menus, November 27,2012

This gray spirit, yearning in desire

to follow knowledge like a sinking star

beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

That's Tennyson, from his poem Ulysses, an epic that began working on me...oh...32 years ago. And it's not done with me yet I suppose-  not until I've done with letting curiosity chart the day's course. So, while you take Sir Alfred's glorious words and plan your next journey, or degree, or bungy jump, I'm going to take them to dinner.

I've been noticing a sad and unhealthy lack of vegetable shaped nutrition in our diet, in the last month or so, and I've figured out why- I'm summer saladed out, and I know relatively little about winter veggies. So. Today I Learned.

A thing that intrigues me:
how many of these winter veggies grow underground.
As if they're hibernating. I rather like hibernating in winter too. 

Today I learned (thanks Dr Kermani for so patiently answering my food questions)(heh heh. my doctor is patient with me.) that although most summer vegetables pale in color are pale in nutrients, winter veggies are different. Sure, kale, carrots, yams and all those intensely colored things put some really powerful good stuff inside you, but even the palest of them all- cauliflower- is broccoli's equal nutritionally! So interesting! This means that the veggies that are in season when we're all most likely to be fighting off illness are the very veggies that fight illness best. This is so cool!

sigh. my brain's exploded again.
one moment while I tape it back together.

 So, to satisfy curiosity, I turned the kitchen (once again) into a learning lab. I wanted to learn about greens- those leafy things that every one else in the south seems to have grown up knowing all about, while I don't know kale from collard. I bought mustard greens, turnip greens, collard greens and kale and decided to cook them all exactly the same way- sliced thin, dunked in boiling water and then sauteed with onions and salt. Here they are:

left to right: mustard greens, kale (identified by kaylee for any fans of the late, great show
Firefly) turnip greens, and collard greens

 here they are being chiffonaded
(gosh I love that word)

 and cooked.

 the results? Strongest flavor, mustard greens. Mildest flavor? Turnip greens. Strongest texture? Collards. And kale was just really nice.
So, that's the learning- let's put it to use, shall we?

Wednesday: Chicken with mustard greens,lemon and olives
I've been combing the internet for Christmas season compliant recipes- sustaining, inexpensive and ready in 30 minutes. This is the first of them. I'll be cooking some extra chicken for tomorrow night's chili and Saturday's soup.

Thursday: Buffalo Chicken Chili
I'm curious lately about chili... but more on that next week. I've been a fan of this website's approach to cooking for a long time- if you've got time, read around it a little. I'm pretty sure you'll like it too, and I'm pretty sure this recipe will be a winner.

Friday: Polenta with artichokes and sundried tomatoes
Alot of ingredients, I know, but I think it'll come together quickly. I'll be using frozen, not canned, artichoke hearts, and the sundried tomatoes in oil that are currently in the fridge.  This'll be a meatless meal for us, but if you're cooking for hardcore carnivores, I think a simple pan-fried pork chop with this would be amazing.

Saturday: Chicken parmigiano soup
Another faster-than-fish-sticks recipe, made even faster if you've got leftover cooked chicken in the fridge.

Sunday: Lentil and Squash soup
I'm still recovering from a Thanksgiving gluten hangover, so it'll be just soup for me, or maybe I'll try these sweet potato oven fries. It's quite possible though that the home audience will be getting a nice grilled cheese with this.


You'll be careful, won't you, with the Tennyson poem? I recited the wanderlusty thing over all my children when they were small and now not one of them lives closer than 4 hours drive away.
I painted it on my  daughter's bedroom furniture, and it turned out to be a part of home that she'll carry with her forever.

and I get to be the one who gets to be the mum
of all three of their wandering, knowledge-seeking selves.
I'm pretty sure I couldn't be more grateful about that.

Besides hoping that you're very careful indeed about how you handle dangerous poetry.....
 I hope that this week, if you're spirit is light and happy, and especially if your spirit is very gray, you'll lift your head, and see some small bright star of knowledge worth following.
I hope that you chase it, that bright bit of knowledge about the world you inhabit. I hope you catch it before it slips below the horizon and that you hold it close. I hope that (even if it burns a bit) you  hold it close enough and long enough to realize that you- you yourself, are becoming luminous.



  





Menus, September 4, 2012

what's the best brisket to ever come out of this kitchen? The one that spent Sunday night in a bbq sauce marinade and roasted at a slow 350 while we took in a matinee and ran an errand. the one that made the house smell SO good that I marvelled aloud that roast beef candles aren't sold right alongside the creme brulee ones. The labor day 2012 brisket.( I was pretty stoked.)
That means I get to start the week with some leftovers I'm actually looking forward to eating:
Wednesday:Brisket tacos and guacamole.
 No link here, because I don't think you need one- just two little tricks, and a great way to do guac.
First trick:
The brisket is much easier to slice and chop when it's cold. So, take it from the fridge, slice it, remove any of the visible fat that you want to, and throw it in a pan or in the microwave to warm up. If you want to, add some taco seasoning, some chili powder, or some other seasoning. My opinion? The packets of  taco seasoning are pretty strong , and are best used when you need to disguise the fact that the  ground beef in the taco is as bland as tofu. Or maybe is tofu. Or would've been tofu, but the ground beef was cheaper.
The point is. If you're lucky and clever enough to have tacos filled with tender, tasty chopped brisket, why disguise that wonderful flavor? A little cumin is all I'll be adding.
 Second trick:
Let's start with a disclaimer: Our kitchen is a dangerous haven. The lurking possibility that meal prep may (but never yet has been) be interrupted by a trip to the ER is part of what, for me, elevates cooking from a chore to an indoor sport.
It's a formula I learned from my children: The probability of fun is often directly proportional to the possibility of injury.
This avocado trick, which I'm sure many of you already know, involves passing a knife within mere millimeters of the human hand, and it is AWESOME! Here it is.
1. Halve the avocado, and give it a twist, separating the halves.
2. Cup one half in your hand, and with a small knife, cut parallel lines all the way down to the avocado peel. (feel how close that knife tip is to your palm?)
3. Rotate the avocado and cut again, forming little squares, like this:

