Happy New Year's Eve!!!

Soft Polenta with red chili flakes, purple Oriental Kale with asian spices, and bacon-wrapped Chicken!!!
(Taken with awesome new camera that we've yet to learn how to use.)

Feels good to be back in the kitchen again, even if I am sick (don't tell the diners). Screw the illness, I don't need to breathe or stay conscious -- I just need to cook! Or knit! Or... something!!!

Viva la cuisine!!!

I made an awesome pasta last night involving chickpeas, tomatoes, and the above mentioned kale. Might post about it later.

Until then --

HAPPY 2012, EVERYONE!!!!!!!!

(Prosecco to follow. Probably Mimosas and fried polenta for breakfast. And by the way... Does PBS hate us? Today they played "Les Mis," "Chess," and "La Boheme." In a row. I love all of those things, but I don't want to start the new year weeping....)

Latest Order.

Contents
Marrons Glacés Candied Chestnuts
1 $some amount each
Nonnate di Pesce
1 $15.00 each
Galician Chestnuts
1 $15.00 each
Spanish Dark Drinking Cocoa
1 $9.00 each
Roasted Butternut Squash Seed Oil
1 $20.00 each
.....
One of these things is not like the others.
Sometimes I really love the holidays.

Flour and Fat.

…and a little bit of hot water and salt.

After months of owning a tortilla press, I finally pushed myself into making a batch of flour tortillas this weekend. While there is a dough involved, it’s probably the easiest dough you’ll ever throw together. (This recipe is, again, courtesy of chef Rick Bayless. He’s kind of our Mexican cuisine guru.)

Ingredients:

2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

5 tbs lard or vegetable shortening (I used shortening)

1 ¼ cups “very warm” water

1 ¼ tsp table salt

In a bowl, combine flour and shortening with your hands until the shortening is well integrated and there are no big lumps. Combine the water and salt, and pour about ¾ of it over the flour and shortening. Mix with a fork – the mixture will be clumpy. If all of the flour isn’t moistened, add more of the water. When dough basically holds together, turn on to a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth. This doesn’t take long – a few minutes, maybe. It’ll be a medium consistency – not crumbly, but stiffer than bread dough. Divide into 12 pieces and form into balls – they’ll be about the size of a golf ball. Let rest, lightly covered with plastic wrap, for about 30 minutes.

Then, you can either roll them to the desired thickness with a rolling pin, or, if you’re like me and have neglected kitchen gadgets collecting dust beneath your kitchen counter, you can drag one of those out and use it for the first time since you absolutely had to have it when you saw it at the Mexican market this summer.

After you have your tortillas formed, cook them in a well-heated non-stick skillet (cast-iron would probably be best) over medium-high heat for 30-45 seconds a side. You’ll know they’re ready to flip when bubbles start appearing on the surface and the underside is white and speckled with brown.

It took a few to figure out what I was doing, but it’s a pretty gentle learning curve and I have to say it’s worth the effort.

This recipe makes 12 tortillas. We used them (in part) to make fish tacos Sunday night. We simmered some pollock in the remainder of that chipotle sauce I mentioned a couple of days ago, then combined that with some mashed black beans, fresh cilantro, and – In my case, anyway – pickled onion.

Delicious!

Sauced!

Chipotle Shrimp with soft polenta and steamed collard greens.

Although this was my first time preparing collard greens, this entry - obviously - is about the chipotle sauce pictured above. It’s super easy and would also be good with… anything. Seriously, from eggplant to steak, I think this sauce would work with it.

The recipe (courtesy of chef Rick Bayless) calls for a 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes, drained, but I never have that, so I just use half of a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes. Combine in a blender with 2-3 chipotle chilies canned in adobo (available in your friendly supermarket International isle), along with a teaspoon or so of the canning “liquid.” I used 3 chilies and 2 tsp of liquid/sauce this time. Process in a blender until smooth. Then you sauté about 3 chopped cloves of garlic in a couple tablespoons of olive oil. When the garlic’s nice and golden, add the blended mixture and a splash of water or stock to get it to a “thin tomato sauce” consistency. Taste and season with a good amount of salt (recipe calls for around a teaspoon).

It is so amazing! Complex and smoky and spicy. Really spicy, actually, so consider yourself warned.

