Great Gosh and Galore! Granola Bars!

My days are long. I often leave the house early and come home after 9 PM. Long live academia and the pursuit of excellence! And because I have a strong opposition to paying for food when I could make it for the half the price and better at home, I have to pack a selection of treats to get me through the day. I don't always bring two meals, lunch and dinner, but one for sure. However, I worry more about the in between moments. It's a bad situation to find yourself slumping and drooping among the stacks on the fifth floor at the library into the I'm so hungry I can't function and my eyes are crossing and I wish I had a granola bar or something! mode.

I've been bringing little jars filled with raisins, almonds and chocolate chips. That really does the trick, but then while perusing the Smitten Kitchen's website, I found these tasty little buggers, among other enthusiastically concocted recipes for all occasions.

Granola Bars

adapted from "the Smitten Kitchen"

In order to get a really firm, substantial bar, you need to pack the mixture into the pan so they stick together. Even then, mine were a little on the tender side. These need to cool for 3-4 hours before you cut them. That way they have enough chance to harden. I left mine over night and cut them in the morning. Deb recommends keeping them in the freezer, and I followed her advice, but I left some on the counter in a plastic container and they can hold their ground. So put a couple in your lunch, take your break outside, watch this spectacularly fascinating world go by and enjoy the last few warm days before the leaves begin to really fall.

This recipe makes 12 big bars. It is a SNACK after all.

2 C rolled oats
1 C chopped nuts
1 C shredded coconut (unsweetened)
1/2 C sesame seeds
2/3 C honey
2/3 C peanut butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 C chopped dried fruit (I used cranberries and apricots, small luxury items I know)

- preheat the oven to 350
- put oats, nuts, coconut and sesame seeds on a large baking sheet with sides and roast until golden and fragrant
- pour this mixture into a bowl, add honey, peanut butter, vanilla, salt and fruit. It's important to add the honey and peanut butter on top of the warm oats so that it melts a little and will mix together well.
- PRESS into a WELL GREASED 9X12 pan (or whatever you have around) and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

* These are the first bars I've ever made and they held together pretty well. One pan was crumblier than the other, so I ate the crumbly bits with yogurt for breakfast. But I'd claim them a success.

* I've also heard that using condensed milk is a great way to help them stick together. For another day I suppose!

- murph

I've Just Gotta Say

Jif natural peanut butter is wonderful. No, they are not paying me - but if they'd like to, I will gladly accept.

For whatever reason Matt and I decided we could splurge on brand name peanut butter this month (vs. the store brand). And damn. I'd forgotten just how good it could be.

The Soup's Gotta Settle.

For some reason I got it in my head that white bean soup would be the perfect ode to late summer. And I also happened for find white beans for an obscenely low price at the dollar store.

So I soaked those old, discounted beans for TWO DAYS. Plumped and primed, I set them to simmer in homemade chicken stock with bay leaf.

A few hours later, with beans that were still hard, I began to fret. I added the sauteed leeks and spring onion that I'd prepared and prayed that the beans would hit their softening point.

After another hour and a half, my beans were edible, but not what they should be. But it was late and we needed to eat so Matt and I endured. I added corn cut directly from the cob (which had been steamed and frozen for about a month) and chunks of a baby zucchini. I also added generous amounts of salt and pepper.

The soup was dissatisfying. Bland, too hot, and the beans, were, well, sub-par. Matt politely ate his bowl of soup and told me it was good. I gave him the ubiquitous you're-only-saying-that-because-you-love-me face and he protested and fussed for a bit to make me feel better and then set about doing the dishes.

I put the left over soup in containers, dismayed that I had so much left of what I considered to be a disaster.

Fast forward two days. I force myself to eat a bowl of blah bean soup, believing that it is getting no better with age. I microwave a bowl for myself and fix some foccacia toast, knowing that I am going to need something satisfying to make the whole lunch endeavor worthwhile. But behold - that bean soup had completely transformed while interned in Tupperware. The beans and sufficiently absorbed flavor and moisture, the leek flavor glowed through the surrounding veg, and the corn and zucchini had sustained their fresh summer crunch and color. It turned out to be not only a satisfying lunch, but an excellent ego stroke. My soup WAS good. It just needed a little time to get comfortable.

Two Day Bean Soup
1 cup dried white beans
2 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp. butter
1 leek
1 spring onion
1 small zucchini
2 cooked cobs of corn
salt and pepper

Despite the strife I experienced with this soup, it is truly simple with a little forethought. Rinse and sort through beans. Soak over night, if needed (the older the beans, the more likely they need to be soaked). When ready to cook, drain beans of soaking liquid, and cover with chicken stock. Add bay leaf and bring to a brisk boil for two minutes, then reduce to a simmer. Cook beans in this manner for 1 to 2 hours, testing frequently until beans are soft. In the mean time, slice the leek and onion, sautee both in butter until soft and translucent. When beans are soft, add leek and onion. Cut corn kernels from cob, and dice zucchini. Add corn and zucchini to soup, continue cooking for just a few moments. Remove soup from heat, salt and pepper liberally, and allow to cool. Store soup in fridge for AT LEAST ONE DAY before serving.

My White-Westinghouse

I thought she was broken. The bottom element in the oven didn't work, the lights under the temperature dial flickered and I had no idea whether it was preheating or heated or going to start heating. I tried everything: switching the fuses, taking off the back panel, checking the element for burned charred bits, researching oven care on the internet, phoning many different companies and trying to make my situation comprehensible in French. Finally, I broke down and called a technician.

He came this afternoon: a skinny man wearing a baseball cap, a denim shirt and jeans. He had a long pony-tail dangling down his back, a slight swagger, smelled of cigarettes and was chewing a toothpick. I explained my problem, he punched a couple of dials and took off his glasses, peered through them at the window, inspecting for dirt smudges (he continued to do this throughout his visit, as well as call me petite mademoiselle, which I found rather hilarious). A minute later, he opened the oven door and there I saw the bottom element burning bright orange. What! I cried. Of course it was something so simple... Turns out, that on this particular model you can set your oven to turn on at a certain time and then turn off. This is called the automatic setting. Somehow, I had punched in the stop dial so that both the start and stop were punched in. Every time I turned the oven on, the current went first from the fuse, through the faulty timers and then to the
thermometer, causing the entire thing to run helter-skelter.

