blue artichoke

What? Two Wandering Gullets in a row? In matters of taste, there is no dispute. In matters of the gullet, there is no restraint. Sometimes the gullet wanders far, sometimes near, and sometimes off-schedule.

Recent rains brought cool weather, cool enough to celebrate by turning on the oven! Wednesday nights are my Muay Thai classes, so dinner has to be something I can prepare ahead of class or fix quickly when I get home. Wednesday nights are also when my healthy-eating plan usually gets derailed. Last night, for example, we had Ohio Spaghetti, a baked spaghetti dish. I precooked the spaghetti, browned the ground beef, cooked the bacon and prepared the sauce, mixed everything together and dumped it into a casserole dish that went into the fridge until after class. When I got home, I preheated the oven while I showered, then baked the spaghetti while I sat down and relaxed after an hour of kicking, punching and abdominal circuits. For such an easy dish, it was pretty good. My only complaint is the sauce. Cans of tomato soup mixed with water are too bland for this casserole. Next time, I'll substitute a jar of spaghetti sauce or homemade sauce; it will do wonders for the dish.

Ohio Spaghetti

Saint Louis Taste of the Town, Junior League of St. Louis to benefit the Women’s Self-Help Center, 1986

I halved the recipe, and was able to mix everything in the same 12" skillet I used to cook the bacon, onions and mushrooms and brown the beef. If making the full recipe, you'll have to mix the ingredients in a rather large bowl. The bacon adds a rich, smoky flavor. Also, I used tomato-basil flavored thin linguine; regular spaghetti would be fine, I just didn't have any on hand. As I said above, don't use the canned tomato soup; it's bland. Instead use some homemade or jarred spaghetti sauce. It will make all the difference in the world.

2# ground round beef
6 slices cooked bacon, crumbled, + reserved grease
2 c. sliced mushrooms, optional
4 med onions, finely chopped
4-5 cans Campbell’s tomato soup
1-½ -2 c. water
2 bay leaves
1 large pkg spaghetti, [easier if broken into thirds before cooking]

Sauté onions in bacon grease until soft; add mushrooms and sauté lightly. Remove veggies from grease and set aside. Stir and sauté beef in bacon grease until browned; drain of grease.

Cook spaghetti in boiling water 10 minutes and drain.

Combine all, mix well; place in large casserole, cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Serves 8.

Getting to Know All About You: Do you use your microwave to cook (more than just reheating leftovers)?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 08:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've never been curious about Korean food, never had the hankerin' for kimchi and probably would never go out of my way to track down a Korean restaurant. Maybe it just seems too foreign, or maybe I've heard too many jokes about being served dog. I haven't amassed a bevy of Korean recipes in my collection, so I had to go looking for a recipe. My first stop was the international cookbook I mentioned previously. There were several, and none showcased dog as the main ingredient. I picked Bul-Ko-Kee (aka Bul-Go-Gee), a basic Korean food. It was a good introduction to Korean food, because I liked it very much. Not only was it super simple and fast, but it had familiar flavors and was easy to eat.

Bul-Ko-Kee

International Cooking: Recipes from the International Women of Riyadh Saudi Arabia

1 ½ kilo beef, sliced very thin, 1” long (1 kilo - 2.2#)
½ c. soy sauce
2 T. sesame oil
1 t. sesame seed
4 T. sugar
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 green onions, sliced
1 onion, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
¼ t. pepper

Place ingredients in med-sized mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly. Place in refrigerator and allow to marinate 4 hours to overnight.

When ready to cook, place in frying pan and cook at medium heat until meat has reached desired doneness. When meat is done, the other ingredients are also done.

Serve on a plate along with rice.

Serves 4.

I used a 3/4" thick 1-1/2# steak, essentially halving the meat amount, but left the rest of the ingredients the same. The mixture was a bit saucy, but the rice soaked up the liquid. Perfect! I used baby carrots, quartered lengthwise, and an onion cut in thick slices.

I also made a dessert called Sal-Bak-Song, which is pretty much Rice Krispies balls, except that my liquid mixture wasn't enough to make the cereal sticky enough to form into a ball. This was really messy to make; I'm still finding Rice Krispies stuck to various surfaces in my kitchen. I went out this morning to buy a bag of mini marshmallows to try to salvage the dessert by making it into Rice Krispies treats.