… Maybe I should take that back.

It is just the right amount of spicy.

It’s just the right amount of everything.

For the dish above, the shrimp were cooked right in the sauce. Throw them in and stir them around for about four minutes and they should be just about perfect.

Watch This Space.

Hi.

You know how you go through phases in life?

Apparently I'm in a knitting phase right now.

Although I did make an awesome Thai noodle thing with shrimp tonight.
But didn't take pictures.

I'm sorry - I'm close to finishing my 3rd major project in 2 months, with 5 more on the way.
And a few more non-kitting things.
I went kinda craft crazy.

But I'll be back soon, I promise!!!

Boo.

This is a Ghost Chili.

It is the hottest naturally occurring chili pepper in the world.

OMGWTFBBQCANDY!!!!1!

OK, so firstly, this is Michelle Walkey-Thornburg:

She's an artist and she makes lollipops.
Really, really awesome lollipops.

In flavors like:

Smoked Salmon


Toast

Beef Stew
(Holy INCREDIBLE, Batman. If I ever decided to leave my husband and run off with some candy, this guy would be the guilty party.)


Chicken

Pepperoni

And many others.

We met at a First Friday event a couple weeks ago and have since spent many hours on the phone and one very lively dinner together. I have sworn to be her writer forever in exchange for free candy.

Trust me, it's worth it.

What I love about these things is that the flavors meld so well with the sugars contained in the lollies. Like, the Toast flavor tastes of the caramelized sugars in freshly baked bread. The Beef Stew one plays on the richness of the gravy and the sweetness of long-cooked carrots and onions, of melt-in-your-mouth meat...

Clearly I could wax poetic about the Beef Stew lolly all day long, but seriously - It's an amazing product and I'm really excited for her.

At Friday's dinner, Michelle showed us all the flavorings and colors and molds and stuff. We also got to check out some amazing sculptures by both herself and her husband Aaron. It was ultra-uber-cool.

I've liked all the flavors of lollies that I've tried so far and I'm looking forward to trying the rest!

Except for Cheeseburger.
Kinda nervous about Cheeseburger.

September 11th, 2011.

Yesterday was the tenth anniversary of the day the world ended.
Just ask anyone in New York.

It was the day everything changed.

The day even those responsible didn't anticipate.

They didn't think those buildings would go down.
It was just another hair-brained scheme that happened to succeed because of blind luck.

Because you can't sink the Twin Towers.
It's not possible.

... Everyone knows that.

3,000 people died.

But 20,000 people were saved.

And so, because of that -- and because of weeks of watching tributes, and memorials, and documentaries, and watching "Chess," and mourning this horrific event more than we've been allowed to do in a decade -- we celebrated being Americans by grilling out and listening to Lady GaGa.

We had this:

It's seared tuna with grilled brussels sprouts and some grilled cake.

I meant to make cannoli, but I lost control and grilled some cake...

It was really good.

Never.

If you're viewing this post, please read Julie & Julia by Julie Powell.

Thank you.

Dinner!

EXTREME CLOSE-UP!!!!

That's udon noodles with "exotic" mushrooms in a sauce made from the mushroom soaking liquid, ponzu, five spice powder, powdered ginger, red chili flakes, a tad bit of sugar, and a little corn starch to thicken. Topped with a mixture of toasted and untoasted sesame seeds, and some crystallized ginger.

I am damned proud of that sauce, and I'm not afraid to say it. I came up with it on the fly, and it was just what those noodles needed.

...Especially since there's no other food in the house.
How did that happen??

*Also, I should probably note that I didn't think to take a pic until I'd eaten half of it, and there was a smear on the camera lens. Soz. But it was just so yummy that I was compelled to share!!

Pilgrimage, Day Two.

(continued from previous post)

The Deli was open.

The Deli's almost always open.

But the first order of Sunday morning was breakfast.

We picked up an incredible cheese danish and an unbelievably dense, moist, and flavorful vanilla coconut macaroon from the bakeshop. Where we also picked up an olive oil coffee cake and four loaves of bread ( pecan raisin, brewhouse [beer-based], roadhouse [dense multigrain], and pumpernickel). Wish us luck with that.

