A rare post of, err, just food! ( Because I am not a food pornish poster, typically.)
There was a faint chill in the air, enough to have pondered "risotto....." But I had just bought assorted organic maters/squashes at the growers' market. Hence, risotto with summer squash and onion/garlic, plus tomatoes with basil! Fantabulous.
Dry Riesling, too.
In the tranquility of Ubud's Hotel Tjampuhan open air dining area, we ate perfect omelets, croissants, the local ( lousy) powdered Balinese coffee, fruit, and, for "dessert," Bubuh Injin or black rice pudding, a not-too-sweet treat that goes well with the excellent tea we chose, after enduring the poor coffee.
( With Sumatra and Java right next door, how is it that Bali coffee, Kopi Bali, reigns supreme? One can get fine Italian-style coffees, yes, at cafes, but not at the hotel, and non touristic restaurants.)
Bubuh Injin---Black Rice Pudding via Bali The Online Travel Guide
Ingredients...1/2 cup of black glutinous rice (see below). |
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Method...Mix the black and white glutinous rice, and rinse under running water to remove starch. |
Often I overhear people at growers markets wondering how to cook this magnificent green. They hold up a bunch, sigh at its beauty, then lay it down, seemingly flummoxed by the difficulty involved.
This is not Chateaubriand, friends!
Gently start to sautee at least 3 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped, in a decent olive oil.
Slice up the washed chard, even some of the stems--they are edible, but maybe not to everyone's liking, texturally speaking.
Toss them in. Move them about with tongs. (The moisture from the washing should be enough, but you can always toss in some wine, too. Never hurts.) Add ground black pepper, a tad of salt. Cover, briefly.
The chard takes somewhat longer than spinach, which quickly goes limp. But not tooooo much longer.
Eat--or---if you want to, blend in a generous dollop of cream or 1/2 and 1/2 first.
Then eat. Enjoy.
From AP, April 28: "...For a third year in a row, launches of new food magazines topped all other categories, according to Samir Husni, director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi School of Journalism."
To my utter astonishment, a not new magazine called Taste of Home is the nation's best selling "food" mag, according to the article--and I have never seen it nor heard of it.
In its website About section it states this:
"Taste of Home is part of the Reader's Digest Food Affinity (??!!), the first and only media community designed to unify the voices and experience of everyday cooks and home entertainers." "Home entertainer" brought to (my bizarre) mind some dame with an apron on doing baton twirling, or sword swallowing...Then, recalling my immersion in the House and Garden network a while back, I realized that the word is really "entertaining." People no longer have friends over for dinner, they "entertain." Silly me. Images of cocktail parties in the 1960's begin to swirl in my brain.
In any event, it appears that food magazines, like most of the food blogs out there---20,000 plus?---are all about pictures of dishes, and zillions of recipes--and the interweaving of foodish groupies with same. Why am I not enticed? ( Full disclosure: We subscribe to Saveur, a mag that started out emphasizing food history, as well as travel, as well as recipes, but I fear it is morphing more into mega recipe land.)
Give me The New Yorker, farm stands and growers markets, fun, unpretentious restaurants, and once in a while, a new cookbook to leaf through! Thanks.
Let's face it, says she modestly, Foodie is fabulous at whipping up dinner from the veg lurking about. (Plus frozen crusty panini.)
What is this? (The Spouse often asks...) Almost all organic.
Mixed summer squash steamed with onion, garlic, handful of leftover spinach mixed in at end, green chile spice from NM, drizzle of Israeli olive oil, black pepper.
Japanese eggplant pan-grilled with chopped green onion, Italian parsley, garlic, sliced tomatoes, a tad of panko, more drizzled oil, mozzarella bits, fresh Parmesan, lid on top for a 'mo, fresh basil, pronounced BAH-ZIL, like Basil Rathbone, on top before serving. Olive oil dipping thingie for warmed bread.
Oh--there was wine involved, at least for Foodie.
