buying a poppy seed pastry. Maybe I did, but I don't remember anything about it at all.

The good thing is, I don't have to try remember or forget this.

Day 8 on day 9 - and this is why I need to keep counting down

2009-11-09T07:47:00.000-08:00

I missed yesterday. I completely missed posting. And I blame the fact that I am not counting down. The same way that if I don't count the eggs and put them in a separate dish away from the carton, I will lose count and end up with too many eggs in the dough, or too many drops of vanilla essence, or scoops of flour. I need lists (even if I ignore them - see recent Trader Joe's incident) and I need countdown.

Yesterday was spent grading midterms, an exhaustingly depressing exercise. Then I walked 3 miles to meet friends a chinese place that's become our place. It's chinese in a very American way - this ain't no Lucky Strike - Portland's rebuttal to precisely the kind of place Hunan Taste is. I don't think there's an attempt at authenticity here, unless the authenticity you crave is that of the chinese-american cuisine of pre-1982. Slippery shrimp in a silky eggy sauce with water chestnuts. Orange crispy chicken. Soggy moo-shu. Everything is sweet and soft, and when you are in the mood for that kind of nostalgia, there's no place like Hunan Taste (it's at 6031 San Vicente Blvd almost at Fairfax in LA, just in case our one reader is in the neighborhood).

Would I take Mark Bittman there you ask? Only if he shares a nostalgia for chinese food that may not exactly be chinese.

Am I going to enjoy the leftovers today? Absolutely!

i must really have meant it

2009-11-07T16:52:00.000-08:00

When I committed to this November thing, I had no idea that interesting stuff does NOT happen everyday. It certainly does not happen when you are in sick bed.

Food-wise, life is particularly uninteresting, making my commitment to post daily really difficult. Yesterday's matzo ball chicken soup from Jerry's was excellent, today's Trader Joe's raspberry non-fat yoghurt delightful.

Although I guess I could start posting about anything. Like the fact that my pillows start feeling kinda lumpy after lying them for 15 hours, and at some point you really do run out of stuff to watch on hulu.com. I watched the entire first (and only?) season of Kitchen Confidential - the dramatization of Anthony Bourdain's book - the last time I took to bed, so what else is there? Firefly? Done. Hell's Kitchen? I dislike Gordon Ramsay profoundly.

So dear reader, if you are there, what should I watch ?

Lists.

2009-11-07T08:07:00.000-08:00

While my co-blogger is doing her part for the LA economy (at least supporting Trader Joes,) I ventured yesterday to two very different food meccas.

Uwajimaya - This is the mecca for Asian food in the Pacific Northwest. There are three stores, one in Beaverton, OR and the other two up in Seattle, WA and Bellevue, WA. Their selections are huge, but I suspect that a more discerning and knowledgeable shopper would have some complaints. Uwajimaya can be expensive, partially because some of the items just cost more, but also they can charge more because they are almost the only game in town. I took my friend SD for her maiden visit. She came with a list. I was like - list? I just wander around and fill my cart! No wonder I end up spending more than I should when I go there. I bought:
vermicelli rice noodles
Jasmine tea
pocky sticks (very important)
ponzu sauce
nori
ginger/honey tea packets
gummie candy (stocking stuffers)
fish sauce
a bottle of wasabi mayonnaise (gift for my brother)
a bottle of gamay (not Asian, but so, so good)

Then, I introduced the lovely SD to another favorite store of mine. The Dutch American Market and Import store. I discovered this place in college when I was cleaning house for a Dutch couple. They had all sorts of Dutch treats in their kitchen that I hadn't seen since my childhood. Bolletje, gouda, roggebrood. Since then, I trek out there a few times a year, but always near the holiday season so that I can stock up on chocolate and treats. Purchased:
chocolate letters (kids and cousins initials)
gouda
roggebrood
chocoladehagel (chocolate sprinkles)
gestampte muijes (literal translation is "stomped mice" - is actually powdered anise with sugar)
hopjes (coffee flavored hard candy)
seems like there was something else, but I cannot remember what

All in all, a very fun trip. We ate Lebanese food for lunch (oh how I love thee fresh-out-of-the-oven pita) and had a great americano at Barista.

Came home to take-and-bake pizza, which is actually pretty good!

Today is very, very wet and the first time it seems cold. Husband has prepared a veritable feast - green chili enchiladas and red chili posole and pork soup. Looking forward to it. Delivered the gouda and roggebrood to my Dutch grandfather. He rubbed his hands together with glee. I think that he was almost as happy as when I bring him cigarettes.

-S

woe is me

2009-11-06T18:46:00.001-08:00

I think I have the flu. Or at least I am pretty sure I will spend this night fighting it off. Matzo ball soup is on the way, but where is MB solution to the flu? I am sure I remember him making an easy quick version of what I need, but I can't find it at nyt.com or in my cookbooks.
Probably because I really do have the flu and am delirious.

And now, for something completely different (and a week late):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVnfyradCPY

Day 5 - this has to stop

2009-11-05T21:17:00.000-08:00

I need to stop counting down, but that's not what I meant. It took me another 2 hours to get home from work today. This is what HAS to stop.

The other thing that must end is my addiction to the Beverly Hills Juice Club juices - they are bar none the best juices in LA, and when you order the smoothie with their banana-sunflower mush, it's a meal in a cup. A smooth, nutritious, tart yet sweet (esp if you mix the apple-mint juice with the banana mush) perfectly raw and healthy meal. But at $10 a pop, and probably a million calories, carbs and sugar, it must stop. Or maybe I can just ease off a little.

But I would definitely take MB there.

Day 4 - what's in YOUR shopping cart, Mr Bittman?

2009-11-04T19:19:00.000-08:00

I went to Trader Joe's hungry. It was 5 pm, I had eaten crackers (from ikea) with a few slices of gouda, 1 apple and some sorry left-over pirate bootie smart puffs for lunch and I was RA-venous. I went with a short list : chicken, sliced almonds, red onions - the plan was to pan roast a chicken breast for dinner with a cucumber salad made with a lonely cucumber from the fridge.

