Fancy Pasta

Having been a citizen of "emergency pasta" town for about as long as I can remember, I was slow to grasp the concept of Fancy Pasta. Yea, the olives and capers are an investment, but they turn a plain noodle dish into something extravagant. Perfect for potlucks.

Shawn's Cinque Terre Sauce*

1 red sweet pepper, roasted on stove top (didn't have)
1 medium eggplant (didn't have)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic (or more)
1 hot red chili (not sure if we had)
2 C peeled, canned tomatoes
2 T chopped parsley
1 T fresh basil
1/4 C red olives (pretty sure we used black)
capers
oregano
salt and pepper

Trim ends of eggplant and cut into half-inch cubes. Heat oil, then add garlic and sliced red chili and cook until browned. Add eggplant and continue cooking. Next, add the tomatoes. Cover and cook slowly until the eggplant is tender. Add parsley and basil. Cook 5 minutes and then add the olives and capers, and some oregano. Peel, core and seed the roasted sweet pepper, then cut into ½ inch cubes and add to sauce. Cover and cook 20 minutes.

* Full Disclosure: I like to make the recipes I post at least twice before sending them out into the internet, but this one is untested. Also, I dislike eggplant.

Damned If You Dough, Damned If You Don't

Chives. Have no idea how to use them. The examples I've seen involve dairy products that I remain distrustful of: sour cream, cream cheese, you know the type. But their flower is gorgeous, so I'm using them as the photo for this post, on cookie dough (the brownie batter got me thinking...)

I make a lot of cookie dough. Much to the chagrin of roommates past and present, I am not inclined to bake this dough. This dough is for eating. If you're making some dough with this purpose in mind, read on (because i'm not actually sure that my recipe makes better baking cookies).

Though I'm currently a food snob in training (eh, most of the time), and prefer Ghirardelli chips or Scharffen Berger chunks, I grew up on Nestle chocolate chips. That's the recipe I have memorized, that's the one I always make (usually just a half recipe). My new favorite uses less butter and less sugar, for a thicker and less grainy treat:

Dry
1 1/4 C AP flour (or 50/50 with whole wheat)
1/2 t baking soda
1/2-1 t salt (depends if your butter is salted, how much salt you like)

Wet
1/4 cup and a little extra sugar
1/4 cup packed and a little extra brown sugar
6 Tbs butter (1 stick is 8 Tbs), melted enough to mix
1 t vanilla extract (or to taste)
1 egg

Chocolate-- quantity and quality left entirely up to you. I don't judge (well, okay, if you didn't put any chocolate in I would judge you).

Stir Dry together in a small bowl. In a bigger bowl, mix Wet. Add Dry to Wet, mix well, add chocolate. Serve immediately. Stores quite nicely, covered, in fridge for a few days. Bake only if necessary. (*chocolate photo credit: Kim Sue, 2005)

Black Plastic:The Devil Within

We're not supposed to like black plastic. It's high on the list with diesel fuel and water usage, heated greenhouses in winter, and corporate seed distributors. Sustainable ag-ers deal with it in various ways; here in Wisconsin we've met some who were apologetic, but see it as necessary, some who are trying the new "compostable" corn plastics, and a few who do without, using a heavy straw mulch or covercropped aisles instead.

But the black plastic is seductive. After we were done, I found myself drawn to photograph the straight rows (beginner's luck!), the sheets reflecting the clouds above like some strange sea. With any luck it'll have become prohibitively expensive by the time I'm in a position to make the call--I don't trust myself one bit.

Here's a link to what I'm calling Black Plastic Brownies. Mostly because they were the only thing I could think of to mimic the rows with (not because you should feel guilty about eating them, i don't support that ridiculousness). They came out a little cakey and dry for my taste, but the batter was yummy, I'd consider serving it as a mousse.

I believe I believe I believe

They took they took! Alright, so these photos are from a few weeks ago--but look! Our trees took!

In March we had the chance to help graft apple trees for the orchard we visit. It's an exercise that requires a lot of faith--from what seems like little more than two twigs, a tree. The thin cambium layers of the scion and rootstock managed to find each other despite our unsure (sometimes downright wavy) cuts. I'm just amazed. I was going to talk about the process, but realized that nobody is going to go out and start grafting based on directions from this blog, so I won't bore you. But I do have some photos of the process and the orchard in spring!

Photos here!

People Playing With Food III

Lemon Festival in Menton, France: Every year from mid-February through early March. It may be a 70+ year old tradition! (my french isn't that great, try your hand at the official site).


This craziness (i wonder if they eat the citrus fruit afterwards) reminded me of the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota. Actually, the words "building a nation" inscribed over the entrance one year (the palace gets redesigned annually) rang fairly threatening to my ears (probably because I started reading The Story of Corn by Betty Russell), while imagining a nation built on citrus just puts me in the middle of this Tang commercial.