  4. Now all you have to do is put that knife down, and reach for a spoon, and scoop those cute little cado-cubes into a bowl, like this:

 

5. Now for the part that certain people (and you know who you are) have a hard time watching. Cup the half of the avocado that still holds the pit in your palm, and give the pit a solid thwack with the knife.

                   Do be careful, really. One drop of blood can ruin a whole bowl of avocados.

Now for the guacamole, which can prompt summer versions of  ancient autumn food feuds over that venerable Thanksgiving side dish, stuffing (or dressing. Sigh. Let's not even start those battles til November, shall we?)
Mayo, or no mayo? Lime or Lemon? Garlic, onion, or both?
Here's my favorite. I learned it from my friend Andrew who, according to his wife Rachael, built a sort of grad school legend on the power of this dip alone.
I've asked for specific quantities, but he's a proponent of the "eyeball method" of measuring. Which is fine (naturally) when I do it, but when it's done by someone who's making something I want to learn how to make...well.... if the next time Andrew's mashing up a bowl of guac, a teensy bit of lime juice accidentally squirts into said eyeball....
So, quantities listed are of my own invention; adjust according to your own inner eyeball.
3 chopped avocados
1 Tablespoon lime juice (that's 3 or 4 of the tiny key limes)
1 tsp minced garlic (mine came from a jar)
1 small tomato, diced (it came out to about 1/2 cup)
2 Tablespoons diced onion
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
Diced jalapeno, if desired.
salt and pepper.
mash it up, and that's it. A bright, clean, simple guacamole, that lets the flavors of summer tomatoes and avocados shine.

Thursday:Salmon and Thai noodle salad
http://www.avocado.org/recipe-details/view/22206/thai-salad-with-california-avocado-and-fresh-herbs
I received a small sonnet last week on facebook which let me know that I'm not the only one crushing hard this summer on avocados- did you know that they have a website all their own? Avocado.org's  Thai noodle salad looks wonderful! I'm opting to leave the chicken out of this dish entirely, so that I can pair creamy avocados with creamy salmon- one of my favorite summer combos!
I'll be popping the salmon fillet in a pan with a little liquid,probably white wine, or water and lemon, and olive oil, and letting it sort of poach/pan fry till it's just cooked through. I'm cooking enough to use the leftovers in a salad on Saturday.

Friday: Chicken salad
 http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/mediterranean-chicken-salad-recipe/index.html
I'm going to use a bag of poached chicken that I conveniently stashed in the freezer and forgot about. If chicken salad sounds good, and you don't want to cook, remember you can always take the meat off a rotisserie chicken that your local grocer has cooked for you.
two, maybe three notes about this particular recipe:
1. Don't spend an extra moment of your life hunting for plum tomatoes. Unless you want to. Just use the nicest ones you can afford
2. I really do love pine nuts, but I wonder if their delicate flavor might get lost somewhere around the feta. I might splash out on pine nuts, or substitute toasted walnuts.
3. Look down, way down on the recipe. See that pretty word? chiffonade? It's a kitchen technique I use often, on all kinds of leafy things. Here's how it's done.

First, make a cute little leaf stack:



Roll it up like a cigar

                        and cut tiny slices of the roll. Use  kitchen scissors to cut directly into the bowl, or a knife on a cutting board.



There! You've chiffonaded. which sounds as if you and your lovely basil have just had a charming dance in an aristocratic ballroom. bonus? Stop. Take a deep breath. You just made your kitchen smell basil-tastic, didn't you? Inhale again.That's the smell of fresh basil falling on a cool salad on a hot day. You're pretty amazing, aren't you?

Sunday: Salmon Salad nicoise
http://www.marthastewart.com/318648/salmon-nicoise-salad
 An old summer standby here- I'll probably cube the potato and cook it on Thursday, when I'm boiling water for the salad noodles. And, of course, I'll include avocados.

Monday: Couscous salad and Chicken
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/couscous-salad-with-chickpeas-tomatoes-10000001571456/
Another summer standby that should use up the rest of the tomatoes from last weekend's farmer's market foray. I may use water instead of the chicken broth recommended for hydrating the couscous.
If we're hungry enough, I'll also pair this with a little chicken or fish. Chicken, probably, pounded thin and pan seared in a little olive oil, white wine and lemon peel.

A long post today! I hope that reading it was fun, and that using it proves to be even more fun. Onward then, with this week's kitchen adventures. If anything requires stitches or an eye patch, I want to hear the story!