Here is what I walked out of TJs with:

Eggplant hummus

pitta bread

eggplants

yellow peppers

onions

garlic

bananas

apple juice

loaf of sandwich bread

firm organic tofu

fresh cranberries

2 small ivy topiaries

babybel cheese ( one of which was consumed in situ)

banilla protein shake (also consumed before check out)

frozen alsatian tart

frozen mac n' cheese

12 mini mint ice-cream mouthfuls (I am eating one right now)

3 packs of spaghetti

2 packs of penne

1 chicken

1 bag of teeny weeny potatoes

vitamin C packets

agave syrup

3 pots of nonfat TJ fruit yoghurt

cornichons

basil

mache lettuce

green lettuce

organic dry roasted almonds

sweet&spicy pecans

(i should have just taken a picture of the receipt - damn!)

2 cartons of low sodium chicken stock

limes

milk

There were also whoppie pies on display, but I controlled myself, and I am glad I did, because hello mini mint frozen mouthfuls, and look here.

I live alone when I am in LA, except for every second w-e when I am joined by one vegetarian and two children who prefer hot dogs, pizza or scrambled eggs (note: none of that was purchased today). Also I rarely eat frozen and pre-packaged food, I usually make my own hummus (did I buy that lonely eggplant to absolve myself of the tub of trader middle east eggplant mush?), and I cannot remember the last time I chose to add "sweet&spicy" pecans to anything.

The cucumber is still in the fridge, untouched. I ate so much eggplant hummus that by the time the chicken was done, I ate almost none of it. And now there's no room left in the fridge and Gala (the dog) has been doing all sorts of acrobatics trying to reach the chicken leftovers on the stove.

It might be interesting to find out what my co-blogger purchased at the supermarket (hi S - comments below!), what I am really dying to know is what MB buys at the supermarket when he shouldn't.

And anyone else - feel free to share in the comments. Please make me feel better about all that pasta I have to store somewhere and the 8 limes that are joining the other 7 in my fridge.

day 3

2009-11-03T22:47:00.000-08:00

I drove 200 miles today - 70 miles to office hours and a lecture, 30 miles to pick up my dog, 100 miles in rush hour traffic. That last stretch took 2+ hours.

Brain = dead.

That is all.

Day 2 - I have managed to upload a logo; and other things

2009-11-01T22:51:00.000-08:00

But since this is just an itty bitty amateur blog, we don't have a sidebar like the grown-up blogs. No matter, here is a logo!!!! It makes it all so official.

And now, for our first installment of "where I would take MB", the November edition:

"BURGERVILLE"

I scoffed at the ridiculousness of the name the first time I visited Oregon. It ranked a close second to 'Tacotime' as places I-won't-eat-at-based-on-their-name-alone-no-matter-how-much-the-locals-love-it.

I hope I am well on the way to becoming sort of a local, but I still will not eat at Tacotime. I mean, Tacotime? Plus, every Tacotime I have seen always has a mobile taco truck parked close by. And I will always prefer my tacos from a truck. But Burgerville, now that's a whole 'nother story.

How many burger franchises (Burgerville is a NW Oregon franchise) can boast a largely local list of providers, sustainability partners for everything from composting waste to recycling their cooking oil into biofuel, as well as seasonal items that are actually seasonal, and again, sourced locally? Once the strawberry season is over, there's no more berry lemonade. And if you like your pumpkin smoothie (I don't) better get it this month.

All that AND they make great burgers, with their 'burgerville spread' (which incidentally is not all that different from the In-n-Out spread) and Tillamook cheese, the best fast-food chicken strips (made with chicken, not chicken mush shaped into a nugget), 2 kinds of veggie burgers etc.

And no, they are not paying me. But if becoming an Oregonian requires allegiance to certain institutions (the Blazers, the Ducks, Keen shoes), consider me Oregonian in the Burgerville way.

And as an Oregonian, I would take MB for a burger and a shake at the Newberg Burgerville before catching a movie at the Drive-In (yes, we still have those here).

Day one: Pigs in Blankets - a taste test.

2009-11-01T11:30:00.000-08:00

Did you know that MB does not have his own pigs-in-a-blanket recipe? neither does Ruth Reichl or Deborah Madison - although there may be a very good reason for both of them not to spend too much time reinventing this particular classic. The Silver Palate cookbook, nada (shocking considering it was all about the party menus), Moosewood - obviously not. Saveur Athentic American - zilch. The Splendid Table: Recipes from Emilia Romagna, the heartland of Northern Italian Food - just kidding, I didn't even bother looking in that one. The Joy of Cooking? You guessed it , it says to use store-bought frozen crescent dough.

But the domestic goddess came through! Nigella Lawson has the simplest scone dough recipe, to which she adds some grated cheddar. Wrap that around some lil' smokies and the results is a heaping amount of of pigs in blankets for children, adults and a couple of vampires at a really fun Halloween party at S' house. Nigella is always good for crowd pleasing easy recipes. She's good for that and a plunging neckline. (Btw, I just saw she's going to be on NPR's Morning Edition tomorrow!)

I made the Joy of Cooking pigs with Pillsbury Crescent dough, just for fun and because they make it so very easy. It literally takes 2 seconds to roll out the dough from it's cardboard tube.

The verdict: Nigella wins, hands down fershure. It does not take a discerning palate to tell the difference between flour+milk+ egg vs something that comes out of a cardboard tube and has "butter flavoring". The store bought stuff doesn't develop a crunch and the dough is, for want of a better word, weak. Nigella's dough is scrumptious and so easy (does that sound vaguely naughty?) and her pigs were good even eaten cold.

To the cheese haters (I am looking at you Dad): the cheddar is not necessary, but it does add the slightest hint of sharpness to the dough. If I didn't tell anyone there was cheese in the dough, they wouldn't know. I guess a dash of cayenne would work just as well and save some calories, but come on, it's sausages and dough. Pork+dough - cheddar = still a lot of calories per bite. Life is short, indulge.

To those of you tempted to go the Joy of Cooking road: don't. That would be a waste of calories.

Insane?

2009-10-30T16:23:00.000-07:00

I have joined NaBloPoMo and will blog once a day, EVERY DAY, in the month of November.

Yes, you read me right.

Since MB only has a weekly videos, that leaves approximately 26 days to fill with other MB news. Good thing I just got his Everything Vegetarian book, and will start working through it this month. Then there is my "where I would take MB for dinner" theme. Expect that one to be a recurring one.

Why am I doing this? Why would anyone with a full-time job, a double commuting life that includes hour long drives and flights, a geriatric dog and book contracts commit to write everyday and make that a public commitment? Here's the thing: life is bloody hard sometimes, and I am betting that something challenging and demanding like NaBloPoMo will help me keep my head above water. So in the midst of professional and existential cruxes, I am adding one sure thing to the mix.