Actually, speaking of corn, check out this TED talk by Michael Pollan.

Brandon's Quinoa Bake

Brandon is the king of baked dishes. Zitis, lasagnas, quiche-y things. While the rest of us serve up dinner from the pot or pan, when it's his cook night, it's usually going to come in a baking dish. This Wednesday was no exception, we were treated to this spinach-filled treat (red quinoa--who knew!).

Recipe here

In Love With Lettuce

...and hoping to feel similarly about salad dressing by the end of the summer. I've been a no salad dressing person for as long as i can remember (which is probably why i was never that crazy about salads), and only recently converted to the balsamic vinagrette point of view. Now i'm looking to get fancier, and, for the sake of science, i'm willing to (gasp!) measure the ingredients. Here's the first trial:

Simple Sweet Mustard Dressing

2 T olive oil
1 T lemon juice
1 t mild honey
1 t mustard (stoneground or Dijon)
1/2 t tamari

Anticipation

I can't get over the way melon and squash seeds smash through the soil. The baby shoots seem so determined, single-minded, even aggressive, whereas I think of the fruits (the one pictured is watermelon) as happy-go-lucky, laid back.

The other day in the greenhouse I remarked on how I have to restrain myself from just taking bites out of yummy baby plants. I thought I'd get knowing nods. I got looks of horror. Was called a "cannibal". Yeesh, I didn't do it...(but don't they look good?)

Asparagus Has Hit!

And I'm determined to try some new ways of preparing it. My favorite is asparagus soup, but I had a great asparagus crostini the other night, courtesy of Chef Nate--cut the stems thinly on a long diagonal, put a layer on a slice of baguette, top with cheese and bake until crisp--yum. Anyway, here are some useful links for getting creative with the speared ones:

Asparagus Galore (a love affair)

"How to Cook Asparagus" (a no-nonsense guide)

"Let Me Count The Ways" (somewhere in between)

Walpurgisnacht**

Came across these beautiful bok choys in the solar house the other day and it made me think of last May and this photoshoot with Neeta and one awesome baby bok. Please excuse the gratuitous vegetable photos; I couldn't think of a specific recipe for bok choy outside of throwing it into any stir-fry yumminess.

Bok choy is one smart vegetable.

** Post title from a May 1st holiday-- a celebration of the first day of spring, and possibly the closest thing the Europeans have to Halloween (which is celebrated exactly 6 months later). Oh, and the baby bok is informing me that it's also a chapter title in Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain and the name of the second act of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf"...told you it was smart.

More People Playing With Food

The music edition. These are both amazingly crazy and great.

Vegetable Instruments--This one can serve as an introduction to Heita3's other videos/songs-- cucumber trumpets, cabbage slide flutes, and pepper ocarinas await you! My favorite has to be this video (warning: post-modern).


The Vienna Vegetable Orchestra --"The further exploration and refinement of performable vegetable music is a central part of the orchestra's aesthetic quest."

If You Can't Beet 'Em...

Make Emma's Beet Risotto! A nice break from roasted root veggies (and a step up in fanciness), this dish is also an eye-pleaser. I'd never gotten my head completely around the idea of risotto, but according to Emma, if you can get used to pouring rice into a hot pan without liquid in it, you can make risotto. Here are the highlights of my interview with the chef:

Q. Do you have to use Arborio rice?
A. No, but you do need to use a short-grain variety. Something to do with starch content.

Q. Do you have to use broth?
A. No, but using water instead means it won't be as flavorful. You could probably get away with using a diluted broth, though.

Q. Why do you warm the broth?
A. So that each addition of fresh liquid doesn't cool the risotto and lengthen the cooking time.

Q. You've got wine and parmesan cheese listed as optional ingredients--are they really optional?
A. They both deepen and enrich the flavors of the dish, but a risotto made without them will still be tasty.

Q. What is the optimal consistency of risotto?
A. The professionals all say it should spread like gruel on a plate. I prefer it a little bit thicker

Beet Risotto Recipe Here

Wanted: Sage Advice

I've never known what to do with sage. It's such a strong flavor, called for in fancy "herbed" soup recipes and the like (or meat dishes) and I've just never gone there. Medicinally, too, it's uses are almost too many--healthy hair, skin, teeth and gums, digestion, sore throats and colds, memory (what am I forgetting?). But today we pruned back a row of overwintered sage in the garden and I found myself digging on the color and scent. So I'm on the lookout for sage recipes and tips. I've learned that it freezes well and mellows as it cooks, so it's good to add it at the end of the cooking process, and I did run across intriguing instructions for a sage pesto. What else?

Can You Dig It?