Sal-Bak-Song (Rice Cookie)

International Cooking: Recipes from the International Women of Riyadh Saudi Arabia

1 box rice crispies cereal
½ c. honey
1 c. sugar
¼ c. water
1 c. Spanish peanuts

Combine sugar and water; heat until sugar melts. Allow to stand until slightly cooled, then mix all other ingredients into the sugar water.

Roll mixture into balls and let cool.

Despite the textural difficulties of the dessert, it tasted fine. Both of these dishes make me more inclined to try Korean food again, though I don't know that I'm ready for kimchi. Fermented cabbage? Ugh.

Getting to Know All About You: How often do you eat dessert?

Update: I tried to look up information on the bul-ko-kee before I wrote the post, but because of the odd spelling of my recipe, I couldn't find anything. With the more traditional spelling, bulgogi (offered in the comments by Red Meat), I've been able to find out more information. For starters, it means "fire meat" in Korean and is the stuff of Korean barbecue, considered by foreigners to be the national dish of Korea. It is traditionally grilled, but broiling and pan-cooking are also common. Garlic, onions and green peppers are often cooked alongside the meat, then served together with lettuce and other side dishes. No mention of a fried egg, though kimchi is often a common accompaniment.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

For some reason, I bought raspberry jam. Usually I'm a strawberry kind of girl, but I guess I wanted to mix things up a bit. Go crazy. GC found it pushed to the back of the odd nook I use for storing kitchen gadgets and pantry overflow, and opened it. We used it on crackers, sandwiches, biscuits, and eventually grew tired of it.

Not long after, I was reminded that I had promised my chocolate tart recipe to someone and had never sent it. The recipe is from cooking school so I needed first to convert the measurements from weights to our Imperial system, and then test the recipe for accuracy. The recipe is actually very easy: spread a layer of seedless raspberry jam over a crust, then top with chocolate ganache (equal parts whipping cream and chocolate). The problem was that the recipe was for a tart; the filling wouldn't fill up a pie crust. I tinkered, weighed, measured and made the pie, but it wasn't nearly as good as I remember it being. It could the the chocolate I used or the raspberry jam, or a measuring malfunction. Whatever the reason, I'm not comfortable giving out the recipe as is. Full of fat and sugar and no redeeming qualities (health-wise, that is), this isn't a dessert I can enjoy often, so I'll have to wait a while to tackle the recipe again.

By this point, GC had sworn off raspberry jam, but I didn't want an almost-empty jar taking up valuable real estate in the refrigerator door, so I found another recipe to use up the rest of the jam: a raspberry-almond coffeecake. It's officially still too hot to turn on my oven, but I did it anyway, waiting until late evening after the sun went down and the house cooled off. I was a bit short on raspberry jam for this recipe, but that was fine with us - the coffee cake had a light berry sweetness without being overpoweringly raspberry. It's a bit unconventional for a coffee cake because it is made in a springform pan, but it is delicious. Here's the recipe:

Raspberry-Almond Coffee Cake

This cake is best eaten on the day it is baked, though it may be made a day ahead. The batter is quite heavy, so you may prefer to beat it with an electric mixer at medium-high speed for a minute or so, rather than whisk it by hand. Do not insert a skewer into this cake to test for doneness until the center appears firm when the pan is shaken. If you do, the topping may squeeze air out, and the middle of the cake may sink.

1 tablespoon dry bread crumbs
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar , plus 2 tablespoons
1 teaspoon table salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter ( 1 1/4 sticks), softened
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup buttermilk (or low-fat plain yogurt)
1 large egg at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract , divided
1/2 cup raspberry jam (seedless)
3/4 cup ground almonds (4 ounces)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk

1. Adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease bottom and lightly grease sides of 10-inch springform pan. Sprinkle bottom of pan with dry bread crumbs, then shake lightly to coat. Tap out excess crumbs.

2. Whisk flour, sugar, and salt in large mixing bowl until blended. Add butter and cut with whisk until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Remove 1 cup of crumbs to separate bowl.

3. Whisk baking powder and soda into mixture remaining in large mixing bowl. Add buttermilk or yogurt, egg, vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of the almond extract; whisk vigorously until batter is thick, smooth, fluffy, and frostinglike, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Beat raspberry jam until smooth and fluid, then carefully spread it over the batter with the back of a teaspoon.