After that, we bummed around the city's parks and hiking trails with the assistance of KITT (this trip wouldn't have been the same without him), before heading to the grand finale of our trek:

The Deli.

Oh my god - THE DELI.

(The sidewalk was under construction.)

(Eighty year aged balsamic on parmesan reggiano! For free! Just because!)

(Reubens!!!)

Then it was time to go. I'd be lying if I said I didn't cry a little. As Matt said, "I don't want to leave this place; I can only imagine how you feel..."

I feel like moving to Ann Arbor, that's how I feel.

Because, dammit!

Why do they get to have such a wonderland of edible delights??

But return home we must, and in the end we returned with the following:

A pound of corned beef; nicoise olives; emmenthal, raw milk stilton, and manchego cheeses; coffee cake (and coffee); tomato jam; german mustard; portuguese sardines; green zebra tomatoes; applewood smoked bacon; french lavender honey; a couple of books; a couple of Zzang bars - the best damn candy bar I've ever tasted; spanish picadillo peppers; pure lemon oil; violet sticky rice from vietnam; and the aforementioned four loaves of bread.

And a couple of t-shirts.

Pilgrimage, Day One

Some people might consider it a bit extreme to take a five hour road trip to eat some tomatoes, but those people are obviously unaware of the wonder that is Zingerman's. The five-building retail empire, scattered around Ann Arbor, Michigan, regularly hosts a number of events and classes, and boasts a frantic self-guided tour wherein you can get a free t-shirt if you visit all five locations in one twenty-four hour period.

And who doesn't like free t-shirts?

So when we heard they were throwing an end of summer tomato and mozzarella bash on a Saturday evening, we had to go for it. We piled into the car at 8:00 on Saturday morning, our GPS throwing out precise directions and sarcastic barbs as we headed northeast. I took a picture of the GPS unit, but all GPS units kind of look the same, so just imagine taking orders from this guy:

(The car. Not the goofball showing you his thumb.)

We arrived at our first stop - Zingerman's Roadhouse - just in time for lunch.

The lighting's a little weird here, but you can kind of tell the aesthetic of the place. Dilapidated class with bricks on the floors, siding on the walls, big fans on the patio, and a huge barbecue pit out back.

Matt had the corned beef hash. Personally, I couldn't decide between the Roadhouse Reuben with thin sliced smoked ham and hot vinegar slaw, or the warm spinach and mushroom salad with roasted tomatoes in a brown butter vinaigrette with farmhouse cheddar.

So I got both.

It was pretty good.

We had a couple of hours to kill before we could check in to our hotel, so we decided to visit three of the other locations for some dessert. KITT got a little turned around while leaving the parking lot, and threw a bit of a tantrum. Amongst the petulant protesting: "If you aren't going to listen to me, just turn me off."

Tempting, but we also had no idea where we were going, aside from some directions printed off Google Maps, so we let him escort us to our next destination. Eventually.

The bakeshop, coffee brewery, and creamery were all located in a sort of concrete bunker style office park. Which was a bit surprising, but I guess you take space where you can get it. It certainly didn't effect the quality of the food.

Cafe Cubano and Cappuccino from the coffee brewery

Ginger Gelato from the creamery

(Bean roaster and a huge garbage can full of espresso beans at the brewery!!)

Only picked up a bottle of lemon oil from the bakeshop for the time being, but MAN did it smell delicious around there. We hung out in the courtyard between the creamery and the bakeshop for a while (the weather was spectacular), before finally giving in and tracked down our hotel.

We scarcely had an hour to rest before heading out to the big party. But while we were stretched out on the bed I couldn't help noticing that something seemed different from the Red Roof Inns in my memory. They didn't always have huge flat screen TVs and granite countertops, did they? What about those fancy sinks that look like someone's just placed a bowl on top of the vanity? Designer panel styled curtains?

...No?

Well, anyway. We freshened up and headed to the party, which I wrote about a few days ago (click here for details, if you missed it). We finished up the night reading new food porn in bed before falling asleep at the incredibly late hour of 9:30.

Food Porn.

Seriously.

The next day would hopefully bring a yummy breakfast and a visit to the last location on our itinerary - The Delicatessen.

...But would the Deli be open on a Sunday Ann Arbor morning?

Party Time!