The fun didn't stop when I had no cash (checks are more expensive to process), so I hopped into the repair guy's little pickup truck and we went to the nearest bank, all the while him exuberantly telling me about some guy whose freezer was completely filled with ice and some Italian guy who had taken apart his washer in order to help save time and money, but obviously it just cost him more money in the end. Imagine the things you would see going into people's homes like that! I took out the $45 bucks it cost me to watch him punch in a dial, returned to the truck, gave him the money and he took me home, still going on and on about various clients he'd visited, smoking a cigarette and BLASTING classic rock. I sat there catching 3/4 of what he said in his twangy Quebecois accent, grinning and wondering how on earth the day ended up bringing me into this situation.

-murph

Ratatouille, a beret and a new beginning

During my first few days in my new apartment, devoid of the Internet, I reread some of Molly's "Homemade Life". There, a simple little recipe for ratatouille caught my eye. The next time I was at the market I picked out tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, garlic, onion and some fresh herbs. When the right time came, I sliced up my zucchini into thick rounds, covered them with olive oil and slid the pan into a 400 degree oven. I sauteed the zucchini until it was just slightly undercooked. I fried the onion until golden, added the garlic and then the chopped tomatoes. I added the cooked zucchini, the eggplant that I chopped up when it came out of the oven, and fresh thyme and oregano (but I could have added a bay leaf and some basil). I simmered my pot of Provencal delicacy for 15 minutes while cooking some quinoa. I fried an egg. I spooned the quinoa into a bowl. I spooned ratatouille on top. I slid my fried egg and broke the yoke with my fork. I ate the comforting dish with lip-licking relish.


I ate ratatouille for four days. It was spectacularly satisfing each time, and super easy. Just cook the veggies separately and then you won't end up with one huge mushy combination for a meal at the end.
Who knows what I'll eat for dinner tomorrow? Or lunch for that matter. Breakfast? There's
painting to be done, furniture to buy, an oven element to fix; I have no silverware, no chest of drawers; there are papers strewn all over the counters, I feel a little fuzzy-eyed; but, I'm home.

- murph

PS Tonight, the night of the last meal, I had toast under the ratatouille, with a bit of left-over broccoli sauteed in olive and balsamic vinegar on top.

Done like a Finn.

Last night I wandered around our local ghetto grocery store for about an hour trying to decide what treat I wanted. For a while I had both Cheez-its and Frosted Circus Animal cookies in my basket. But the guilt of spending money on treats + the guilt of missing my swim twice last week caused me to put both back, and leave the store with lemons, half & half, and salted butter.

When I got home I made my self a cup of cocoa to kick the chocolate craving and set to work on a Finn cake, Omena Sokerikakku, which literally translates to Apple Sugar Cake. I'd been thinking about Finnish apple pastry because apples are just popping on Minnesota at the moment. Next week will be the arrival of the coveted "Honeycrisp."I came home with a big bag of apple "seconds" from a vendor and knew that at least a few were going to meet a very Finny end.

My Grandma Pat used to make an apple Finn pastry when sis and I would visit in the summers. It had sliced apples lined the bottom of a 9x12 pan and then the top was covered in dough. I remember really loving it, and sitting on a tall stool to help make it.

It was my hope that Omena Sokerikakku would come out similar to this, but it didn't. In fact I over cooked it so badly I am not even going to share the recipe. But the process of making it, whisking the butter and sugar until light, slicing and arranging the apples, was more satiating then any Frosted Circus Animal cookie could have been.

Finding time to eat.....

Now I have a fridge in my apartment, and a stove. They're plugged in. They work. I cooked eggs this morning. Sunny side up. Except that they weren't so sunny, more like a total disaster of overcookedness. Turns out I don't have a spatula or hot pads. And since I have gone to the hardware store so many times they know my name, I was quite dismayed to discover I'm still missing dish soap, paper towels, scrubbers, and a supply of toilet paper. There's dust all over the floor. The walls are dirty and unpainted. You can't really walk anywhere in the living room because the floor is covered in coat hangers, shoes, books, dirty clothes, newspapers, bubble wrap etc. I have very little furniture to my name.

One thing we can be sure of is that I have A LOT of cookbooks for a single 23 year-old lady. Not 50, but at least 20, plus my small collection of food magazines. And in a couple days the kitchen will be painted and I can buy some lovely simple things like rock fish, green beans, corn and potatoes, cook it all up, make a little chile sauce for the corn, sit down, and breathe . Because when I don't, life is an endless stream of adrenaline; I lose myself in a whirlwind world of madness. I like getting things done, fast, efficiently. But I think I could use a bit more time, right now, to eat.

1 Chicken, 1 Week, 6 ways

Last Sunday night I roasted my first whole chicken. Full of zeal I tried to talk Matt into letting me cook it in a salt crust, which he quickly dismissed ("7lbs. of rock salt? No.") . I called Dad to pout, and he supported Matt. Apparently salt crusted chicken is not the best route for your first crack at cooking a whole bird. But someday, someday.

So I rubbed butter and oil and garlic and salt and pepper and lemon and fresh oregano and rosemary all over and in and up on my chicken. It was exhilarating to just go at that bird - I felt pretty empowered actually. I sat it on a baking rack in a broiler pan (dreaming of a Le Cruset dutch oven mind you) and cooked it at 400.

When the chicken came out of the oven roughly one and half hours later, Matt and I just stared at it. We were speechless. And I don't know what it is about a whole roast chicken, but you just immediately start picking at it. Before we knew it, the two of us were eating dinner standing up. Forget plates. We ate with our hands.