Eaten with Al and Annunziata Fresco, under the palms.
Mastry's Seafood and Tackle in St Petersburg, since 1975. Inside, huge coolers with fillets, whole fish, and pink Gulf shrimp. If you buy 10 pounds, the mullet is only $1.19 a pound, baby!
We bought a dozen pink Gulf shrimp, cooked up some short grain rice with garlic, onion, green onion, red pepper, parsley, yellow tomatoes, veg broth, water and white wine, boiled the shrimp lickety split, and indulged. For greens? Baby bok choy. Plus, a decent rose wine!
Fava beans, one of the oldest cultivated "peas," and along with the soy bean, the only two beans original to the Eastern Hemisphere. What better ingredient on which to focus, directly following the young Egyptian "winter revolution."
"Ful medames is an ancient Egyptian dish with origins that reach back to the time of the pharaohs. This simple dish of slow-simmered fava beans seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and spices is the daily breakfast meal for millions of Egyptians. To do ful medames right takes some time, most of it spent soaking and simmering. Start this recipe in the morning to have it ready for breakfast the next day. Especially popular during Ramadan."
Ful Medames---Egyptian Slow-Cooked Fava Beans
4 to 6 servings
Beginning in the 8th c in Mecca, many of the faithful have celebrated the birth of the Prophet Mohammed, by sharing food with the poor. But Islamic scholars do not seem to agree on A--whether to celebrate the Prophet's birthday at all; B--whether to feast or fast.
Centuries of learned discussion still have not pinned down the appropriateness of any birthday party, if you will. The Prophet is said NOT to have celebrated anyone's birthday. ( Jesus of Nazareth likely had little hoopla around his own birthday, right? At the time...)
So, the day, this year February 15, is a not entirely approved Islamic celebratory entity. Apparently Sunnis adopted what was a Shi'ite festival as their own, in the 12th century, and that may have opened a continuing messy theological can of chickpeas...
What to do? Fasting has its place, but is not the least bit celebratory. Parades, typical of the celebrations in many Muslim countries, make one hungry. The solution likely is to share bits of sweets, possibly nibbling one or two, and lie low.
Curiously, the biggest celebrations--festivals, feasting-- of the Prophet's birthday are among the Hindus of northern India.
A good cookie, however, knows no religious boundaries. I found the following recipe for Asbusa ( Egyptian Cookies,) at a website called Cooking with The Bible, a choice that seems utterly correct for this post.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Bring all ingredients to room temperature. In a large bowl, mix the sugar and cream of wheat. Add butter; mix by hand, rubbing the butter, sugar, and cream of wheat between your palms for 10 minutes or more until the mixture is very well blended.
Fold the yogurt into the dough and knead by hand until the dough feels smooth. (If it feels dry, add water 1 Tbsp. at a time so when you hold it in your hands it feels like pie dough.)
Butter a 13″ x 9″ pan and pat the dough into the pan with your hand. With a sharp knife slice the dough in 2″ squares or into diamond shapes. Press one almond half onto the surface of each piece. Bake for 30–40 minutes or until golden brown.
Yield: 12–16 servings
Let's face it, and with all due modesty, I'm a genius. I was peering into the fridge this morning in search of something exciting (!) to eat when I espied a bag of Trader Joe whole wheat pizza dough with a due date of this very day.
OMG, today? Hmmm....So I took out the dough, cut it in half, warmed it in the micro, and fired up my countertop convection oven. I spread out ( with a glass) the dough, sprinkled it with sugar and cinnamon, and then rolled it up. Then I stared down at it, added a tad more cin/sugar, and remembered a vision from the distant past--of someone cutting the dough into smaller bits before baking. ( The real bakers out there are roaring with laughter over this, my epiphany, but, hey--baking never was my strong suit, ok?!)
I bet it was a Pillsbury commercial of some kind, turning its refrigerated, additive-filled white biscuit (?) dough into cinnamon rolls.