Because whatever else happens, you gotta eat. And you'll know all about it, starting November 1st.

Stay tuned! And a happy Halloween!

MB, brussels spouts and bacon - I am in heaven

2009-10-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

I haven't watched one of MB's video is months, months!

And my re-introduction to him today is by way of two of my favorite foods : brussels spouts and bacon. It is a tragedy that the man I share my life and kitchen with is 1) a vegetarian, and 2) a brussels spouts hater. My love of these two ingredients is therefore a rarely satisfied, very guilty pleasure, which of course makes today's MB video even more akin to pornography. The very best and most titillating kind of pornography.

I could smell the bacon sizzling in his pan, and I heard the shreds of brussels sprouts arrange themselves in the tightness of that crowded skillet. The clincher, the money shot as it were, was the dash of balsamic MB poured over the sweltering dish. Do you know what happens when vinegar hits a hot oily pan? The astringents of the vinegar pierce your nose first and then the sweet smell lodges on your tongue, in anticipation of what you'll taste when the dish is done.

I have 4 tomatoes and 2 apples in my fridge right now, so there's no chance of actually eating this dish tonight. But that doesn't matter, because today's video is 3 and a half minutes of heaven,

And if I smoked, I'd probably want a cigarette now.

We are lame, we know.

2009-10-15T14:00:00.000-07:00

I think about posting, but somehow that doesn't make it happen. However I have been cooking up a storm lately and will post about some of those meals soon. I must admit, I haven't been watching Mark's videos on the NYT website of late. They just aren't popping up as much. I did watch one yesterday about nori chips, which I plan to attempt soon.

With harvest in full swing, there have been many meals of just me and les filles. The husband returns home in the wee hours of the night while we all sleep. He and I actually chatted for ten minutes last night! I am hoping that he might make it home in time for a late dinner this evening - what to cook? Something with sweet potatoes from our CSA I suspect.

I am back!

2009-06-08T11:25:00.000-07:00

Your two bloggers are back in the same area code!

I don't know that it'll improve the quantity of our posts, but I can assure it has already improved the quality of my life.

And I have a new place to take Mark Bittman to, should he visit our corner of the PNW - pizza's at Nick's for lunch. That's right - I challenge New York to on-up these lovely creations.

That's it for now, there are strawberries to be purchased and jammed. Results will be blogged about soon.

This may be a bit sacriligious . . .

2009-03-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

I am done with Alice Waters.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate all she had done as the mother of the Eat Local and Slow Food movements in America. Her influence has reached the farthest, tiniest corners of the country and parts of the world. She is a powerful advocate for her cause. But I am just over her. It is all a bit too precious now. Maybe because I have been tuning in for a while, I am ready to tune out, I don't know. Preaching to the choir.

Noodles and the Anti-Ramen. I made it the other night and it was great. Easy, fast and tasty. I added sliced ginger, scallions and shallots and some left-over roasted chicken we had in the fridge. I also blanched some rappini and chopped that up for a bit of color and texture. Everyone is feeling a bit under the weather, so it was perfect.

Now, if we could just start getting some sun here, we will all be able to dry out. I know that postings here have been slim (sorry!) but I haven't been feeling inspired. Although I have rediscovered my crock-pot...

-S

only in LA

2009-02-18T16:21:00.000-08:00

Only in LA will you have lunch at a small neighborhood sushi restaurant and end up having an admiring chat with Cleve Jones and the brilliant writer of "Milk". And only in LA will that very sushi place have a dish called "biscotti" that has nothing to do with biscotti, and everything to do with Mark Bittman's recipe of the day.

MB's post this week is about grains, and about how to get more of them in your diet. And Ajisai's "biscotti" are not biscotti in the italian definition. Their biscotti are crunchy rice cakes (I'd like to think oven fried, but I am afraid it might just be fried fried) covered with a divine dollop of spicy tuna. Filling, protein and fiber laden, perfect with an espresso for breakfast, a diet coke for lunch or a beer for dinner.

In reference to MB's recommendations for left over rice and oat recipes, this one is replicable: take left over fiber of any kind, cut and shape into 3 bite sized shape, stick in oven or toaster.
Add an egg, or an egg white and scallion, or a slice of tuna or chicken or cheese or any other form of protein, sprinkle with sea salt/tamari/gomasio.
Enjoy.

I can't promise the remake of these rice cakes will immediately put you in the company of Gay Rights Movement heroes and brilliant writers, but they will certainly make a lovely light meal.

eat here now

2009-02-14T11:48:00.000-08:00

Look who's talking about us (http://www.alli411.com)! Click on her February 10th review about a GREAT restaurant in LA. And yes, that would be us with the crush on MB, and yes, I would take him there. Truly, the world needs more great Ethiopian restaurants. There's nothing like a sharing a plate with friends, eating with your hand, washing a fabulous meal down with Harar beer.

Come to think of it, this wouldn't be a bad Valentine's day meal... Happy hearts and all that.

update on Blakes and more

2009-02-08T15:46:00.000-08:00

Not a week after I posted my memories of things past at Blake's, guess who was photographed there just recently, looking very odd but strangely weird? Mickey Rourke! All wrestler-ed up with what looks like tatooed facial hair. He's got a few rather edgy (ish) shots in the NYT magazine. No cheddar cheese/chutney/avocado crackers in the shots though...

On another memory lane posting, the Melrose Place Farmer's Market is a small affair. A few flower stands, about ten vegetable and fruit stands, a very good mobile cheese monger (an rather eccentric Dutch man), and the bread man. His loaves are okay, I prefer crustier stuff, but he has a brioche toast loaf that takes me back, aaaaall the way back. It is a square loaf, perfect for finger sandwiches (you see where I am going?).

So if Mark and I ever had tea on a rainy Sunday afternoon, we'd sip dark PG tips tea with a splash of milk from my grandmother's old transferware cups, talk about the demise of Domino (the magazine) and nibble on cucumber sandwiches made with the Melrose Place bread guy's brioche loaf, european butter, thinly sliced cucumber and a sprinkling of Maldon salt.
Come to think of, I don't think Mark would be into that. But I know my co-blogger would be (wouldn't you????)!

Ingredients:
square brioche (egg bread) loaf
thick full fat (not excuse) european style butter
english cucumber
salt (any kind, but use sparingly)
+ one good bread knife

Instructions:

put kettle on

- have butter at room temp
- slice load into thin slices
- butter to slices of bread
- slice cucumber thinly and layer on on slice of bread
- sprinkle salt on other slice
- put one slice on top of other (butter facing cucumber)
- slice into 1-inch wide strips

brew tea, warm the milk

sit down & enjoy.