4. Add nuts, sugar, egg yolk, and remaining teaspoon almond extract to reserved crumbs and mix with a fork. Thoroughly knead mixture with your fingers until the color is uniform. Sprinkle crumbs over batter, pressing lightly so that mixture adheres. Bake cake until center is firm and cake tester comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Transfer cake to rack; remove pan sides. Let cake cool completely, about 2 hours, before serving. When completely cooled, cake can be slid off pan bottom onto serving plate.

Serves 8 - 10

Cook’s Illustrated newsletter, September 20, 2007

I used low-fat plain yogurt for the buttermilk and was a bit short on raspberry jam. Pretty easy to make and really good to eat, though the raspberry flavor was very faint. Sweet.

Getting to Know All About You: What food or flavor have you grown tired of because of over-indulgence?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 09:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I bypassed hours waiting in line at the DMV and went to the County Clerk's office to get a replacement copy of my car registration. I didn't have to wait in a line and I had a copy in my hand in fewer than five minutes. Easy.

Next, I went for a drive in the mountains with my brother. We stopped off at our family cabin to walk around the property. All was in order; recent forest fires stopped short of the property line. Lucky.

We continued our day in the mountains hiking a trail at Abrams Falls. We chose the Goldmine Creek trail, examined various animal droppings along the way and discussed mixed martial arts for about three hours, or seven miles. I was one of those unprepared hikers you hear stories about after they disappear. I wore 12-year-old tennis shoes, khaki pants and a brown shirt, carried a half-full bottle of water and a granola bar, but no cell phone or identification. I, however, did not fall off the side of the mountain, only to lie there, camouflaged and unidentified. Also, my car was not stolen. That sounds like a pretty good day to me.

But wait! There's more. After resting my aching hips and feet, my mom, brother and I went to eat at my favorite restaurant, Subs 'N Such. Sometimes I tweak parts of my sandwich, changing up my bread, cheese or toppings, but I went for the classic configuration. It was awesome. Even the hair in the sandwich couldn't ruin it.

After dinner, I hit the road for Nashville, taking the opportunity to listen to some great new music. I stopped for an overnight visit with my in-laws, whose company I always enjoy, and got to see my nephew to boot. He showed me YouTube clips of his favorite Elvis songs. He's five.

I fell asleep in one of the most comfortable beds I've ever encountered, weary from the road, bone-tired from the hike and with a belly full of my favorite sandwich. I slept like a champ.

If this is a case of the Mondays, bring it on.

Getting to Know All About You: What's the best thing you did last weekend?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 09:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The next time you find yourself with miles to go before you sleep, literally, I highly recommend getting an audio book. Any interesting book will do, but if you like food, and I know you do, I recommend Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl. It’s long, so it will take you on down the road. It’s also great, written with such detail that you’ll either slobber all over yourself as you drive or you’ll arrive at your destination as I did, sated and satisfied, as if I had spent ten hours dining on tender steaks, crunchy fried potatoes, caviar and earthy truffles. I haven’t finished the book, so there’s more for my drive back home next week, but already I’m reminded of the greatest meals I’ve eaten, the food, the flavors, the atmosphere, the company. So often I cook dinner, we eat and give a thumbs-up or -down review, and move on to the clean up, the meal soon forgotten. Rarely do I stop to consider the food, to savor the flavors, to remember the meal. This book chides me for my neglect and urges me to pay attention to food again. It also makes me wish I lived near a good wig shop.

Getting to Know All About You: What's your most memorable meal?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 11:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Now that the cruelest days of summer are past and ice cream isn't necessary to make it through the day, I think it's time I let you in on a secret about light ice cream. Most of it isn't very good, which you probably know if you've ever sampled the light or low-fat offerings in the freezer case. You might have stumbled onto Haagen-Dazs, though, and thought to yourself, "Hey, this isn't that bad." You were right; it tastes much better than other light ice creams because it has the same fat content as all the regular full-fat ice creams out there. Huh? Federal labeling allows ice cream manufacturers to use the term "light" on ice cream with no more than half the fat and 2/3 the calories of the company's regular ice cream. Regular Haagen-Dazs has more than twice the fat content of other regular ice creams, so their light version is about on par with the regular offerings from the competition. Sneaky.

Please don't hate me for taking away your guilt-free ice cream indulgence.

Getting to Know All About You: What's your favorite dessert?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 10:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yesterday, I ran into two people I know who didn't recognize me. One I hadn't seen in about a year and I don't know well, so that wasn't so unusual. The other, though, I know well and just saw a few weeks ago. What's up with that?