No, it's not a creature from the deep--it's Valerian root! We spent a few hours digging roots this week, so I thought I'd mention this powerful plant. Valerian is a hardy perennial whose root has sedative and nervine properties. Used for insomnia, anxiety, migraines, muscle relaxation and epilepsy, valerian's relaxant and mood-stabilizing action (in appropriate doses) hasn't been found to be addictive like narcotics or lose it's effectiveness over time. Here's a great post from the Herbwife's Kitchen to help you decide whether valerian might be supportive for your sleep quest. While I've heard the scent called disagreeable, it reminds me of those strong, musky flowers, that smell pleasant, but almost repulse you from the sheer thickness of the smell (it was used as a perfume in the 16th century, according to Wikipedia). In some versions of the legend, the Pied Piper uses valerian as well as his pipe to attract rats; it's a known cat attractant, too--and this effect was used as a clue multiple times in Agatha Christie novels. I've never used valerian myself--anyone got stories?

The Birthday Queen

She's made sure that all of ours made it onto the group calendar, so we had to do something special for Shawn's birthday. This cake was it. Just unbelievably good--texture, taste, this cake has it all. Unfortunately I was in too big a hurry to eat it that my photos area tad on the blurry side, that's a pretty big endorsement right there. It's officially " Grandmamma's Orange Cake". Chef Emma added a tsp of almond extract (and thinks she'll add two next time) as well as a handful of slivered almonds (but they baked down to almost nothing). The other amendment was 1/2 C of sugar instead of 3/4 for the syrup and I didn't notice anything missing. Yum!

Eats, Shoots, and Leaves

These pea shoots were our first spring greens. We used some of the older leftover pea seed from seasons past and sprouted them in the greenhouse. The whole process takes about three weeks, from soaking the seed to pea shoot salad time.

For gratuitous pictures of our sprouting process, click here.

People Playing With Food

Don't ask what sparked this google search, but I'm thinking of making it a weekly feature. Here are this week's:

Little people on food landscapes and Vegetables as Animals

Spring, please!

Sick of winter? check. Willing to take drastic measures? check. This soup, courtesy of Shawn, came at a crucial climatic and emotional juncture--the tipping point between insanity and spring. There's just something about the taste of tomatoes...

Recipe here

P.S. I haven't been in hiding, it just took me forever to catch up on the rest of the tempeh post. That and I've been in a bit of a photo slump.

Taproot Green Adventures

An explanation. A few days ago, while planning my evening meal, I yearned for those halcyon days of cohabitation with Jess and Colin, and recalled in particular a soup of radish greens I had once made during that period. And so, in a feeble effort to channel the memory into something productive, I embarked on an exploration of the sometimes forgotten, yet delicious, uses of radish greens—and beet greens, since I had some of those too.

Grocery stores typically sell the taproots of these two plants--the bulbous, tapering underground portions that go great in salads and stir-fries. Sometimes, if you're lucky, these come with stems and leaves attached. In the past I've thrown these away, not knowing any better, but in Colorado I learned that these parts of the plant can be delicious, too.

My goal here is to find a bunch of inventive ways to eat them instead of tossing them in the compost.

The greens of beet (on the right, above) look pretty much like what American grocery stores call Swiss chard. In fact, chard (the kind people call "Swiss Chard"--as far as I know, the only kind) and garden beets (the ones we usually eat) are actually subspecies of the same plant. The exact ancestral connection is apparently a subject of heated debate, but basically, chard is a beet cultivated for leafiness instead of rootiness.

One alternate name for chard, by the way, is "perpetual spinach."

Radish (whose greens are on the left, above) comes from the same family as mustard and cabbage. Accordingly, the greens have a tangy, bitter taste when raw. They need a good wash because their gritty leaves hang on to dirt—they'll still be gritty after you wash them, but they're good to go.

Radish greens turn to green muck fairly quickly, but if you put them in soup, no one will know! Therefore, taproot green use #1 is cream of radish green and beet green soup (recipe). Tastes better than it looks in the picture. More uses soon.

Mason fixins — eating in winter

"It was a winter of heavy snows on Gont, and a long winter. The harvest had been a good one. There was food for the animals and people, and not much to do but eat it and stay warm." —Tehanu, Ursula K. LeGuin

Today, lots of people spend the winter getting up early, working, being serious about all the things they didn't take seriously over the summer, but I bet things weren't always this way. Hunkering down for the winter, nesting, seems more natural to me than spending the winter than getting up before the sun.

It'd be nice spend winter in a semi-hibernation state, like bears. Though there are stories of humans entering true hibernation, such as the Norwegian skier who survived an hour submerged in near-freezing water, I'd rather be able to wake up for a few hours, for lunch.

I know Jess beat me to the punch with her mason jar pictures, but here is my point: we can almost completely take care of life's necessities in the summer. Set up our house/cave/nest, raise our food, preserve it. All that's left to do in the winter months is "eat it and stay warm." Mmm, look at all this delicious food that Rose's mother canned.

The Kronos Quartet has an awesome CD called Winter Was Hard, perfect listening for when you're sitting in bed, eating canned pickles and apple sauce.