Just returned yesterday from our trip to the Zingerman's compound. I'll get into details of the whole weekend in a bit, but for now I thought I'd share the main reason for heading there in the first place:

2nd Annual Tomato and Mozzarella Party

August 27, 2011

Ann Arbor, Michigan

We arrived at the creamery about 5:00 pm, and were handed name tags so that we knew we were Officially Invited. Then we headed over to the main event hall, where our cheese-making hostess Aubrey demonstrated how to make mozzarella!!! Really excited about this, because she provided lots of helpful tips I wouldn't have even thought to ask about. Such as - it's ok to wing it a little bit. You can always correct it if it's not quite right. (Seriously forget to think that when I'm in the process. Hearing it from a nine-year veteran is encouraging.)

It was while watching her stretch and form the cheese that I had a thought: I feel really weird. Wait, I know this feeling - I'm about to pass out! Maybe it's just the warm sun combined with the cool breeze... Or maybe I just need water. We've been traveling all day and I've hardly had any. OH MY GOD - I've hardly had any water all day!! I should get some before... Wait, what's she saying? I can't make out what she's saying. Ooh, out-of-focus tunnel vision... I'm definitely, definitely about to pass out.

At which point Matt hauled my ass over to the shady side of the building, where I sat in the cool grass drinking out of a large water bottle until I didn't look grey and clammy anymore, and then we rejoined the group.

Adventure!

(There was an appetizer served - burrata [a pouch of mozzarella filled with cottage cheese and heavy cream] mixed with roasted red pepper and olive oil served on a leaf of endive - which was delicious, but I didn't get a picture of it because I was busy not fainting.)

We were soon ushered inside to tables featuring centerpieces of fresh basil, accompanied by large vessels of water. This was a good thing.

Then we were fed this:

Fresh cheese on three tomatoes: Cherokee Purple, Aunt Ruby's German Green, and Kellogg's Breakfast. The Kellogg's Breakfast one was really sweet. I liked the Cherokee Purple best. (No, not because of that.)

Pain de Mantagne (a hearty, rustic bread) rubbed with garlic and plum tomato, drizzled with olive oil and served with Italian and French sheep's milk cheeses. I don't think this picture expresses how big this piece of bread was. It was about the size of both of my hands placed next to each other.

Fresh cheese rolled with prosciutto and pesto, paired with an Hungarian Heart tomato.

Eggplant fried in cornmeal with smoked mozzarella melted on top, later to be accompanied by a slice of Brandywine tomato because they cut up too many. The acidity of the tomato is just what the dish needed. :-)

Pain de Mie (hearty white bread) with Brandywine tomato and bacon fat mayonnaise. WTF? Who thinks of something like that? It was really, really good. And really, really rich. And by that point I'd eaten so much that I took one bite and thought, Hm, this is really good and really rich. I think I might throw up.

But I did not!

I was saved by this:

Vanilla gelato topped with Portugese tomato jam. This was a sweet tomato jam, made with cinnamon and sugar. I guess you really can't find it outside of Portugal. Aubrey fell in love with it last time she was there, and couldn't find it anywhere. So she got it added to the menu just so Zingerman's would import it and she could taste it again. She ordered one too many jars for the crowd that night. We now own a jar of Portugese tomato jam.

Before you worry - No, we did not try to finish everything that was put on our plates that night. I think that might be impossible. Though there were those who attempted it.

Along the way, there were informative discussions about the history of the tomato and the importance of species differentiation, cooking demonstrations, friendly banter, and a 20% discount off purchases at the creamery!

It was beyond fantastic to be surrounded by people getting excited over what kind of tomato and cheese they were currently tasting...

Here's a too quick snap of all the different tomato varieties we sampled (taken on the way out of the door; didn't watch my framing):

Emily, the farmer who provided Saturday night's produce, said she harvests between 800 and 1000 pounds of tomatoes every two days this time of year. We did not actually sample any Green Zebras that night, but she had brought some along just in case, and since they were there and all... We had those alongside some cheese fondue last night.

*bounce*

First Ever Plum Tart!

"I think I'm going to try making a plum tart. Frangipane's already done and all that."

"Frangipane... Is that what you're calling Pim these days?"