While I ponder this, you can take a look at this recipe. I made this salad Monday night and, while good, would be even better as something other than a salad.

Spinach Salad with Sesame Pork

1# pork tenderloin
3 t. dark sesame oil, divided
¼ c. chopped green onions
2 T. low-sodium soy sauce
1 T. honey
1 t. ground ginger
½ t. freshly ground pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
Cooking spray
1 T. rice vinegar or white vinegar
1 T. water
8 c. spinach torn
2-oz. jar diced pimento, drained
2 T. coarsely grated Gruyere cheese or aged Swiss cheese
2 T. sesame seeds, toasted

Trim fat from pork; slice into thin strips. Combine 1 t. oil, green onions and next 5; rub evenly over pork. Place pork on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray; broil 4m on each side or until desired degree of doneness.

Combine 2 t. oil, vinegar and water in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Add vinaigrette to spinach; toss to coat. Divide spinach evenly among 4 plates; arrange pork on top of spinach. Top with pimento, cheese and sesame seeds.

Serves 4.
266C, 11.5g fat, 29.9g protein, 11.3 carbs, 4.9g fiber, 8.3 mg cholesterol, 356 mg sodium

Cooking Light, August 1997

Orange-Chive Bubble Buns

¼ c. orange marmalade at room temp.
1 t. freeze-dried chives
4.5-oz. can refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400.

Combine marmalade and chives; set aside. Separate biscuits; cut each into 4 pieces. Add biscuit pieces to marmalade mixture; toss. Place 6 biscuit pieces into each of 4 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400 for 13m or until golden. Remove from cups; serve warm.

Serves 4.
125C, 1.2g fat, 2.1g protein, 27.8 carbs, 0 cholesterol, 281 mg sodium
Cooking Light, August 1997

The pork was really good and cooked quickly; it would pair very well with some fried rice. The salad was good, and healthier than fried rice, but it wasn't exceptional in any way. The orange bubble buns were also great, and easy, though best cooked in muffin tins without paper liner cups.

Getting to Know All About You: Are you a person who gets recognized?
I'm definitely not. Many, many times, I've been with Blue Grilled Cheese when she is spotted by someone we went to high school with. Though I'm standing right there and know the other person, I'm rarely recognized. I usually keep quiet; I prefer to pass unrecognized.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

If this is any indication, Iranian food is awesome, but designed for people with nothing better to do than sit around boiling and peeling nuts all day. Not a cuisine for people who do things like work or attend baby showers. I found the recipe in a book my mom bought when we lived in Saudi Arabia. It's called International Cooking: Recipes from the International Women of Riyadh Saudi Arabia, and you can only buy it here. These are the first recipes I've tried, but I'm sure you'll be seeing more from the book in future Wandering Gullet entries. There don't seem to be any serving sizes indicated in the recipes, so I made a whole mess o' Iranian food. I should have been tipped off by the ingredient amounts listed in kilos (2.2# for you Americans). I used my brain, kitchen scale and estimating prowess, but not my note-taking abilities (my librarian grandmother would be ashamed), so I can't share with you an exact replica of my meal. But I can set you loose on the recipes I started from. Recipes are mere suggestions, anyway.

Shireen Polow (Iran)

International Cooking: Recipes from the International Women of Riyadh Saudi Arabia
I used an assortment of chicken parts in my freezer: two thighs, two drumsticks, two boneless, skinless breasts and one mystery cut. Altogether, they weighed ~2 1/2#. Though the recipe doesn't say it, if you choose to use a 2-3# chicken, it will be much easier to cook, serve and eat if you cut it into pieces first. I forgot to slice the almonds, but after cooking them, they didn't really need it. Also, I don't know why the recipe calls for almonds and pistachios; after cooking, they sort of lose their flavor and really just provide texture. You could just use one nut (almonds are cheaper). This recipe is very time-consuming and produces lots of dirty dishes. The end result is worth it, but maybe only for special occasions or when you want to make some Iranians nostalgic for home. Or when you want to combine dinner with dessert; this dish is very sweet.

