Eating October

Fall is by far my most favorite time of the year. It feels like all the energy around me is rushing to take rest for the Winter. I get lost in the transformation. So today I took a walk over lunch – to the river – to drift my many thoughts down the river.

I just wandered, with no plan. Something that doesn't happen very often anymore. And something I plan to start doing more of. It really helps one stop to notice life moving around you. At the beginning of my walk to the river, I walked with a young woman who complimented me on my hat for two blocks just chatting about the day. I studied up close, the marble enveloping a building I drive by on my way home everyday, admiring the reflected patterns. I hopped up on a fountain to watch the water pour giddily into a pool. I approached the grain belt sign with intention. And when I got to the Hennepin Avenue Bridge I climbed up too high and dangled myself till I felt alive with danger. Then I hopped down in eager anticipation of a 5 minute walk further to Surdyks which houses my favorite cheese shop.

Passing by Nicollet Island, I caught a glimpse of the hugest driftwood ever, I might go back there just to take a picture. When I approached Nye's, I was welcomed with some polka which put a swing in my step. In and out of the cheese shop, wine store and butcher shop, I was back on Hennepin moving back across the bridge. Late for a creative pow-wow & fingers creased from Smith's Nut Brown carrier - I caught glimpse of a bride and groom walking for their wedding photos. It really was a quite beautiful day for photography. I felt grateful for that.

When I got home tonight, all I wanted was something hearty and light at the same time. My B. had run out to pick up some pasta and greens, so I started on an acorn squash. I know what you're thinking, ew, squash! But I'm telling you, I never once liked squash until I lived with a Greek girl who knew how to prepare it!

Here's what happened next

Penne with Roasted Acorn Squash

1 bag of penne, gluten free or regular
1 medium acorn squash
4 Tbsp butter (or olive oil if you desire)
1 onion, diced small
4 smashed garlic cloves, minced
10 sage leaves, minced
shaved fresh parm
fresh ground pepper & sea salt

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Split your acorn squash from stem to bottom, and scoop out the insides. (You can clean the seeds up and make roasted squash seeds...yum) Fill the pocket in each half with a tablespoon of butter. Cover the top of each with foil and place in a oven at 400 for 30 minutes or until a fork slides in easy. When cool, cut into cubes and set aside to cool.

Take your minced onions, garlic and butter and cook over a medium heat until onions achieve a brilliant caramel tone. Add minced sage, continue to fry up the herbs a bit. Set aside.

Add noodles to your salted water, boil until al dente. Drain and slide into the onion pan and continue to cook while adding a nob of butter or olive oil (your choice). You want to get a good crust on these noodles.

When you're satisfied, pull from heat and shave parm all over the top. Sprinkle liberally with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Be grateful for the delicious transition of Fall.

Palmiers

I made these French cookies which resemble tiny elephant ears to bring in this morning for my colleagues. The cookies are much more like pastries, their edges crunchy from caramelizing; the insides flaky and rich.

Palmiers
2 sheets of puff pastry
2 cups sugar
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons of crushed cardamom

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Grind cardamom pods in a mortar pestle until you've a fine dust. Mix the sugar, salt and cardamom dust well. On a large cutting board or counter, spread about a cup of the sugary mixture. Lay a defrosted sheet of puff pastry out. Sprinkle the pastry evenly with the sugar. Roll out the pastry to somewhere around 13x13 inches. Take one edge and roll up to the center. Do the same with the other side, you should have sort of a pretzel shape. Slice 1/2 slices and arrange on a light-coloured cookie sheet.

Bake the cookies for 6 minutes until caramelized and lightly browned on the bottom, then turn with a spatula and bake another 3 minutes, until caramelized on the other side. Transfer to a baking rack to cool. Wrap in wax paper to keep fresh.

Judging from one colleagues intake of 10 alone, I'd say they liked them.

Thank God for Rick Bayless and Bob Ross

Beans. They are amongst my most favorite things to eat. Green beans, soybeans, lentils, kidney, pinto, black and adzuki are a few of my favorites. They're just so versatile. And dammit if Rick Bayless himself didn't just make my beans – and Sunday afternoon prep work for thes work-week much easier.

The concept is flawless. The gentle and long cooking perspective helps the beans to keep their juices with them the entire time, as opposed to a soak or quick-cook method. It also allows them to keep relatively intact. The slow-cook advantage is the ability to infuse the flavors you want into the beans while cooking, therefore giving masterful depth with little effort.