After the first night of chicken feeding frenzy I managed to work that chicken into 5 other variations; drumsticks with biscuits and beans, grilled BBQ and onion sandwiches, Chinese chicken salad, chicken wings with cheddar beer bread, and stock. If that isn't food economy people, I don't know what is. 1 Chicken basically fed the two of us for a week. And when you are living on an academic stipend that is what we call suh-uh-weet.

Grilled BBQ & Onion Sandwiches
2 thick slices of favorite sandwich bread
1/4 of an onion sliced thin
Chicken meat tossed in BBQ sauce
Cheese (if desired)

Melt a small pat of butter in a fry pan over medium heat. When melted, add sliced onions. Cook onions until they are soft and a little charred. Remove from heat.
Assemble sandwich as desired (bacon is a good addition also). Butter both sides of bread.
Grill.
Enjoy.

Chinese Chicken Salad
a Maki family favorite.

1/2 head of cabbage
1 package Raman
cooking oil
chopped chicken (about 1 1/2 cups)
diced scallion
1/4 cup sliced almonds
rice wine vinegar
soy sauce
sesame oil
1 tsp. white sugar

Break up the Raman noodles in the package. Add a splash of cooking oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Empty Raman noodles into skillet, careful to collect and discard seasoning packet. Fry noodles until golden brown. Drain on paper towel.

Arrange almonds on baking sheet and toast in 350 degree oven for 5 minutes or until golden brown. This happens very fast. If you can smell them, it's time to take them out.

Slice cabbage into thin long strips. Toss cabbage in large bowl with chicken, diced scallion, prepared Raman noodles & almonds. In a smaller bowl add 2 tbsp each soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and sesame oil. Add a tsp. of white sugar. Whisk together with a fork and adjust for personal taste.

This is good right away but better if you let it sit for a few hours...and even better the next day for lunch.

Just a quick note on Eggplant

A vendor at our market sells the tinest, most beautiful eggplant YOU HAVE EVER SEEN. They are green, white and deep purple and TASTE LIKE SOMETHING, that's right I said TASTE LIKE SOMETHING.

Dad grilled some up on his Midwest excursion (more to come on this), and they were so delightful, I repeated myself this week. We had them for dinner last night, and I ate the leftovers off of plastic wrap, cold, for lunch today. So delightful.

Grilled Eggplant Fit for Gods
3 firm, small (no more than 1 inch thick) eggplants
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper

Wash eggplants, slice thinly at a diagonal. Toss in bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill until charred and soft. Toss again in olive oil, serve.

SIMPLY AND DELICIOUS. Just the way we like it.

Date Squares

I'm getting back on track. Alix is home! And since I'm staying at her house until I can move into my new apartment, we were able to spend the whole day together yesterday making scones, going to the market, eating MORE broccoli salad, making crisp, going to Libby's Grandmother's house for dinner, eating crisp. What a culinary day! and executed with such peace and ease.

But even before Alix arrived I was able to pull myself together and make some date squares. My friends Katie and Eric invited me for dinner and I thought they'd be a wonderful, travel friendly finale to the evening. We started with a homemade, homegrown tomato salsa on french bread toasted in the oven, accompanied by a glass of rather delicious Cabernet Sauvignon. Then, Eric grilled delicious pork tenderloin marinated in Katie's homemade barbecue sauce, sauteed zucchini and red pepper and cooked rice. The experience was spectacularly relaxing. I am beginning to feel very at home in this city that seems to be filling by the minute with new friends, while older friendships just continue growing, growing, growing. We ended with the date squares, devouring the sweet smooth filling, sandwiched in buttery oat crumble; we ate them licking our fingers, smacking our lips, slurping milk and wanting more - but our bellies were full.

Leigh, who I worked with all summer at the outdoors store and who now has left us to take on bigger and better things like climbing up mountains and teaching, was kind enough to share this coveted family recipe for date squares before she took off into the new blue. You can hold back as much as you like when you make date squares, replacing butter with sunflower seed oil, or sugar with honey, or not adding very much of either... I understand the sugar, but I think it's best if you don't hold back on the butter. It's kinda like the crisp recipe: if you don't use enough butter, you won't get a good crunchy crust. Date squares need a good crust.

Date Squares

as adapted from Leigh's grandmother (who I have never, sadly, met)

For these squares I used 1/2 canola oil and 1/2 butter for the amount of butter called for in the recipe, simply because I didn't have enough butter. I have a feeling that if you wanted to save your body from the horrifying toxins found in most canola oils, (like GMO modified everything, pesticides you name it etc), coconut oil would be a Delicious Substitute. Also, I added orange zest, but not enough, so I recommend finding yourself a thick-skinned orange and adding the zest to the crust and topping mixture. On another note, I definitely added all the sugar the recipe called for, but the next time I won't add it to the dates because dates are sweet enough already.

Alright Alright, here's the recipe:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F

1 - 1 1/2 C chopped dates (use more for a thicker filling)
1 C water (orange juice)
1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 C flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
(some salt if you want)
1 C brown sugar
1 1/2 C oatmeal
1 C butter

- boil the dates and water (or with some orange juice) until thick and syrupy
- whisk together dry ingredients
- add butter (You can melt it and stir it in, or you can cut it in. I melted it because I was using oil as well.)
- use a square pan, or whatever else you find to bake this in, and pack in a good thick layer of the dry mixture (about half)
- pour the date filling over the crust
- sprinkle on the rest of the mixture (the other half)

Then, buy yourself some creme fraiche, if it's around at the grocery store, and dollop a bit of that delicious slightly sour but oh-so-creamy and rich on top.

Eat with a spoon!

- murph

For when we are completely uninspired.

Dear Friends:

I haven't been cooking. Just eating cereal every day for breakfast, ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch, sometimes various salads, and scrambled eggs with toast for dinner : I am totally uninspired. My over exuberant lifestyle has left me with a state of exhaustion similar to the end of a tree-planting season, a bum knee, and a fairly low moral. Turns out I was trying to do too much. Anyone who knows me personally will probably kinda grin at this and say Really? You were over-doing it? No! You? Never... I really can't help it; I just get so damn excited!