150 g. shelled almonds
150 g. shelled pistachio nuts
Peel of 3 oranges (remove all white)
½ kilo carrots
300 g. sugar
2-3# chicken or chicken breasts
10 g. saffron
300 g. cooking oil
2 T. butter
1 kilo rice, long grain
S/p, as desired
2 t. cinnamon

Put almonds and pistachio nuts in enough boiling water to cover and cook for 5m. Drain, remove skins, slice almonds and set aside. Put orange peel in a pan of boiling water and simmer 5m. Drain and repeat procedure. Simmer for 10m; then drain. Peel carrots and slice julienne style. Mix orange peel, carrots and nuts with ½ c. water; add sugar and boil 3 minutes.

Cook chicken in large vessel with enough water to cover chicken and add s/p. When chicken is approximately half cooked, dissolve ½ of the saffron in a small amount of hot water and pour the solution over the chicken. Then set aside.

Cook and drain the rice. In a deep saucepan pour in oil, a layer of the orange peel mixture, then add a layer of chicken pieces and sprinkle with cinnamon. Repeat the layers until all of the ingredients are used. Then place pot on low heat to steam cook. After approximately 40 minutes, mix the remaining saffron (dissolved in hot water as before) with the butter (melted) and pour the mixture over the rice. Serve hot.

Borani Spinach (Iran)

International Cooking: Recipes from the International Women of Riyadh Saudi Arabia
GC liked this dish a lot; me, not so much. I think it might have been too much of a contrast with the sweet chicken dish; it confused and bewildered my taste buds. It was very garlicky (I used 2 cloves) and almost astringent. I used a few fistfuls of spinach and only ~2 T of yogurt, just enough to pull it together. This would pair better with a savory dish.

1 kilo spinach, washed well or 2 (10 oz.) pkg of chopped, frozen spinach
3 sprigs celery leaves, chopped or 2 T. dried celery leaves
½ L yogurt
S/p as desired
1 clove garlic, chopped

Chop spinach and celery; cook with garlic until tender, if necessary add 1 T. of water to prevent sticking to the pan. Make certain all water has evaporated. Then mix with yogurt. Add s/p. Chill in refrigerator and serve.

Almond Cookies (Iran)

International Cooking: Recipes from the International Women of Riyadh Saudi Arabia
I planned to make these for dessert, but didn't have time.

250 g. flour
200 g. butter
200 g. blanched, peeled and chopped almonds
2 egg yolks
100 g. icing sugar
1 small pkg vanilla
¼ t. salt (if using unsalted butter)

Mix all until you have a soft dough. Let rest in fridge, then roll out and shape in your favorite mold – horseshoe, star, diamond, etc. (bite-size). Place on cookie tray. Warm oven to 400F and place in oven to 10-14m depending on thickness or until they turn light brown. While warm, sprinkle a little icing sugar mixed with a little vanilla powder.

Getting to Know All About You: What Snackdown do you want to see next?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, it's over.

Blue Chocolate Challah moved out about two weeks ago to live with his girlfriend, who is also kosher. The parting of the ways was quite amicable... in fact, I won't lie, I miss living with BCC. We got along really well and the whole kosher lifestyle was not really that bad.

I think BCC misses me, too. I think that started as he was packing up the final few things, as he was excited to get together a week later to go to the movies. It was a lot of fun, but kind of odd for us not to be heading back to the same place. Sure, occasionally we'd be out someplace and he'd then go over to his girlfriend's house, but this was different; he didn't come "home" to get his car and then go over.

I've been quite blessed when it comes to roommates. Starting with my first, who was a little unbalanced, my sophomore year of college saw me rooming with Pink Margaritas the Effeminate Heterosexual... although it turned out he was, in fact, homosexual. We hung out most recently on his trip to Boston in May, and he's still as funny as ever. We got along really well in our substance-free dorm room.

The following year I roomed with White Mackerel, in the largest room on campus. Had a blast, and laughed more over the course of that school year than I ever have in my life. There was a repeat senior year, though we added Purple Spaghetti to our on-campus apartment. It was an interesting year, since by the end of it WM and PS despised each other. Over the course of those two years one would think I would have developed an aversion to pizza, such was the frequency I ate it. But no, love it still.

The next roommate was in Colorado. Blue/Green Anything Edible was a fun roommate who pushed me to get into better physical shape than I'd ever been in, which unfortunately pushed my heart to the limit requiring surgery sooner rather than later. We worked together, too, and when he quit (good call) he moved away, leaving me roommate-less. To save money (especially as I'd be out of Colorado for two months), I moved in with Yellow Guacamole.