Don't fall over . . .

2009-02-05T19:54:00.000-08:00

I know. It has been such a dry time for posts on this blog and then bam, two posts in the same week? One from each contributor. Careful, grab that chair back to steady yourself and take a deep breath.

I just made something I call "Mama's Mash". Dad is away on business, and we just got our first CSA bag for 2009. Fingerling potatoes, celery root, butternut squash, onions, garlic and brussel sprouts. So for a quick dinner for les filles, I whipped this up.

Toss in large, ideally cast iron, skillet that has been preheated and has about a tablespoon of olive oil shimmering in the bottom.

One onion, chopped
Two cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped
5-7 potatoes, coarsely chopped

Stir.

Add a bunch of bacon, chopped into one inch wide pieces.

Stir.

Add small chopped pieces of broccoli

stir

add salt and pepper

Stir

Cover with lid. Stir every five minutes or so until everything looks cooked and is slightly caramelized.

Turn off heat.

Grate a nice layer of cheddar cheese on top. Put lid back on so cheese will melt.

Serve.

Plates were cleaned in a matter of minutes.

Not terribly inventive, but a great mid-week, rainy evening meal

-S

Blake's, ca. 1984

2009-02-02T10:09:00.001-08:00

A long long time ago, when Mark and I were much younger, I spent a w-e in London at what would become a rather hip hotel. Blake's is still is hip, the grande dame of hip, if that is possible.
The hotel had old Vuitton suitcases for side-tables ( a staple of boutique hotels in the 90's), dark walls, heavy chntz and moder furniture, Annick Goutal room scent diffusers, bowls of all-sorts licorice candy, retro drinks at the dark and smoky bar. I was too young to drink, at least when traveling with my parents, but not too young to appreciate the cheddar&chutney nibbles that came with them.

The appetizers, which are sadly no longer on the Blake's menu, don't take mych work or talent to compose. Instructions are as follows:

Take Carr's water crackers
Spread a bit of good mango chutney
Add a slice if sharp cheddar
Layer with a piece of avocado.
Eat. Repeat.

It has the simplicity of the Bittman creed, and it is utterly addictive.

pinches tacos - or where i would take mark if he visited me in LA and was in the mood for tacos

2009-01-11T20:57:00.000-08:00

forget about cooking - it's 85 degrees in the middle of january in LA, i have two guests under the age of 12 who eat nothing but white food (bread, pasta, chicken nuggets) and i have a deadline.
so i won't make jamie oliver's parmesan chicken, or that pasta and cabbage dish that actually looked very good last week when it was slightly cooler in this hell-hole of a town.

back to the tacos. i am a purist about them: i like them small, i like them with fresh salsa, and i want hand-made tortillas. you have to drive deep into LA to find that, and even heading east is no guarantee. in portland, i am a dedicated supporter of por qué no taquería. they transported what i like best about the tizoncito in mexico city to a kitschy small space in north east p'land. and today i discovered pinches tacos on sunset, not 1 mile from where i live! a walking distance taquería, close to a good cinema and across from the chateau marmont - one way or the other, i'll have some form of entertainment with bittman-worthy tacos.

check them out at pinchestacos.com, and let me know if you're in town...

Chanterelles

2008-11-02T08:34:00.000-08:00

I have been cooking all sorts of things, but nothing that Mark has been writing about. Hmm.

When my co-blogger was back in the green state a few weeks ago, we were celebrating at our favorite watering hole, when the restaurant's supplier of locally foraged chanterelles walked in with a LARGE container of fresh chanterelles. A bunch of us went gaga, and he managed to supply each of us with two to four pounds of chanterelles at $5 a pound. I got two pounds. It was like a drug deal was going down. People were so excited and when the "dealer" thought he ran out, I was afraid there might be fisticuffs!

I was excited to write my mushroom post, but alas, was too late, and Mark had a post about them too! Dammit. I simply sauteed mine with olive oil and garlic. They were fab. Some I included in a quick quiche that I made the other day. I had some leftover roasted delicata squash which I used too. Here is the rough recipe:

Preheat oven to 400.

In a bowl mix:
1 1/2 previously roasted delecata squash scraped out of the skin.
1 cup chopped spinach
1/2 cup cream
3 eggs
Pinch of cumin

Mix well together, then add sauteed chanterelles that you have roughly chopped, about 1 1/2 - 2 cups. Mix well.

Add salt and pepper.

Pour into a pie shell (I bought a frozen one since I can't make pie crust worth a damn).
Grate parmesan onto the top.

Cook about 30 minutes. Check periodically. Once the top of the quiche has risen a bit and the sides of the crust are nice and brown, it is probably done. If you are not sure, you can stick a knife into the center and peek in, making sure the eggs are cooked.

Eat.

Remember, this is a rough recipe from memory. I just used whatever I had on hand (leftovers rock). Quiche is a great vehicle for leftovers, especially if you don't have quite enough for a whole meal.

I am sorry to note that my co-blogger is unwell. I suspect that it is the smog and grime of LA, and that what she really needs is a dose of rain and a deep breath of the scent of decaying leaves. Then all will be good.

-S

sick

2008-10-31T17:30:00.000-07:00

sick i am

last week's couscous almond milk thingy is still the only thing i really want to eat, even if my teeth are all back where they should be.
oh misery, thy name is sinus infection. it makes everything taste the same, and not even the roasted chestnut stir-fry prepared in succulent bittman fashion this wednesday can rouse much interest from this congested, teary eyed mess.

but thanks for giving me hope and inspiration mark - as soon as i am sick no more, i'll be all over your stir fried chestnuts.

wait a second. that didn't sound right.

j

forgive me, for i have genericided.

2008-10-19T19:28:00.000-07:00

i am guilty as charged - hoover qualifies for any vacuum, sprite is any lemon soda, and i call couscous everything from the pasta grain itself to the dish with the tangy tomatoey broth, and have even referred to tabouleh as couscous with parsley (although I wonder if that is actually the opposite of genericide).

in any case, let me second S; hurrah for dessert couscous! yum to the nth degree, this is just the thing for a rainy oregon afternoon. or a warm LA evening - especially if you are nursing sore teeth and sporting temporary crowns.

share much? well yes, but it all matters when lauding the qualities of a dish! the day you find yourself unable to chew properly, somewhat uncomfortable yet ravenous, the almond milk cooked coscous will bring you back to life, or something resembling it. let it cook past its usual point so it gets very soft, add more almond milk so it is doesn't get clumpy, omit the apricots (remember the painful fargile teeth) and add some slivers of ginger, or a bit of cinnamon, or add a few canned tangerines (slippery soft yet sweet and cool, providing a nice contrast to the couscous).

no pictures again from me, but trust us, this one is a keeper.