Turns out I can't conquer the world in a day. So here I sit with ice on my knee, getting no exercise, waiting to move into my new apartment, living at a friends house because my roommate was and still is (I'm sure) totally insane (I have a feeling she feels similarly about me....), just kinda waiting, waiting, waiting. While I wait for the endless string of transitions to end, and I'm sure it won't because life is just one huge transition from where we were before to where we might be going, I think I'll console myself with grilled cheese and broccoli salads. Here's a delicious summer salad PACKED with vitamins which, if you ate nothing but cereal, eggs, yogurt, muffins and peanut butter for four days straight like I did, well, you're going to need a bit of a boost.

Broccoli Salad with feta, cranberries and toasted slivered almonds

This recipe was inspired by a terrific woman named Teryl who is the mother of a mutual tree-planting friend of Fabienne and I, Keagan. On our days off our first summer tree-planting, Fabienne and I hung out at their house on the Telkwa River near Smithers, B.C and ate delicious meals from her garden. I remember eating this salad on the deck thinking, god, I could just eat this for hours without stopping. Afterwards, driving back into camp with a full belly I thought to myself, well, now anything is possible....

So for a perfect moral booster that takes very little time do the following:

- wash and cut up a head of broccoli into very thin small spears
- toast 1/2 C slivered almonds under the broiler until you smell them (this happens quick)
- dump the broccoli into a bowl, add the almonds, about 1/2 C cranberries and a big chunk of feta cheese, crumbled.
- make a vinaigrette with 1 TBS mustard, 1 TBS red wine vinegar (or balsamic), 1 TBS honey (or maple syrup) and 3 TBS olive oil (slowly add the olive oil to the vinegar and mustard mixture.
- toss the salad
- eat

PSST! Tonight I made this for the second time, because I ate it last night for dinner, and the leftovers for lunch, but I added edamame (soybeans), only adding to the brilliant green scream of health and protein that this salad offers.

Feeds about two..or three..

*the proportions will really vary, so please adjust them. You want the salad to look well-balanced and colourful.

A note on vinaigrettes: I always make my vinaigrettes using the 1:3 ratio. 1 part vinegar (or other additions) to 3 parts olive oil. Fresh herbs or garlic are also excellent additions. A lot of people operate on a to-taste basis, but I find this magic ratio (thank you Sal!) never ever fails to yield a delicious, well-balanced vinaigrette. It's very important to first mix together your flavours (vinegar, mustard etc) before adding the olive oil, which should be added in a very slow stream while beating the mixture rapidly with a whisk.

PS Thank you Kelsey for your coleslaw inspiration. The cranberries and almonds are definitely a nice touch here as well!

Why the West Coast Rules and Why Skimping on Butter is Silly and even Foolish (Part 3)

Blackberry crisp is my favourite dessert. Whether it be after a meal out on the deck with vanilla ice cream in the summer, for breakfast with yogurt in the winter, scooped out of a tiny round Tupperwear container after lunch sitting outside between classes in the fall, or out of the pan when I come home from school, errands, work etc., a berry crisp is a beautiful thing.

However, what crisp is varies for many people. I've tried a couple of different recipes over these past few months, but each time I find myself licking my spoon going hmmmm.....not quite what I expected! What is amiss?


The recipes I've followed or looked at mostly called for more flour than oats, or equal part oats and equal parts flour. I am of the camp that uses more oats than flour. However, the main problem I've been having is that I've been skimping on the butter! What a crime! My crisps were coming out of the oven with these loose floury toppings. Sure, they were good....but we're striving for GREAT over here in Chef Murphy Land. Plus, since crisp is all about the topping (good berries help too, but a mass of boiling berries is jam and if we wanted to eat jars of jam we would), it's very important to find a way to make a topping that suits your fancy best.

When I made a blackberry crisp from 3 different types of local-as-you-can-get blackberries (marion, inch and another kind I forget the name of) down in Oregon I, with confidence, loosely followed a recipe that we often use for crisp; but when I peeked in the oven, to my dismay I saw a sea of floating dry oats: clearly a lack of butter. I knew it! I always do that! I skimp on the butter thinking I'm saving us all, and no no no! Dry oats are terrible no matter how you take them. So I whisked the crisp out of the oven mid-bake (knowing that no harm would come to it) and added dollops of butter all over the top of my little baking beauty. And it was worth it. The end result was a crunchy but not too thick topping loaded with oats, brown sugar and cinnamon, covering gently bubbling sugary blackberries.


Judy's Blackberry Crisp

What's a good crisp? Well, I love a crisp that isn't too sweet and definitely not juicy or runny. Fruit differs in its sweetness, so taste the fruit you're going to use before you sweeten it; in other words, sweeten to taste. I just dump some sugar on, mix it around and see if the fruit is well covered. If it is, I stop dumping. Then, very important, I do the same with instant tapioca. Some people like to use flour to thicken their crisps, but I find that it gives the fruit a gluey colour. If you're using very ripe berries, you'll need more tapioca. I go by the main principle which is to use enough tapioca to cover the fruit, but not thickly, just well dispersed. Then, very important, let this mixture sit for 15 minutes or so while you make the topping. Following these two guidelines have often produced an excellently thick and succulent fruit filling, especially in the old days of living under the apprentice of dad and mum. Now for the topping: I love a crunchy topping laden with oats, a bit of flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and ENOUGH butter. To this you can add lemon/orange zest, nuts, other spices, or whatever your creativity spurs upon you.

The proportions below will be rather rough....but they should be precise enough to give you satisfying results until you find a way that you like best. Maybe you like your fruit sweeter? Maybe you like more flour? Maybe you want nuts in your topping? Maybe you even prefer cobblers....but that's another subject for another day.

- OVEN: 350 degrees F

- Dump enough berries into a 9 X 13 baking dish to cover the bottom and fill the dish half way (probably around 4-6 C)
- Add at least 3/4 C sugar (or less, or more)
- Add at least 2 TBS of instant tapioca (add this, have a look, maybe add a bit more especially if the fruit is super juicy).
- Let this sit for a while (15 min).