Who knows. In any event, the 4 resulting mini rolls were perfect, 2 eaten with swiftly cooked-in-olive oil scrambled eggs, and accompanied by a good strong Scandinavian blend cuppa.
The 16 oz.package of dough costs $1.29 here in Albuquerque, and I have half left. ( Whole wheat flour, oil, yeast, sea salt.)
All I need to do now is create some baking powder frosting, freeze it, and then go crazy with this notion on a lazy Sunday morning.
NB This took all of maybe 15 minutes.........
( Thanks to pic from http://www.chow.com/pick/5678)
Having promoted the at-home making of pizza, I am posting the best-ever
recipe for making the dough, from a terrific blog written by a friend
of ours from the Howard Dean campaign (!) who now lives and blogs
outside London. Here's her regular blog---and here's her food blog.
Basic Pizza Dough
1 tablespoon dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
2 2/3 cups warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons salt
Put the yeast, sugar, and 1 cup of the water into a large bowl and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, until the yeast dissolves and the liquid appears foamy. Add the remaining water and 1 cups of unbleached flour, plus the whole wheat flour. Beat well (about 100 strokes), and then let stand for 10 to 15 minutes, until the mixture swells and becomes bubbly.
Add the salt and the olive oil, then stir in the remaining flour 1 cup at a time until the dough is stiff but still slightly sticky. (Reserve 1/2 cup flour for the board you'll be kneading on.) Place the dough on a lightly floured board and let rest for a few minutes. (You can use your time wisely and clean the bowl at this point; you'll "knead" it later!)
Knead the dough on the floured board about 5 to 8 minutes. (I've read it described as the consistency of an "earlobe" but that's kinda weird. Just knead it about 200 times and you'll be fine.) Return the dough to the oiled bowl, cover with a cloth, and put it in a warm-ish place to rise, about 35-40 minutes. It should have doubled in size by then.
At this point, divide the dough if you plan to make two pizzas. If you want to save some for another day, place half the dough in an oiled freezer bag and refrigerate or freeze. If you're not quite ready to make the pizza, you can refrigerate all the dough and make it later. Or punch it down and let it rise again, thus buying yourself some more time.
Let's suppose you've opted for number one and are preparing the pizza. Roll it into a ball and flatten with a rolling pin or a chilled bottle of wine. (The second option has more flair, in my opinion, and works quite well.) You'll have to work with it to get it to about 1/3 inch thick. Toss it in the air like a real pizza chef, if you dare.
Preheat the oven to 475°F. Place the flattened pizza dough in a oiled pan. I usually sprinkle corn meal in the pan, out of habit, mostly. Spread a thin layer of sauce over the top, and any uncooked toppings you've prepared. Now you want to cook the pizza half way, about 8-10 minutes, before adding the pre-cooked toppings and "cheese".
After adding toppings and about a cup of grated soy mozzarella cheese, bake for another 8-10 minutes, until cheese melts and starts to brown. Sprinkle with fresh basil leaves and let sit for 5 minutes before cutting in square-ish pieces.
( Actual pizza as photographed by Kathy F, blogger and vegan cook.)
How did I miss this news item from last week re the Prez' dietary faves?! 
Apparently the current White House chef revealed at an international cheffery gathering that GWB loves cheeseburger pizza for supper. For those not in the know, this is a margarita pizza, topped with hamburger, cheese ( more,) bacon, pickle, ketchup.....relish? Sort of a complete cholesterol party whammo right in the kisser.
For lunch, the Prez is said to favor p.b. and honey on cinnamon bread, with p. chips and pickles.
Ok-- at first I thought, he's preggers, there can be no other explanation.