Chipotle Beans
1.5 cups dry black beans
1.5 cups dry pinto beans
1 dried chipotle pepper
1 onion, chopped medium sized
1/2 head of garlic, smashed

Heat water to a boil in an electric kettle (or pot on the stove). You will need to cover your beans by about 4 inches, so keep that in mind. Give your beans a good rinse and add them to your crock-pot. Cover with boiling water. Turn crock-pot on high. Add dried chipotle, onion and garlic. Let cook for 4-6 hours or until beans are soft, but not delicate. You may need to add water as the beans expand and absorb. Beans normally increase to 3 times their size while they cook. 1 cup of dry beans will yield 3 cups cooked.

So what do we do with these beans? Well it varies, but once they are done, they usually go into a variety of recipes. Add jalapeno-tomatoes and a touch of cumin and you've got a great veg-chili. Add chopped tomatoes, green olives and avocado chunks and serve over brown rice for a great complete protein meal. Smash up and whip with cream cheese and bake for a great bean dip for chips. Serve over crushed tortilla chips, greens and sharp cheddar for a quick taco salad. Smash up with potatoes and make my Tomatillo Enchiladas! You can see why we make a pot each week.

Where's Bob Ross fit into all of this? Well, he's the master of the fan brush.

Comfort Food

While most people find themselves eating their way through a pint of Häagen Dazs in tough times, I head to the kitchen to work out my thoughts. It's the method of working the ingredients that eases my mind.

I had been thinking a lot about David Cross and how much I loved him in Just Shoot Me. There is one particular episode that never fails to cheer me up. And here is the excerpt that spawned tonights dinner. I heart David Cross. So I present you with a recipe adapted from Food Network Kitchens Cookbook

Chicken Pot Chicken Pot Chicken Pot Pie
(let's face it, you know you wanted to hear it again)

Stew
4 chicken breasts
4 cups chicken stock
4 medium potatoes, boiled and chopped into large chunks
2 carrots, sliced
handful of snow peas
4 tablespoons of butter
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, smushed and roughly chopped
couple sprigs of thyme
sprig of rosemary

Biscuit Dough
2 cups of flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons cold butter, chopped
3/4 cup milk
olive oil for brushing the tops

Stew Filling
Bring a pot of water to boil. Toss in your chopped potatoes and boil until soft, set aside. Drop in the sugar snap peas to blanch - this is mainly to keep the colour of the peas vibrant. Scoop them out after a few minutes and set aside.

Take your chicken breasts and put them into a pan. Cover completely with chicken stock and pop the lid on. Poach for 20 mins. Take off heat, let cool and then shred the chicken roughly with two forks, set aside. Reserve stock.

Melt butter in another pan and add the carrots, onion and garlic. Cook until soft. Make a roux by adding 1/3 cup of flour slowly. Once you've worked that in, whisk in the reserved stock. Once it's pulled together into a bit of a gravy, add the potatoes, sugar snap peas and chicken. Stir gently to combine. Season with herbs, salt and pepper. Pour into a ceramic baking dish.

Biscuit Dough
Whisk flour together with baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Work small amounts of butter into the flour with your fingertips. You should be aiming for pea-sized pieces (this helps with the flakiness factor). Gently stir in the milk until it forms a loose dough. Flour a kneading board and pat the dough into a rough rectangle about 1/2 thick. Fold the dough into thirds. Then pat out into a disc. Place dough on top of stew and cut a few breathing holes. Brush the top of the dough with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with sea salt.

Cook for about 20 minutes or until the top has become golden brown. Let sit for a good 5 minutes to set.

Think of David Cross while you eat it.

Banana Bread with Walnut Butter

I woke up this morning to a familiar scent from my past. Slighty sweet, a bit spicy. It was just for a second. Memories triggered by smell always seem to linger just enough for you to recognize it and then on second sniff, it's gone. The smell was banana bread, my Grandmother's and I had to try to replicate it.

Grandma Ruth's been gone now for 8 years, and lately she's become more present in my life. For such a long time it was too painful to think about her. Too emotional to sort through her belongings, let alone depart with them. This year has been a year of dealing with the past and preparing for the future, with B. I'm fortunate to have such a loving, understanding and supportive partner to open up old wounds and learn to heal them.

My Nana made the best banana bread and as hard as I've tried - I cannot get mine even close to hers. Her breads were the color of maple syrup, had a sticky top and you could see the banana threads swirl throughout the loaf. It resembled more a cake than a bread and sliced well. Although I'm going to keep at trying to nail down a recipe close to hers - there's a sweet satisfaction in knowing it will never taste as truly good without her having made it.