- Add at least 2 C of oats into a bowl
- Add 3/4 C flour
- Add 3/4 C brown sugar (maybe more? I'll let you use your better judgement).
- Add 1 TBS cinnamon
- Add at least 1/2 stick of butter - cut in with a pastry blender or your trusty fingers (or use more! No seriously, if after adding this stick of butter you see that there aren't enough little tiny balls to match the ratio of oats, flour and sugar, add another couple TBS - nothing bad will happen, I promise. If all else fails, add some mid-bake).
- Sprinkle this topping over the fruit.
- Bake until bubbling IN THE CENTER at 350 for about.....40-45 minutes.
- Let sit for at least 15 minutes before you eat it so your ice cream doesn't turn the whole thing to a creamy berry soup, unless of course you like this kinda thing, which would be fine, of course.

Also, seeing as life is all about the learning process, if anyone has anything to say about crisp toppings, or a comment on my very LOOSE recipe that I more or less invented from memory, I would be more than delighted to read your words.

Happy Crisping and Stay Tuned For Next Time.

Cold Turkey.

Matt and I are currently without in-home internet, which is drawing to light the depth of our addiction to said modern convenience.

Thus, my post will be brief as I am trying to squeeze it into my morning hour at the library.

In the last week:
12 jars of dilly beans
12 jars of dill pickles
2 jars of zucchini with mint in oil
2 jars of onions with bay leaves in oil
2 jars of olive oil pickles with fennel
2 jars of fennel in oil (which I may have tragically ruined by forgetting to boil the fennel in brine first - DAMN).
1 jar of carrots (for Sissy, should I decide to decieve the postal system and mail something not only breakable but also perishable).

In other news:
1 dutch baby made with dehydrated milk (decent).
1 pan of brownies (to which Matt said, "These aren't as good as last time, what did you do differently?" which is what he says every time. Contrary to popular belief, Matt is 25, not 5.)
Many ears of corn
1 more round of everyone's favorite cole slaw.
1 loaf of flavorless Foccacia bread (too impatient).

Yet to come:
Biscuits for the freezer
Zucchini bread
Tzaziki (I hope).

Reasons Why the West Coast [and scones!] Rule (Part 2)

Whenever I talk to my sister I often exclaim loudly, Hey! I wish we were eating scones on the back porch with your strawberry jam and a huge pot of Golden Jubilee tea. She kinda sighs and says, yes Jude, that would be amazing. But sadly we are both left to drool and dream about the day when we will be reunited and can eat scones together again. We've shared many a great breakfast over my dad's earthy almond and cranberry spelt scones while the West coast rain pours down outside, or the July sun streams in the windows. In my mind it's usually Saturday and dad is getting ready for track practice, Sal has a rehearsal to go to, or a garden to weed, I have a paper to write, Katherine is off to some dance or capeoira class, but for a blissful hour we can guffaw, chuckle and snort about how funny we are.

My greatest fantasy about scones definitely involves the lake house in Oregon. Last summer I made cherry scones on my birthday and ate about 3, accompanying them with more jam and coffee than acceptable. During the most recent visit I was jet-lagged and waking up at 7 every morning or earlier. One of these mornings I decided fresh scones would benefit every one. They're my favourite breakfast treat to make and share with other people (with muffins it's a tie!). Eaten out there on the deck among the scattered newspaper, various home decorating magazines, Nana's collected rocks and seashells, multi-coloured woven place mats, and extinguished tea-lights from the night before, it's (as I've said before) paradise.


Now, I'm going to have to talk about Molly Wizenburg again (my deepest apologies! but she is so adored over here). During the course of my recent food-blog browsing, I've seen countless other foodies who have written about her scone recipe with enthusiasm and success. I've been dreaming of plain cream scones that would be the perfect canvas for Katherine's homemade strawberry jam. So I made some. And oooh boy! They were perfect. I feel justified in announcing such perfection because my FATHER! said they were the best scones he'd ever eaten. And then shortly after Uncle Peter, his brother, came in from the deck and said, wow, those scones are the best ever! Hmmmm....something tells me they were collectively adored. I tried to humbly conceal my through-the-roof delight - inside I was throwing my hands up in the air and saying HOLY COW THESE SCONES ARE AMAZING!!!!


I will provide below two recipes. The first one is Molly's and the second one is my version. I've had a lot of anxiety and constant change in my life over the past year and although things are improving, my stomach seems to have suffered. I eliminated wheat from my diet and then brought it back in a couple of weeks ago. However, it makes me sick and irritates my skin. So from now I'm cooking with spelt flour (an ancient form of wheat). The only difference between the two is that spelt flour is finer and takes less liquid. Otherwise, they perform the same. I even like spelt better for baked goods because it produces a lighter and more delicate crumb.

Molly's Scones

They're what scones should be : light, flaky with a good delicate crunch on the outside and heavens to Betsy, not dry. Add whatever you like (nuts, dried fruit, chocolate chips, lemon zest etc) to the flour before adding the milk and egg. The flour will coat your addition of choice and make mixing easier.

Preheat oven to 425 F

1/2 C milk
1 egg
2 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C unsalted butter (if you use salted, leave out salt)
3 TBS sugar
any additional flavours

- Beat together milk and egg
- In another bowl mix together dry ingredients
- Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender, or use your fingers to rub it in until you have tiny pea shaped balls
- Add additions
- Pour wet into dry. Note: only add about 3/4 of the liquid and mix together gently with a fork until big lumps form. If you have a lot of flour left, add the rest of the liquid. You want the dough to just come together. Right when you think you might-maybe-possibly need more liquid, and there isn't tons of flour left in the bowl, STOP, and use your hands to bring the dough together.
-NOW, listen carefully. Knead the dough 12 times (you can do this in the bowl). Molly demands this with exactitude and I followed her instructions. The kneading lightly melts the butter and incorporates any flour left stranded in the bowl.
- Press the dough out into a circle (of about 3/4 of an inch thick - to yield big puffy scones) onto lightly floured cutting board and cut into wedges.
- Brush with left over milk and egg mixture, or just with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Yields about 12 big scones

Bake for 10-15 min or until golden

Judy's Wheat-free Happy Belly Scones

I found white spelt flour and it tastes more authentic than whole spelt flour. The difference is equal to white flour and whole-wheat flour.