Couscous, velcro, kleenex.

2008-10-16T15:16:00.001-07:00

Hmm. Genericide. I wasn't aware of this problem. I mean, yes, I refer to all soft drinks as "Coke" and then get more specific, "Sprite please!". I am grateful for this moment of enlightenment, although I have to say, with the economy tanking, winter around the corner and a presidential election happening in a mere matter of weeks, I don't have any energy left to stand up against genericide. I hope that Mark will forgive me.

Sweet Almond Milk Couscous. I had a little extra time this afternoon, and decided that this would make a great after-school snack for my girls. I served it warm, minus the lemon zest. Huge hit. We all agreed that it would make a great breakfast dish too! Next time however I will add a bit less sugar, and a bit more rosewater.

-S

I am so sorry.

2008-10-05T10:24:00.000-07:00

The swordfish recipe last week really threw me for a loop. I mean, I live one measly hour from the great Pacific Ocean, and it is really hard to find decent fish here. Yeah, yeah, I can get all the salmon and halibut I want. Crabs are easy to come by as well. But anything different and I have to go to the giant Asian grocery store an hour away with my cooler and schlep it home that way.

Ok. I will be honest. It is not just the swordfish that caught me off guard. It is life itself! My cooking time has diminished to toasting english muffins for breakfast and making sandwiches for school lunches. We don't even eat dinner! Not true, but my dinners have not been noteworthy.

I resolve to make more of an effort this week. I will not let presidential debates, a poor economy or the rain interfere with my need to cook. Check back soon.

-S

PB&J on the road, without MB

2008-09-24T23:31:00.001-07:00

i just got off the freeway, 987 miles south of my beloved pacific northwest. i haven't had time for anything but driving, and haven't see today's video yet.

but this is can say: peanut butter & jelly sandwiches are the best road food ever. you can eat them while driving, they taste good with tepid water, canine companions appreciate them AND, best of all, the longer they're in the car, the better they taste, so that as you get wearier and wearier, and the road gets longer and longer, the sandwiches keep getting better and better.

but beware: this is not an occasion to be too generous with peanut butter or jelly. excess in this regard can be if not fatal, certainly very messy. and you NEED sandwich bread. crusty bread will get soggy, which is what make the sandwich great, but would make a crusty bread revolting.

what can i say, 987 miles in a straight line leaves a lot of time for thinking, and i had a lot of PB&J sandwiches to contemplate.

Is this vaawwdvill???

2008-09-17T11:03:00.000-07:00

With S off at some boring conference and me back for a short while, I feel it is my duty to offer a timely, if not pictorially enhanced, post.

The title is, as those of you who have already checked MB's video on NYT.com, entirely inspired in one of the memorable lines of this Wednesday's contribution. The recipe doesn't look half bad either, sort of an East Asian version of my grand-mother's chicken soup, but it screams for lime, or chili, or something acidic, don't you think?

And on that note, here is my grand-mother's chicken soup recipe:

Soupe the poule

1) buy a hen, preferably an old hen. apparently hens have way more flavor. Iwouldn't know how to tell a hen from a chicken or a rooster. Ok, maybe a rooster is obviously different, but once they're headless and featherless - how can you tell? You can tell by the flavor says my grand-mother, deaf to the circularity of her reasoning.
2) put the hen in a large pot, cover in water and add a bouquet garni and salt. Set to boil, then cover, lower the flame and walk away. The hen, being old, also needs to simmer for a verrrrry long time.
3) about an hour before you think this hen is done, add chopped vegetables : leek, celery, carrots, turnips, peas, green beans, whatever you have (forgive me, but this is literally how my grand-mother cooks - she has no recipes, it's all in her head, and she thinks it's silly to do it any other way. In her words, if you know how to cook, you just know. I know this doesn't help you, dear reader, but it's all I got).
4) once that hour has passed, take the hen out of the pot and let it cool, and set the covered pot out on a windowsill (these are the precise instructions) and let it cool, skimming the fat off the top as it congeals.
5) shred the hen
6) the next day, after you have skimmed as much fat as you can off the broth and added the hen back into the pot, reheat, and enjoy. You can add cooked rice (which is how today's MB recipe enters into this) or cooked short pasta (like orzo, fideo, or alphabet noodles).

I don't know if it's the hen or the windowsill, but if there is one thing this grand-mother does well, and does better than anyone else, it's chicken soup. Maybe one day MB can confirm the hen issue.

In the meantime, I hope everyone is enjoying the weather. We are having a prolonged summer in the Pacific Northwest - not exactly chicken soup weather - and how happy am I about that!

Too much fun.

2008-09-14T09:21:00.000-07:00

Usually towards the end of July, my husband and I lament our busy social lives (party, party, party) and look forward to the quieter month of August. Since we live in a part of the country with capricious weather, July is generally a big party month because everyone can host large gatherings outside, virtually guaranteed to be rain free. This year, the parties continued into August. Sunday mornings, recovering with coffee in hand, we start eyeing September as a possibility for some respite. This year, this is not to be had. With a late harvest, winemakers are just getting all the partying in they can before their hands turn purple. Am I telling you this to make you jealous about all the fun we are having? No. Really, I just want to apologize to our two readers (hi out there!) that there will be no review of Mark's vegetable soup this week. Maybe later on in the week when it is supposed to get cooler. But for the next several days, when the mercury is going to reach into the 90's, we will continue to party like it is July.

-S

Belgian fries and spice grinders, oh my!

2008-09-04T21:06:00.000-07:00

This was dinner on Friday. This and the Tête de Moine cheese, and the cullatelo ham, and the heirloom tomato salad with buffala mozzarella. Accompanied by a Chateau Margaux eventually, but what you see there is a lovely Chablis, if memory serves.

It was dinner at midnight on Friday, because fries of this order are not a rapid affair.

First, you wash and peel very specific potatoes. In Belgium - where these divine fries were made a consumed (and the reason why I have been absent from the blog is because I was in the lovely flat land for a week)- the only potato for the occasion is the bintje. It's a big spud and I will try to find out what its American counterpart is.