It's silly, but I need to get this recipe down, I'd like to introduce my own kids to it someday.

Today's recipe is a simple recipe, and one that seemed to fit my Grandma's style. Simple banana bread, no nuts, oats or fuss. Scented with vanilla - it's a moist and wet bread.

Quest for Nana's Nana Bread #1
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1.4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
3.4 brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/3 cups of ripe, mashed bananas

For the Walnut Butter:
handful of walnuts
couple tablespoons of soft butter

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 2 9x3 inch loaf pans. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Do not over-stir. Pour batter evenly into greased pans. Bake for about 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Grind walnuts in a mortar & pestel. Mix walnuts into butter.

I like to slice off a piece as I go and lightly butter. It's how my Nana did it.

*I can tell by the un-sticky surface of the bread that this isn't my Grandma's recipe...but damn it's still good. The mission continues...

Wedding Bliss

I know I haven't been around much lately, and that's because something very cool was unfolding in my life. I was devoted to planning a wedding for myself and B. I have to admit we didn't eat well while we were in the last few months of nailing down details! The day after the wedding I cooked all day long. It was a great, guilty pleasure to get back into our kitchen and start being productive again – and what better cause to celebrate than cooking a great big feast for my new husband?

I feel so much lighter in my heart knowing I've been truly chosen. I've always had this craving of belonging to someone in a more serious way. Our commitment was always there, but there is something to be said for standing up and declaring it in front of your family and closest friends that makes it real. I've never felt more balance in a relationship. The love flows both ways and is just as deep from one to the other. I am a lucky woman, he, a lucky man.

What better way to celebrate than with food?

Soon after, we headed down to Playa del Carmen for our honeymoon. Some righteous new friends had mentioned a condo their parents owned about 40 mins from where we had intended to stay. It was beautiful. We quickly decided to not be tourists and just enjoy timeless days together. We took one day trip the entire week. It was through Altournative Tours, which is a really cool company devoted to conservation. You can read about their mission here. We decided to go on the Jungle Crossing Tour into Rancho San Felipe, a small Maya family community where the Nohoch Nah Chich Cenote system is located (one of the longest explored underground river systems in the world). It was here, I tasted what the locals call Jamaica. The tea is made from Hibiscus petals, which are steeped with sugar in water. Omuhgosh. Sweet nectar of the gods. This divine treat is super easy to make and will make your kool-aid cry.

Jamaica

4 cups water
1/2 cup dried jamaica flowers
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups of cold water
lime slices, for garnish and a good squeeze

Serve with sugar to taste

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Remove the water from heat and add the dried flowers and sugar. Pop a lid over the pot and let steep for at least 10 minutes. About midway through, give a gentle stir to help the sugar dissolve.

Strain the tea into a large pitcher. Remember to take her easy, this stuff stains! You have a concentrated tea, so now you will want to add in another 4 cups. Stir thoroughly. Taste and adjust the amount of sugar based on your tastes. Chill. Pour over ice or drink it straight like a tough-guy. Slurp happily.

Now, do me proud and go get yourself a bag of Hibiscus flowers at your local Mexican Grocer.

Risotto Breakfast Cakes

Oh my. I have the house to myself this weekend and when that happens you bet your ass I'm cooking up a storm! The afternoon rolled-in the gloom yesterday with a dreary long-lasting shower over the northern suburbs of Minneapolis. Hmmm, what to make? I had asparagus and zucchini in the chiller...

I decided on Asparagus & Roasted Tomato Risotto. I just love this. I love it because 1 batch gets us dinner with enough left over to make Riso al Salto (Risotto Breakfast Cakes) for breakfast the next morning - sweet!

Riso al Salto Towers

cooled leftover risotto
eggs (1 per person - for tops)
Parmesan curls
fresh herbes (a nice touch - not to worry if you don't have them, it will be just as delicious - maybe parsley or chives)

1. So you take your chilled risotto and form it into palm size patties. Pour a bit of olive oil in your cast iron and place the patties in. Once they've browned, flip over. Pull them out on a plate when both sides have formed a nice crust.

2. Delicately crack two eggs into a warmed and lightly oiled pan. Fry them to your desired.

3. Place risotto cake on your plate, top with a fried egg and sprinkle with Parmesan curls and fresh herbes of your choice.

A great way to complete two meals with one dish. Rock.