3/4 C milk
1 egg
3 C white spelt flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
6 TBS butter (3/4 stick)
5 TBS sugar

Follow instructions as written above.

Last note: Because spelt flour usually makes less than a recipe will call for, my one and a half recipe made only 10 big scones. For 6 people, we needed more.


Happy breakfasting! Or brunching! Hopefully you share them with family or friends, but I bet a solo accompaniment would be quite acceptable if you find yourself in a rare moment of peaceful confident solitary bliss.

- murph

Can we PLEASE get serious about cole slaw?

Cabbage - great keeper. Also copiously available at the Farmers' Market where I work. Thus, ideal vegetable for poor and produce minded me.

Judes and I have addressed the cole slaw issue before, but I would like to share a little delight that I whipped up this week.

Fast Cole Slaw Everyone Likes
1/2 head medium to small cabbage, about 4 cups chopped
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 finely diced shallot.
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup white sugar
healthy dash of Soy Sauce

• Slice cabbage thinner than imaginable. Seriously.
• Toast almonds at 350. This happens faster then you thick. As soon as you smell them, take them out of the oven.
• Toss sliced cabbage, almonds, and cranberries in a medium bowl.
• Whisk together shallot, olive oil, red wine vinegar (you could also try rice wine vinegar or white wine vinegar), sugar, and soy sauce. Dress cabbage mixture. Feel free to adjust dressing quantities to your liking - I am not a fan of lots of dressing, so I always keep it light - plus I think that helps the cabbage stay crisp as leftovers. If you like creamy dressing, you can whisk in a bit of mayo or sour cream.
• Serve immediately, or set aside to marinate in the refrigerator. The dressing is strong enough that this is fine to eat right away.

I'm telling you peeps this is a winner, and obscenely simple. Did I mention that leftovers are nice with chicken? Or maybe some sesame seeds? Oh, oh , or everyone's favorite - RAMAN? Seriously, cabbage is the canvas, and we are merely the painters.

Rock on fellow foodies.

Signing off,
Makifish

Reasons Why the West Coast Rules (Part I)

Collard Lake in Florence, Oregon is the land of foggy mornings, warm buckwheat huckleberry pancakes, cups of rich, black coffee, sweaters and wool socks; gloriously sunny afternoons (although at times windy), tomato and cheese sandwiches, hours spent sun bathing on the dock, deliciously good books (this trip featured The Old Gringo by Carlos Fuentes), canoe rides, fresh seafood, blackberry crisp, blue jeans, creamy golden sunsets and sand dunes. None of these activities would take place with such poignancy and leave such heart-breaking nostalgia without the presence of such top-notch individuals as my family. Despite the painful absence of my sister Katherine, my most recent trip to Oregon was as memorable as always. And when you wake up to a view like this:


what could possibly prevent total and utter bliss?

As a sprite young girl, I an enthusiastic eater and would frequently over-stuff myself to the amazement of certain cousins and my grandmother. I had no control; it was all or nothing. Life has taught me to restrain myself (to some extent) but I still march to an all or nothing beat. And now I've channeled some of my enthusiasm into cooking which I had ample opportunity to do with my family and especially my dad while I was at the lake. (I must mention that my mom, having discovered Julia Child and the French Way contributed amply to a degree of freshness and deliciousness that I haven't seen from anyone in a long time.)

The mighty creation pictured above of breaded rock fish with chanterelle cream sauce is my dad's own creation and my principal reason for writing today's post; it was a stroke of genius. At home dad plans the meals every week (with assistance of course) and does the grocery shopping. He doesn't have as much of an opportunity to practice frequent spontaneity in the kitchen. On vacation things are different. When we found the chanterelles and fresh rock fish, what we needed to do was quite obvious.

In the kitchen I set to work making the Chocolate-filled Jelly Roll from the Joy of Cooking. My mom took over the zucchini, new potatoes (from her garden!) and the salad, and dad made the fish. He was, however, happy to put up with and answer all of my how-to specific questions while he prepared the meal. So without further rambling, here's the recipe.

Breaded Rock Fish with Chanterelle Cream Sauce

for six people

The Fish

The recommended serving of fish is 6 ounces per person

About 2 1/2 lbs of white fish (this recipe works best with thin fillets so they'll cook fast in the pan)
A lot of rye crackers (Ryvita!)
Salt and pepper

- Find yourself some fresh fish (it should smell like the sea - so nothing except salty water)

- crunch up a bunch of the crackers with a rolling pin or glass bottle until you have fine crumbs (you'll want about a 1 1/2 C to be safe)

- Put the crackers onto a large plate, add salt and pepper
- Cut the fish into portion-sized pieces and set aside (this will bring them to room temperature)

- Make the sauce (see below)

- After you make the sauce, press both sides of the fish onto the plate, patting extra crumbs onto the top, turn the fillet and do the same to the bottom*
- Heat up two skillets (med/high) with a couple TBS of oil in them until almost smoking.
- Put breaded fish into pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until the flesh is just barely opaque. It will also be just firm to the touch. I like to poke a knife tip inside and test it's temperature by pressing the knife tip to my lip. When the knife's hot, she's done.**

* Often breading fish recipes require first that you coat the fillets in egg and then dredge through flour to create a kind of batter. I tested the rye cracker press-on method last night and it worked beautifully. The rye crackers give a subtle earthy taste to the fish. The perfect accompaniment for a rustic cream sauce. Also note that it's important to not bread the fish before you make the sauce because you'll run the risk of soggy crumbs!