Guardian columnist Zoe Williams pondered the fact that the WHouse went to great lengths to emphasize Bush's exercise program and that the p. chips were "homemade." ( She also asked this question: " How come a grown man eats like a child?" )
She went on to note that " Domino's in the US admits ( it) has the highest cholesterol of any of its pizzas, and a calorie count of 1,600. Now, I just recreated this pizza, at home, with ingredient guidance from the Sun, and I don't see how they could possibly have kept the calories so low. I'm not kidding.
A large cheese and tomato base is 1,200, before you even start to heap upon it the glistening animal products. Minced beef, 500 calories, onion fried in oil, another 150, four tablespoons of ketchup, 60, four rashers of bacon, 224, more cheese, 240, and some gherkins. This pizza is a magnificent 2,374 calories and, unlike Domino's, I don't have access to industrial fats, which we all know are more calorie-dense than olive oil."
She admitted it smelled good, mind you. But then, she is a self-described "pregnant person."
Anyway-- the Prez enjoys his foods. A fella's got to be fueled, after all.
( Pizza pic of Domino's Cheeseburger Pizza from http://www.cheese-burger.net/stories/cheeseburger-pizza.html )
Public Television's Masterpiece Theatre debuts The Secret Life of Mrs. Beeton this Sunday, and the writeup on line sounds more like an upcoming series on Mystery. 
We will be glued to the tale of the Victorian era young woman, Isabella Mary Mayson, who did not cook, yet is famous still as the author of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, often considered the most famous English cookery book. She died young, after giving birth to her fourth child---as yet we have no clue as to her "secret life."
Here's her recipe for, of all things, "Pineapple Chips."
1577. INGREDIENTS. -- Pineapples; sugar to taste.
Mode. -- Pare and slice the fruit thinly, put it on dishes, and strew over it plenty of pounded sugar. Keep it in a hot closet, or very slow oven, 8 or 10 days, and turn the fruit every day until dry; then put the pieces of pine on tins, and place them in a quick oven for 10 minutes. Let them cool, and store them away in dry boxes, with paper between each layer.
Time. -- 8 to 10 days.
Seasonable. -- Foreign pines, in July and August.
A substantive Easter basket is filled with foods with which to break your fast on Easter morning. In Ukraine these would include the garlicky sausage, kovbasa, hard-boiled eggs, baked cheese, paska or yeasty Easter bread, along with cinnamon babka, butter, horseradish and beet relish. ( A macchiato, too, please!)
The egg as pagan symbol of the life-giving sun ( see yolk) somehow became enmeshed with the blood of Christ ( red), and the tears of Mary ( many colors.)
The Ukrainian eggs or pysanka shown here are the work of artist Sofia Zielyk.
Confession: Once again, I, Foodie, have a pile of food books stacked up next to my desk, all sent by perfectly nice folks for me to review. The latest is Jane Butel's tome, Real Women Love Chiles. I have met Jane, she's a southwest cooking guruette who lives here in NM, obviously, as she spells "chiles" correctly...And I will get to her book. ( Among others.)
But right now, I am blogging about a LIBRARY BOOK. ( Gawd, the guilt.)
Yesterday, the sirens called to me from the "new non fiction" rack. Actually, it was Amy Sedaris' wacky , colorful book on hospitality called I Like You--Hospitality Under the Influence ( Warner Books, 2006.) Born in 1961, Amy apparently would have preferred being an adult in the rickrack and jello salad-infested 1950's, stylistically and recipe-wise. ( Druggily speaking, no.) Her Lil' Smoky Cheese Ball ! Her Meatloaf Wreath! Her Band-Aid Cake!
Amy, an actor, writer, performer, etc., etc,, is Martha Stewart high, with a sense of humor, Martha nurturing and unleashing her inner tackiness. The recipes are real, though this might be hard to believe, given their surroundings. So are the pix of Amy's fake food collection scattered throughout .
( Incidentally, while leafing through a half shredded copy of an entertainment mag while biking at the gym, I read a blurb about Meryl Streep--she said that in order to prepare to play the Devil in The Devil Wears Prada she gave up drinking wine with dinner and lost a few pounds--but more crucially, she lost her sense of humor, an absolute prerequisite for playing the silver-haired glam-0-harridan....)