Once washed, you peel, slice and chop to make fries - not too thin, not too thick. Then you rinse these raw potato strips until the water runs clear - you are getting rid of as much starch as possible.

In the meantime, heat your friteuse, a basic implement of any Belgian kitchen. I fear it will be a bit harder to find the simple electric deep fryer my brother-in-law has. I also haven't found the blanc de boeuf, or beef tallow or suet that apparently creates the optimal frite.

So here in the US, you might use shortening in a deep fryer, and wait for the oil to reach approx 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the oil is hot, gingerly deposit the potatoes in it - but make sure they have been drained and dried!

Leave in the hot oil for about 5 minutes, or until the edges of the fry are getting dark blond.
Take out of the fryer, and let rest for a minute, until the oil reaches between 350F and 370F.
When the oil has reached that temperature, put the fries back in.

This double cuisson is the secret of great fries. Fry the fries (!) for another 5 minutes or so, then take them out, place in bowl and sprinkle with fleur de sel and eat as soon as possible. Within ten minutes the fries will have lost their crunch, and trust me, this is the crunch of ages, the crunch that connects you to the essence of the potato and the brilliance of those Walloon or Flemish peasants* looking for something else to fry than small fish, and who thereby stumbled, magnificently, on the frite.

There is more to Belgium than fries, and I will share some of that in another post, but the fries, especially late at night and with home-made mayonnaise, were epic.

As for MB's spice grinding issues, I have two things to add.
First : brilliant idea of S to have two coffee grinders for these purposes. I will acquire second one asap.
Second: if you don't have rice, or if like Mark (and I) you are occasionally a bit spastic in the kitchen (how I loved his clumsiness this week!), a broken up slice of bread will do just as well, and you may save yourself the back-of-the-fridge / between the cabinets vacuum episode...

* as you know, or should know, the French did not invent the French fry - there is some legend about Waterloo and soldiers etc, but essentially, my flat-land compatriots fried potatoes since well before Belgium was Belgium, and if things continue as they are, they'll be making frites well after Belgium ceases to be Belgium. But the frite never was and never will be French. Flemish maybe, but not French.

Chick-Pea Salad and spice grinders

2008-09-03T20:09:00.000-07:00

So on yesterday's video, Mark had a "technical malfunction". He couldn't figure out how to make the coffee grinder work on his cumin seeds. It was a nice light moment in the video (not that these are traditionally terribly heavy pieces of film). I giggled a little, but could relate. I must disagree with MB, spilling some of the rice is absolutely crucial to getting this right! At least they didn't edit it out! This is one of the many things I love about Mark Bittman and his videos. He is self-deprecating, which is always appealing. I can't say I loved the new intro, but was happy to see Mark back in his old kitchen. Even if only for a while. I also really enjoyed Mark's translation of "voila" - who knew!

On to the food. Years ago, we received two coffee grinders as gifts. We kept one for coffee, and the other as a spice grinder. I am always glad that I did this. Of course, it took me a few years to get smart enough to label the one for spices. There were several instances of grinding coffee and not being sure of what had been in the grinder before. Roasting your own spices is very easy, and I probably don't do it enough. Ok, I'll be honest, I almost never do it. But, I am now a reformed woman! I will endeavor to roast most of my spices. Happy?

I didn't have any yellow or orange bell peppers in the house, so I used some great heirloom tomatoes that I got in my CSA box (shout out to Oakhill Organics!). The cilantro in my garden had BOLTED! The nerve, so I had to run down to the Mexican market and grab some. I also had some japanese eggplant in my garden that I roasted, peeled and chopped and added. It was dee-licious. I ended up adding more cumin and lemon juice too. Almost forgot to mention the jalapeno, also from our CSA that was grilled and chopped up for the salad. The tomatoes gave it some nice juices as well. I had some leftovers on a bed of spinach for lunch today. It too was delish.

So not exactly Mark's recipe, but we are not sticklers for accuracy, right?

-S

Pasta with Shredded Vegetables and Lavender or: It Felt A Little Like Fall Here

2008-09-01T20:12:00.000-07:00

Wednesday morning when I watched the video of Mark making shredded veggies and pasta, I had a hard time focusing. I remember thinking, this is not the kitchen that he used to cook in. The other kitchen had a better layout, especially for filming. In this kitchen, the stove is behind him when he stands. This makes filming awkward - and not terribly effective, which is probably why I was distracted. Also, I found this dish to be really uninspiring. I mean here we are, at the peak of our fresh vegetable season, and all he can use is zucchini, bell peppers and carrots? What about tomatoes, eggplant, beans, fresh berries, other greens, all this great stuff that is in season now? I realize that these vignettes are probably filmed all at once sometime earlier in the year. In fact, I believe that he referred to that in a posting somewhere. But come on, lets use some more interesting veggies!

That being said, when one goes out to the garden and peers between the overgrown leaves and sunflower plants only to find that her zucchini plants have been possessed by some invisible steroid, one must deal.

Plus, on Saturday, the weather here was sort of crap. It was cool and had a real feeling of fall. That made a pasta dish sound good, but after a day clearing out the ginormous plants in the garden, being creative in the kitchen just wasn't in me. So Mark's pasta dish got a test.

I actually added half of a white onion (Walla Walla) to the chopping party. I also included some oregano. My question is this: what if you have several different types of lavender growing in your garden, and you are not sure which one to eat? Two of mine looked vaguely like what Mark had in the video, so I took some leaves from one of them, chopped 'em up and tossed them in. Overall, it was a tasty dish. We did grate some asiago cheese on top. My picky daughter even liked it (after I threatened her with no dessert!) I will probably use this recipe as a base for other shredded veggie dishes.

Now, does anyone have any suggestions besides zucchini bread for my XXXL zukes? We have been slicing them up and grilling them with a little olive oil and salt and pepper, but I can only do that for so long....

And, yes, I have tried to palm them off on unsuspecting friends and neighbors.

-S

Rustic Peach Tart

2008-08-24T14:33:00.000-07:00

Summer has been a bit late in arriving this year. This explains why I can still get fresh local peaches at the end of August. A friend called a potluck together in honor of another friend who is visiting from New Zealand. I offered to bring dessert. I thought a rustic tart would be good, and the peaches are so lovely right now they make the perfect filling!

All this may seem a bit strange coming from someone who doesn't bake. Let me give you my very loose recipe.