** There are many ways to test for when a fish is done, and it (like anything) takes practice. I recommend doing everything you can to master this skill so you don't eat over-cooked fish, which is a highly unpleasant experience and the reason why so many people think fish is impossible to cook and disgusting. What a crime.

The Sauce

2 Cups chanterelles
1 TBS butter (or more)
2 TBS fresh thyme
1 1/2 C wine
1 C heavy cream

- Get yourself some chanterelles (these are seasonal depending and the ones we found weren't expensive, but they weren't the most flavourful - according to the tasting panel).
- Slice them into big chunks.
- Fry them in butter and thyme, or other fresh herb that you want to feature, until they're just soft.
- Set aside in a bowl.


- In the same pan, reduce the wine about 2/3


- Then add the cream to the wine reduction and reduce again until the cream is thick, bubbling and the spoon leaves streaks in the pan.
- You might want to add a bit more cream at the end to round out the sauce


- Add the cream and wine reduction to the mushrooms, mixing to coat all the mushrooms. Any mushroom juice is precious; don't drain them!
- Set the sauce in a covered bowl on the back of the stove, or if you're lucky enough to have a small thermos, like the kind kids take soup to school in, use that to keep the sauce warm until you're ready to serve it.


- Spoon the sauce onto the cooked fish and top with chopped fresh chives or herbs.

Then, hopefully you've got a lady like my mom Sal around to grate zucchini, salt it, squeeze and drain out all the water, and fry it up with shallots. If you're lucky she'll also roast some potatoes in a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper, make a killer salad, and share her big-hearted laugh. A lady after my own heart (or am I a lady after hers?)


Oh yeah, by the way, the jelly roll ruled. You can find it in the Joy of Cooking under Roll Cakes - Chocolate-filled Roll.


- murph

Delighted

Last night I came home from a moderately rainy Farmers' Market with 16 ears of free sweet corn. Driving down the hill in truly blustery weather I thought to myself "Ribs would really be good with corn, too bad it is so late."

Walking in the door, I find my Matthew preparing BBQ sauce and boiling ribs from Painted Hill Farm that I had bought a few weeks prior. I squeal, get leered at over this out burst and set about shucking corn.

We grilled the corn under the broiler and ate off of one plate because everything else is packed or moved or somewhere in between. Huddled over that plate with sticky fingers and sweet corn stuck between our teeth was, well, delightful.

Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls

It's 12:39 at night and I'm about to eat a biscuit cinnamon roll. It was perhaps insane to make them so late, but I've been thinking about them for a week and there was no one in the kitchen. Plus tomorrow I'm going to Florence, Oregon - land of blackberries, sand dunes, pie, sun tans, family and greatness - which means I'm way too excited to sleep and that I need a snack for the plane. (Treats for snacks are the greatest things about plane rides.)

Mmmm! The first bite: the biscuit is perfect, very light and buttery, moist. A slight crunch of sugar and dark jeweled raisins. We're two bites in now. Oh so good! Warm right out of the oven, crumbling apart in my hand, sweet and an excellently honest cinnamon taste. Third bite, fourth bite, fifth bite, and she's gone. I'm left with my tongue searching for every last morsel and licking my lips, a sticky keyboard and a cake pan FULL! of buns for tomorrow. Perhaps I will share?

I first experienced biscuit cinnamon buns with my sister Katherine about a year ago exactly. I took a (much needed) vacation from tree-planting and joined my family for five days in Lake Tahoe where my uncle lives. Kath and I hadn't seen each other in a long time and didn't want to put up with the usual family shenanigans where someone suggests an activity and then everyone takes four hours to decide if they want to participate in it or not, and then no one really ends up doing what they suggested in the first place. A lengthily breakfast project seemed like a great escape. Immediately upon my arrival I started talking incessantly about cinnamon buns. This is a common occurance where I get an idea and then berate others around me until they give in and participate. But cinnamon buns take a while and Katherine really needed some convincing. All that yeast and letting things rise can be intimidating. So we opened up the copy of The New Best Recipe by Cooks Illustrated that was lying around (an excellent reference by the way) and discovered that they suggest making a biscuit dough, rolling it out flat and slathering it with cinnamon, sugar and raisins (but don't quote me on the raisin part, I can't remember if the recipe calls for them or not). This is exactly what we did and an hour later we had beautiful, delicious biscuits wrapped around a delectable layer of your token cinnamon bun filling. A pot of coffee? Good company? We were just recalling on the phone this evening that it was one of the better four hour-long breakfasts that we've both ever had.

Here is my adapted (by memory) version of the recipe.

Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls


Oven: 450 F

Make your favourite biscuit recipe (not drop). I doubled the Joy of Cooking's Buttermilk Biscuits. If you add the liquid in parts, flicking it with a fork to incoporate wet with dry, you'll discover that you may not need as much. This depends largely on your flour. I know the dough is right when I give it a pat and it's soft and springy, still moist, but not sticky, and the flour almost all mixed in.

NOTE: I DID add a TBS of sugar to this recipe. Usually I leave it out, but considering we're going for a sweeter affair here, I think it's kosher. Also, you might not want to add salt if you're using salted butter, or at least use less.

Then:

Mix together two TBS brown sugar and 1 TBS cinnamon. Chop up a good cup full of raisins (Depending on their size. I had very plump ones.)

Roll or pat out the dough on a clean, floured surface. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over top. Cover with the raisins and kinda pat them into the dough.

Starting along the longer length of the dough, roll until there is nothing left to roll. Cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces, put into a cake pan. I made more than one 9 inch cake pan's worth, so I just stuck the remainders on a baking sheet. However you wish to cook them is fine.

NOTE: I started these at 450 and then immediately feared that they would over cook. I thought I turned the oven down to 400 but I guess I actually turned it off. They finished fine and were delicious, but I recommend just cooking them at 450. It will be much shorter (mine took half an hour!) and they are biscuits after all.

The time? Is now 1:24. WAY TOO LATE. I can't help it, I'm an enthusiast. At least Kelsey slept enough for the two of us.