(OK, that was extraordinarily "incidental.")
Feeling dull? Take a look at this book---the photospread detailing how Amy puts on pantyhose will remind you why you gave them up eons ago but also whet your appetite for leaving the crafts section of the book, and trying out some of her (genuine) Greek-American recipes.
I know--this book isn't even "new." ( Sigh.)
Here's a decent recipe from Cooks.com , for those of you exploring what to do with that poor, sad, lame duck quacking away miserably in the bushes down by the pond.
| ROAST DUCK | |
Salt and pepper the duck the day before you cook it. Prick the skin to let the juice out. Put flour and paprika on the skin. Stuff the duck with sauerkraut and caraway seed and skewer the opening. put the duck in a roasting pan with the cover off. Cook in a 500 degree oven until well brown; about 35-45 minutes. Turn down to 350 degrees; cover; baste often with stock. Cook about 2 1/2 hours (or more) until done. NOTE: This recipe can also be used with capon. In that case, turn the oven to 450 degrees for browning and finish at 350 degrees. | |
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It is typical for losers of elections, particularly poor losers, to "eat crow." We thought that those persons in such a position might find these recipe hints and links of interest.
Pan Fried Crow
Ingredients
2 eggs
seasoned bread crumbs or flour
oil or bacon grease
Preparation
Remove breast meat from as many crows as desired. Beat with meat mallet (for tenderizing). Dip pieces in beaten egg and then in bread crumbs or flour. Fry in oil in hot skillet. Bacon grease can be substituted by can smoke. Leave inside a tad pink.
"Ric Griffith is crazy about pumpkins. He has 2,400 in his yard, with 600 still to be delivered, " according to a brief note in The Washington Post. The neighbors look forward to the Kenova, West Virginia punkin pasha's work every year, and probably partake of the pumpkin "meat" that results.
For all things pumpkin from The FOOD Museum, click here.
( Left) Don't try this at home--the "cannibal pumpkin" from extremepumpkins.com
Best Ever Pumpkin Pie? Try this recipe from The Spice House. And for our vegan friends, this one.
Worst P.Pie ever? According to one blogger it's this one from epicurious.com, normally not the recipe source from hell.
And finally...According to consumeraffairs.com, Target stores is recalling $5 kits of Mr. Potato Head-type ( I assume these are not real licensed Mr. PH items) stick-in ears, noses, eyes, etc., for use with PUMPKINS, a sacrilege right there, with the usual concerns about small children ingesting the parts. Take the kits back to Target while your kids stay busy ingesting raw pumpkin seeds and wielding sharp knives.
Carrot cake has never been high on Foodie's dessert list--gummy frosting, the bunny food innards riddled with the dreaded raisin--until two days ago. On Wednesday a young swain staying here on the Hudson tackled Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, as offered up in The Gourmet (Magazine) Cookbook edited by Ruth Reichl. (The recipe had been recommended by our hostess who had been lusting after "decent" carrot cake for weeks.)
Well, fellow foodies, this carrot cake was so luscious you would have thought it was made of Belgian chocolate. It was light, moist, the frosting perfectly appropriate,and the textures visually appealing. Maybe the pineapple keeps it moist, maybe the coconut that goes practically untasted is somehow a major part of this cake's success. We must stress, however, the prowess of the cake maker. A young engineer put all the well-considered ingredients together meticulously--we think engineers are especially suited to the go-by-the-rules-aspect of baking, don't you?
If you have on hand 3/4 lbs of ( organic) carrots, one 8 oz can of pineapple and 1 c. flaked coconut, you will be well on your way to creating this cake. ( Raisins are listed as "optional," which in our book means never ever ruin this cake with them. ) ( Page 726, edition 2004.)
( Thanks to www.girlsclubworldwide.org for the carrot pic.)