No, my darling smartass husband, that is not what I'm calling Pim these days, although I did get the recipe from her blog. Frangipane is, you may recall, that delicious blend of almonds, sugar, and butter that I concocted for my fig tart. I figured it would be equally yummy underneath some fresh plums, or at least worth a try, so that's what I did.

I still have no idea how to pronounce that word, by the way. I keep trying out different accents and emphases. You can imagine that up there said like Brad Pitt in "Inglourious Basterds," for example.

Anyway, so I let a portion of the stuff come to room temp from the fridge and sliced up four plums - which I got specifically because

they were labled Dragon Pluots in the store. (Advertising works!) I let them sit on paper towels while I was getting everything else ready, but I was still kind of nervous because I'd never made a cooked fresh fruit tart at all before, let alone one with such juicy components.

I did the same trick with my remaining sheet of puff pastry as with my fig tart, scoring a frame around the edge and docking the center so that it would form a sort of box around the fruit as it cooked. I spread the frangipane in the center and arranged the fruit prettily on top, said a prayer (which mostly went "please work, please work, please work"), and slipped it into the oven at 350 degrees.

I waited 30 minutes.

When I took it out, the edges looked done, but the center, as I had feared, was still very wet and pliable.

Boo!

I wrapped the edges in foil, adjusted the heat to 375, said another quick prayer, and put it back in the oven for another 15 minutes.

It worked!

The bottom was golden brown and sturdy, while the fruit still held its shape. The flavor is rich and intensely jammy, and the underlying sugar is just enough to temper the slight tartness of the fruit.

...And it's purtiful.

Seems to serve about nine.

ZINGERMAN'S!!!

Firstly, if you do not know about Zingerman's, you are truly missing out on something wonderful. Imagine J. Peterman for foodies. A wonderfully illustrated catalog with a quirky sense of humor through which you can order a variety of intensely interesting foodstuffs.

thick-cut applewood-smoked bacon
raw milk stilton cheese
chocolate chunk sourdough bread
a ruben sandwich kit
sardine-stuffed cherry peppers
olive oils from Italy, Spain, and France

They even have a Culinary Adventure Society you can "join" to have the opportunity to taste things you might not otherwise get to sample unless you were to wind up in the small village in Europe where the stuff is produced.

Anyway - It turns out that this mythical perveyor of all things yummy actually exists in the real world! Specifically, in Ann Arbor, Michigan! And they have events and stuff!

While perusing the latest edition of their newsletter, I noticed that there is a Tomato & Mozzarella Party scheduled for the weekend of August 27th.

Also, there is something called the "Tour de Bacon."

Who wouldn't be excited by the sound of that?

The Tour is a special "contest" held this July and August, wherein if you visit all five of their retail locations within twenty-four hours (Deli, Dairy, Coffee Roastery, Roadhouse restaurant, and Bakery), you get a free t-shirt.

Reservations for the party have been made.
It's on a Saturday, so we should have ample time to complete the tour.

Photo below is my latest order. It arrived quite recently, so I'm still riding on a wave of euphoria. Included are an olive oil coffee cake (moms who've tried the lime coconut and/or almond ones, this is our favorite so far), all natural non-sweetened peanut butter made from jumbo Virginia peanuts, semi-dried Italian cherry tomatoes in olive oil seasoned with basil and garlic, and wild artichokes in olive oil, also from Italy.

Those artichokes are tiny.
Smaller-than-a-nickel tiny.

www.zingermans.com

Lunch.

Fried Tomatoes.
(They were green when I bought them, I swear.)

1 good sized tomato per person
1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup cornstarch, assuming this is feeding two people
Salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper in generous amounts
1 egg per tomato, beaten
Panko bread crumbs

Slice tomatoes into desired thickness.
Place on paper towels to drain.

Dredge in flour/corn starch/salt/pepper/cayenne mixture, then egg, then press into bread crumbs.

With tongs, put tomatoes into appropriately heated oil (350 degrees) and cook until both sides are golden brown.

Like all other fried things, drain them on a paper bag or paper towels.

Plate, and sprinkle with feta cheese and hot sauce.

Eat.

Problem Child.

So I was browsing my favorite food blogs the other day, and I came across Pim Techamuanvivit's recipe for what she calls "the easiest fig tart ever." (Check out Chez Pim for yourself!) And I thought, Easy fig tart?? That sounds delicious!