PS Good sweet plums! I almost forgot to suggest the addition of nuts, or whatever else your little heart desires. Chocolate chips!

Good night my dears.

When the Spirit says sleep, you sleep.

I slept, unwittingly until 2pm today. I went to bed at midnight. And I was so distressed by this 14 hour slumber that I had to call my sister to get her to talk me down. Her response was "I think you can count this as your day off."

Maybe we've noted friends that I (and Judes) are a little high strong with lots of projects and lots of directions. Tires a body out for sure. In duet with Judy's previous post I thought I'd chronicle a bit of the week that led up to this long nights rest. (Please note that almost every meal described here was followed by a fudgesicle. Classy.)

Monday: Shop all day with Matt's sister in Brookings, SD. Bike Ride for an hour in Oakwood State Park. Constantly fend off concerns about not making progress on school projects. (You can repeat this statement for every day following...)

Tuesday: Drive back to Mankato in Matt's clunker truck. Feel guilt for buying a vitamin water and pacakge of dark chocolate M&M's at a gas station in Lake Benton. Open and run the Mankato Farmers' Market between 3:30 and 6. Make a full batch of biscuits for dinner (which in fact turned out more like scones because I am still rubbish at the butter business). Serve with a few slices of bacon and sauteed squash. Eat two biscuits, freeze the rest.

Wednesday: Do market business all morning. Spend $30 at the Dollar Store on cleaning supplies. Eat freezer biscuit for lunch (worked nicely baked at 400). Begin packing current apartment. Make nachos for dinner.

Thursday: Meet friend for coffee (and when I say coffee, I of course mean tea) and reading at local coffee shop. Plot to make dilly beans the following Monday. Immediately get distracted with the hopes of shopping for new curtains for new apartment. Leave coffee shop to pursue such efforts. Fix spaghetti with squash and Spinach puree for lunch. Open and run market. Eat other half of pasta for dinner. Affix curtains. Start packing current apartment.

Friday: Attend to market business in the morning. Finish curtain project at new apartment. Eat more nachos for lunch. Make 1 loaf zucchini bread, 20 zucchini muffins, and a double batch of pesto (with walnuts - I roasted and removed the bitter skins with a cloth, thank you internet). Continue packing. Make a fillet of whiting in foil bag with potatoes, fresh pesto, and garlic scapes.

Saturday: Get up at 5:45 to go to market. Make quick breakfast taco. Run Market until 12:45. Shower. Eat sesame bagel with cheddar cheese. Continue packing apartment. Catch up with friend - meet other friends for Mexican food. Eat soft chimichanga. Eat too many tortilla chips, drink two blended lime margaritas. Laugh, a lot. Continue friend discourse until 11pm. Watch two episodes of "How I met your Mother," sleep.

I think I needed that cathartic listing to affirm, that yes, it is ok to have a day off. Plus, I have Mexican left overs and zucchini muffins, and more fudgesicles - and those things just ring out "eat me while you watch illegal streaming television on your computer."

Here's to a day of rest. Cheers.

Makifish

Oh the single life....

Things have gotten a bit out of control over here in ole Montreal. Monday and Tuesday are my days off and I usually cook for the week to come. But these last two days were particulary spectacular in terms of production.

On Monday I woke up and immediately made granola. A very simple granola and definitely not more expensive than boxed cereal. Then I went in search of pectin because I procured some strawberries the day before. I found pectin. Now, my dear sister Katherine advertised that Pomona's universal pectin is really the stuff to use because apparently you can use 1 1/2 C sugar for 4 C of berries. The pectin I found wanted me to use 7 C of sugar for 4 C of berries. I scoffed and hee-hawed and turned to the Joy of Cooking recipe for "Red Red Strawberry jam" that calls for 4 C sugar for 4 C berries. This was still more than I wanted to use, but Katherine's perfect pectin couldn't be found anywhere. So I made strawberry syrup jam (I think the berries were too ripe - which means they have even LESS pectin in them than they normally do - and I'm still convinced there was too much sugar, but apparently rearranging the sugar to fruit ratios is NOT something you want to do; I didn't dare.) Anyways, upon returning from several grocery stores and the pectin mission, I made bread. While the dough rose I made jam. Then I baked the bread, worried my jam was syrupy (it is, but you can actually still spread it on toast and it doesn't pour down the sides; I know I know, it'll be delicious on ice cream, I can't wait!) and sat down for a little rest. To take a real break I rented two films: The Horse Whisperer and Frida - I've seen both already, but I love watching movies twice. Then I got kinda hungry so I made potato leek soup, A LOT OF IT, and used a boxed vegetable broth and milk not cream. It's good, but it's not as good as it could be, so the recipe isn't necessary cause I want to make it at least ten times more.

(The bread? Super super super delicious.)

Tuesday I made black beans from the Homesick Texan's blog. I don't have a kitchen scale, so I just eyeballed the 16 oz of dried beans and probably didn't add enough because it was soupy at the end. But I'm glad I didn't add more because now, like the soup, I have so many beans I don't know what to do with them. I'm going to freeze some, like I did with half the soup, and in the mean time I'm going to eat beans on corn tortillas with salsa and cheese every day for the rest of the week. Not SUCH a bad life. Oh and they're delicious by the way! Spicy Chipotles are a life staple!

I have no recipes and no pictures. I want to master things and then tell you about them. So for the time being, I guess a silly rambling journal of my escapades will have to suffice. And I wish I had five hungry other people around who wanted to eat my creations. So if anyone's passing through (calling all candidates!) and wants to stop for tea, good grief, knock on my door and maybe even convince me to move out of this apartment, with this person that's alright, but doesn't share food and doesn't cook. Bah.

Kelsey? Jam recipe? Now I'm determined to make a damn good jam, so I need some feed back and some help.

Upcoming food projects for the rest of the week to use up buttermilk before I go to Oregon for a week:

a mondo batch of buttermilk biscuits for this barbecue on Saturday.