1. Get your husband, or some other competent baker to make you a pie crust.
2. Blanch 6-8 peaches. Remove skin and slice them up into a bowl.
3. Dig around in fridge for the tablespoon sized piece of ginger you know you have. Peel and grate into bowl of sliced peaches.
4. Liberally sprinkle ground nutmeg on top of peaches. Roughly a teaspoon.
5. Sprinkle about two tablespoons of brown sugar onto peaches. Lick fingers.
6. Stir peaches to incorporate ginger, nutmeg and sugar.
7. Roll out prepared pie dough and place it onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment.
8. Using ground hazelnuts that you found in the freezer, make a circle about 1/8 of an inch thick on top of the rolled out dough.
9. Place peaches on top of hazelnuts, then fold the edges of the dough over the peaches.
10. Brush dough with water and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 425 for about 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Then reduce heat to 350 for another 20-30 minutes. Eyeball the tart every once in a while to see if it looks done. I usually pull it when any juices that have run out are caramelized on the parchment.

Eat it while it is just barely warm. Yum.

-S

Tomato Jam

2008-08-23T08:31:00.000-07:00

After Mark's video was posted on Wednesday, I immediately bought the ingredients to make the Tomato Jam. It looked easy and yummy! I had made some sour cherry chutney earlier in the month (will post recipe later) and we were loving it with grilled pork loin. This tomato jam would make another great condiment to have in the fridge.

It took me until last night to make it. Before I started, I perused Mark's Bitten blog and read some of the comments from readers. Some had already made the jam and suggested more salt, less salt, less sugar, don't change a thing. There did not seem to be a consensus, so I just followed the recipe. I did however add two cloves of garlic.

Generally speaking, it turned out well. I think that as an accompaniment to pork it will be great. However, I do agree with one of the posters that it is too sweet. Also, mine is not as translucent as Mark's. I could have probably cooked it longer, but I had it going for about and hour and a half. I was drinking wine while doing this and got to the point where I was afraid I would just forget about it on the stove and burn it to bits!

-S

Postscript:

Later, I was hungry and was reminded of the batch of brown lentils that I had prepared the day before in the fridge. Into a bowl went some cold lentils, a bit of olive oil, salt and tomato jam to taste. YUM!!!

i love MB but hate the buffering on NYT.com

2008-08-14T21:56:00.000-07:00

haven't been able to watch this week's video cast because the "buffering" makes it impossible... what IS buffering anyway? sound vaguely naughty, and straight out of "the Riches".
very annoying. and in light of said buffering problems, there is no review/analysis/completely biased opinion of MB's weekly show.

but i love love LOVE this thing:

it is a corn stripper. not the kind that dances on tables. it strips corn off the cob.
now i usually scoff at this sort of unnecessary kitchen implement. i can be a snob, and this just reeked of amateur. anyone who knows her way with a sharp knife knows how to cut the kernels off the cob. why clutter the kitchen drawers with one more useless thing. like the egg slicer, the pineapple corer and the apple peeler.

let me tell you why: because unlike the nyt.com video cast, this thing works! this little thing does it all without sending kernels flying into the crevasse between your counter-top and the your range, you can do it carelessly and you'll still have lovely kernels, and it holds them all lovingly until you are ready to roast them quickly before serving them at a taco-fest for 8. and the left-overs tasted oh-so-good in tonight's ice-cold gazpacho.

that is all.

Avocado Toast

2008-08-12T16:38:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, we hosted an intern from New Zealand. "K" was lovely to have around. She lived with us for four months while working crush at one of the local wineries. We learned many things from K. How to swirl every beverage in your glass as if it were wine. How to say "baanaanaa" with long a's. How to have a sense of humor when you are dead tired from doing midnight punch downs. One of the only food items she would make for herself was avocado toast, every morning for breakfast. At first I thought it was a bit odd, but then I realized that I was probably being provincial. Then I tried it, and was hooked. I just got a craving for some avocado toast and thought that it might be time to share the news.

1 slice whole wheat bread, toasted
1/4 (or 1/2 if you are feeling decadent) ripe avocado

Spread avocado on the toast. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Devour.

Healthy, yummy, and nothing to it!

-S

Chard stuffed with risotto - not a review, but a renewed interest

2008-08-08T09:59:00.000-07:00

With 40th birthday parties, throngs of family from afar and kids descending upon us lately, there's been no time to cook, no time to blog. But things are calming down now - 40 has happened, and I am still standing; the family members have started to trickle home; and there is something resembling normalcy hovering in the air.

AND - I got chard from my farmers this week! Which means that the probability that I will test this week's recipe are extremely high. This is a good thing, because I am eager to get into the kitchen again, especially for a recipe that relieves the wonderful S from approaching rice-making again...

I'll take this one!

Stay tuned for reviews soon (I hope).
Chard on!
J

Rice Salad - kinda blah.

2008-08-04T08:23:00.000-07:00

Saturday night, at a lovely party hosted by the fabulous J, I admitted my inability to make rice. Let me clarify, I can make rice, but it doesn't actually taste like or have the consistency of rice. You know, where each kernel is its own individual? Not in my rice. If I have not produced a glob of stuff, then I have severely undercooked it and we are all crunching and chewing away. A few years ago, my husband suggested that we get a rice cooker. I am not a fan of appliances that do only one thing, but I was convinced that this was maybe a good time to break my rule. Even with the rice cooker, I cannot make good rice. I follow the directions meticulously - acting very scientific - and still, mushy rice. Thank god for take-out.

So, with our left-over rice from Thai dinner on Friday, I made the rice salad. Adding coconut milk, peas, fresh cilantro, salt and curry powder. It was unremarkable. Possibly due to the mediocre quality curry powder I had on hand. The consensus among the family (they were all over here again for dinner) was that it was ok. We agreed that it would make a good vehicle for other leftover vegetables, but as a stand alone dish, we were underwhelmed. I agree with J, MB himself didn't seem too thrilled with the salad.

Oh, I cannot make pie crust either.

For the record, I can make lots of other things.

-S

wednesday video blog - july 30th - review by J

2008-08-02T01:42:00.000-07:00

Umm, excuse me. Rice salad? And that glob of coconut milk? Yuk.

It is redundant to mention, esp. in this blog, that I love MB, but this Wednesday's recipe was a dud. even MB was suspicious, esp. of it's less than appealing demeanor, and I doubt very much he actually liked the glob of "salad" he produced.

So no, this critic will resist the antics, and even the mock self-deprecation embedded in his "sometimes I surprise myself" comment and deem this to be one of the least appetizing recipes MB has presented lately.