OK, actually I thought, Easy fig tart?? That sounds promising and the pictures are drop dead gorgeous. I need a better camera. I wonder if it's worth looking into SLRs or if just a better point and shoot would do it. I need something that can handle close ups, but I'd also like to be able to play with the focus and all that. Of course, I guess I could just do "all that" in PhotoShop, but it's just not the same somehow. Probably a point and shoot is fine. I can't really see dropping a grand to take pictures of my dinner...

But I digress.

Here are the ingredients:

10-15 fresh figs, halved or quartered depending on size
To spread under the figs, 75 grams each of granulated sugar, almonds, and butter
Pie crust dough, make your own or use a store bought "all butter" one

Simple enough, right? So I made a quick list of ingredients, got a little scared at the abstract idea of 75 grams worth of butter, and headed to the market.

Where I found no fresh figs whatsoever.
And no pre-made pie dough, either.

What the hell????

Figs! It's... they're figs!
You can stock starfruit, but not figs?
In the middle of fig season?

Whatever.

I grabbed a package of dried ones and a package of frozen puff pastry as substitutes. (I'm aware I had the option of making my own pie dough. I didn't feel like it. This is was supposed to be easy - it's in the description!) I also grabbed some almonds and a few sticks of butter.

Back at home, I remembered that I had a kitchen scale (yay!), and discovered that 75 grams of butter is only about three quarters of a stick.

I also discovered that I could not find the blades to my food processor.

Okay, so at this point we're working with dried figs, puff pastry, and a blender.
Fine.
Let's get to it.

I toasted the almonds in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes. Then I dumped them in the blender with the sugar and blended - stopping often to rearrange things - until the two were homogenized into a fine powder.

Then I added the butter.
The blender did not like that part.

I dumped everything into a bowl and sort of kneaded the ingredients together till they were pretty much evenly mixed and my hands were nice and shiny.

To prep the puff pastry I scored an inch and a half border around the perimeter and docked (aka "poked holes in") the center heavily with a fork. Then I painted the border with egg white and sprinkled with sugar.

Time for assembly: Spread 1/4 of the almond/sugar/butter mixture - otherwise called frangipane, ooh la la - over the center of the tart and arrange the quartered/halved figs prettily on top.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes until puff pastry is golden and puffed around the edges, flat under the figs. (This part actually worked! I did learn something from all those cooking shows!)

When it came out of the oven I drizzled the whole thing with agave nectar. It looked DELICIOUS! Until I realized I'd forgotten to prep the surface it was sitting on and I might possibly be serving a fig and tin foil tart.

That sucker was stuck on good.

In the end, I managed to remove most of the stuff and arrange a photo op. The setting's nice, the lighting's good, and you can't even tell the thing's busted into a million pieces.

See?

Happy 4th!

It's the Fourth of July! The day for us Americans to show how awesome we are by declaring our greatness and blowing things up! Actually, depending on what part of the world you're in, I guess that can be any day....

But this is about food.

And what better way to demonstrate at least one of those things than by preparing seared sesame-crusted tuna with a ponzusake-ginger reduction?

Brilliant!
(and delicious...)

To be honest, I'm not sure how much the cooking method mattered for the main course here, but just to PROVE what patriotic citizens we are, we contributed to our carbon footprint by preparing it on the grill. The charcoal grill. Not one of those commie gas ones.

I served this with grilled corn-on-the-cob spread with mayonnaise. And lime juice and cayenne pepper, but the important part is that we burned the hell out of it and slathered it with fat. So it's barely like eating an actual vegetable at all! Bonus: It's really, really good. Just like eating grilled corn-on-the-cob with butter, but more caloric.

Also some edamame (boiled soy beans), which are really too healthy to mention.

Extra snaps:

Hello. I would like some of that, if it's tuna. I think it's tuna.


Yum. Tuna!


Can I have some more tuna?

Then I made desert:

OKAY, it's a brown sugar Pop Tart topped with whipped cream and berries from our garden. Pop Tarts are Americans. Tarty Americans. Still counts.

Then, for good measure, we blew stuff up.
Because we're America.
And that's what we do.