I wonder, will S try this one out on her family too?

the minimalist theory tested - J

2008-07-28T18:33:00.000-07:00

Those of us (of you) who have been following Mark Bittman's tenure at the NYT since whenever it started (I have cut outs of his recipes that are yellowed and brittle, that tells you something) are, I suspect not just following his recipes. We are following his tenets. The Minimalist, as his column is called, is about paring down complicated recipes to an essential truth, a basic ingredient, or technique which renders the dish miraculously approachable to even the novice cook.

The amazing thing about the minimalist approach is that even as you delevop skills, initiative and preferences in your cooking, you are doing it the minimalist way. At least I do. As much as I love to cook, I like to keep it simple. Presentation matters, but not as much as flavor. Organization matters, but it is more important to have fun in the kitchen than to keep it clean. And recipes are important, but ingredients set the tone. The same way that an historian lets the evidence write the story (only bad historians look for the evidence to prove their story), in minimalist cooking, one ingredient, if it is all you have, may suffice.

Last night was one of those nights.

In the fridge: one small cabbage, one old apple, a 2 lb hunk of parmesan.
In the house: one very tired vegetarian boyfriend, who had been up for the last 72 hours with barely 8 hours of sleep in between dinners, wine tastings, lunches, brunches, seminars, discussions and much shmoozing.

I have been making a lot of slaws with the cabbage I get from my CSA (using Mark's suggestion to salt the cabbage for two hours and then rinsing - it cures the cabbage in the most wonderful and edible way without needing to blanch it), but this was not a cole-slaw night.

I dug in my minimalist repertoire, and I wish I had a picture of the summer cabbage soup over parmesan polenta I made. I shredded the cabbage with a onion I had lying about and sautéed them in heated olive oil in the cute yellow Belgian cast-iron pot I found at Goodwill (score!). The cabbage and onion became translucent and I braised it all with a drop more of olive oil and some sea salt. When the mixture started to brown, I poured three cups of water over it (no broth in the house), and added a bit of cayenne, but just a smidge, grated the apple into it and let it simmer.

In the meantime, a cup of polenta (a well stocked pantry saves the day), 3 cups of water and in the micro-wave it went. 15 minutes later, more olive oil and a heap of grated parmesan folded in and we had our comfort food. The polenta was a fragrant and mushy, the thick cabbage soup was lightened by a vaguely ciderey broth.

It was the best dinner we had all week-end.

ps: i feel perhaps unjustifiably vindicated by S' review of the no-bake cheese cake. while my review was merely an opinion masquerading as analysis, the indomitable S actually tested it, and confirmed that sometimes less is just less.

No-Bake Cheesecake Bars, tested.

2008-07-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

So most of my family is in town for a few days, and I offered to host dinner this evening. Along with grilled tri-tip, local corn salad and potato salad, I decided to make Mark's No-Bake Cheesecake Bars.

I like cheesecake, but don't love it. I think that I was spoiled at a young age by my mother's Chocolate Amaretto Cheesecake, with something like four pounds of cream cheese in it and a chocolate wafer crust, nice and thick. No other cheesecake has ever compared. I even tried cheesecake at Junior's in Brooklyn last year, and while I thought it was good, especially after a red-eye flight to JFK, my mom's still kicks-butt.

But the No-Bake Cheesecake Bars intrigued me with the "no-bake" part of the title. And, it looked ridiculously easy. I mean, the man didn't measure anything. As a rule, I don't really like to bake because it requires a fair amount of precision and does not encourage adaptation along the way. I am not a precise chef. I am working on it, but I view recipes as guidelines, and change them as needed. I bake so rarely, it took me fifteen minutes to locate my Kitchen-Aid, which I use only for baking and couldn't remember in which hidey-hole I had shoved the bowl and mixer attachments. Notice the layer of dust on the Black Wonder.

I mixed the graham crackers with hazelnut powder, (a nod to our northwest location) and probably didn't add enough butter since I was roughly doubling the recipe. I also added raspberries from my garden with the blueberries. It is in the fridge now. I will report back this evening with the results.

Later...
Results positive. Family oohed and aahed over dessert. I thought that it was fine, but not fabulous. Suspect family is hiding their true feelings because they are just grateful that they didn't have to make anything. I thought that I put too much ricotta in the cheese mix part and not enough melted butter in the crust. Also, I think that a little bit of powdered sugar in with the cheese mix wouldn't have hurt. The honey was a bit too subtle. The fruit here hasn't had enough sun to get really sweet, so a little sweetness in the cheese mix would have balanced the fruit a bit. Off to make whiskey-sours.

-S

A sense of humor.

2008-07-25T10:00:00.001-07:00

Self-deprecation can be a sexy thing, when used wisely. Mark has it down. Not too much, but just enough to show that he doesn't take himself too seriously. He seems to be a real no-drama kind of guy.

I really appreciate his cooking style. The recipes are simple with little or no fuss. He is reasonable with his suggestions for ingredients, and offers alternatives when available. His book, How To Cook Everything is the go-to cookbook in our house. We use it all the time. It gets perused at least twice a week. It serves as a basic reference guide, as well as a jumping off point for inspiration. Got baby artichokes at the farmer's market - what to do with them? Just turn to page 533 for a great starting point, and move forward from there. You will notice in the photo above, the placement of HTCE, with its bright yellow spine, is within easy reach for emergency references.

As a bookseller, this is the cookbook I recommend the most. Forget Betty Crocker or Better Homes and Gardens. I am always trying to steer people to Mark's book as a better alternative to those two. I think that sometimes the older generation is perhaps put-off by the brightness of the cover. I know that people have recipes that they grew up with and want to pass on to younger generations. But sometimes I wonder when was the last time that grandma actually made that gelatinous pies she recalls so fondly, and if she would still enjoy it now.

-S

The cheesecake no-bake recipe video review, by J

2008-07-23T11:29:00.000-07:00

Mark Smash! Mark Love!

Undoubtedly, the best thing about today's video is Mark acting like the cookie monster. Mark Smash! - he grunted while he destroyed a bag of graham crackers. Mark Love! - he moaned after taking the first bite out of his cake. Adorable.

I have a feeling his crust would have held together a bit better if he'd stuck it in the oven for 15 minutes, and the cream cheese concoction might have appreciated a bit of gelatine to help it congeal, but this is Mark's show, and it was a good one.

I particularly like the supporting role of the pink cuisinart blender. Tres chic monsieur Bittman, je vous adore.