She is the coolest, most easy-going person I've ever met. She found out she was preggers a week after I moved in, too, which made things interesting. I moved out before the baby arrived -- it wasn't mine, that was for sure.

Then my move to Boston, where I lived with Blue Chocolate Challah.

I just realized this is more of a personal journal entry than it should be... sorry. To make up for it, I'd say that this past weekend one of my best friends and his fiancee came to town. He'll eat anything, but she is a kosher vegan... well, vegan is kosher by default, so that works alright, I suppose. We went to an Indian restaurant that was absolutely incredible! Rani's in Coolidge Corner has the standard Indian food plus some really interesting dishes from other regions -- not your standard Indian restaurant in the end. The food was delicious -- it's worth a trip if you're in the Boston area and like Indian food but want something other than chicken tikka masala.

I don't have any recipes to post, I'm sorry.

Remember the Gas Crisis? It's over... but BCC took all of his plates and pots and pans and utensils, and mine are still in storage. Next week I hope to cook again. Also, I hope to clean this place.

As great a guy as BCC is, the man didn't clean. Ever, to the best of my knowledge.

All in all, I managed to be kosher (in the home) for nine months. Not too bad, and most diets don't last that long. I'm kind of proud of myself.

Getting to Know All About You: What's been your most successful or longest diet? That might be two separate answers; I fully understand a long diet not being very successful!

Posted by Red Momo, aka the Kosher Gentile at 07:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Summer is winding down. There are no more tomatoes or berries at the farmer's market; their place has been taken by okra and squash. GC and I saw some tempting big butternut squashes at the farmer's market last Saturday, but it's still too hot for me to turn on the oven, so we resisted. Soon, though, the air will cool, the windows will open and the oven will fire up for casseroles and roasts. I am missing my evening bowl of fresh cherries, but I noticed that dried dates have already made an appearance. They'll help ease the transition from summer to fall. Here are some other things in season this month (artichokes!):

What's In Season?

n = newly in season
p = peak of season
w = winding down

Vegetables

• artichokes (n)
• basil (p)
• beans: fresh shelling (p)
• celeriac / celery root (n)
• cucumber (p)
• eggplant (p)
• garlic (p)
• kale (n)
• kohlrabi (n)
• okra (p)
• onion
• peppers, bell
• peppers, chile
• potatoes (w)
• squash, summer (w)
• squash, winter (n)
• tomatillo (w)
• tomatoes (p)

Fruits

• apples (p)
• figs (w)
• grapes (p)
• melons (w)
• oranges, Valencia (p)
• pears: Asian (p)
• pears: Bartlett (w)
• persimmons: Fuyu-firm
• persimmons: Hachiya-soft
• pistachios (n)
• plums (w)
• pomegranate (n)
• quince (n)

Getting to Know All About You: What's your favorite fall food?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 02:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I've never really been a "joiner." Neither is GC, and that's one reason we get along so well. I might have joined Y-teens in middle school, the International Club in high school and the Outing Club in college (not to mention a rather disastrous year in a sorority), but my membership in those organizations was either calculated or half-hearted. I'm just not a group person. I'm a lone wolf. But this week I joined two groups. The first is a ladies' disc golf league. I enjoy playing disc golf with GC, but more for the company and exercise than a love of disc golf. I don't hang out with a group of girls very often though, so thought I'd give ladies' league a whirl. Let me tell you, girls talk about the weirdest things. It would be too girly for me to repeat them here, but I had fun, wasn't the worst one in the group, and will go back again next week.

The second group I joined was a Muay Thai class. For a long time, I've wanted to learn how to drop someone with a kick. It's a good skill to know for self-defense, and for general bad-assery. My class is for beginners, ages 8+. I was afraid I'd be the only adult, but there is a lady older than I am, a dad, his two sons and another boy, age 10. We do circuits, and I've learned that I suck at push-ups but can churn out a surprising number of sit-ups/crunches. But my favorite part is hitting the heavy bag and working the mitts with my instructor. We just worked on punches today, but get to learn kicks next week. I already feel like a Thai warrior.

Both of these new activities go on the 30 New Things list:
1. Roast a duck
2. Learn to make glass beads
3. Swim in an underground river
4. Sea-Trek
5. Touch a sea turtle
6. Make a chocolate meringue pie
7. Eat collard greens
8. Cirque du Soleil: Ka
9. Make ice cream
10. Eat lunch with a down's syndrome guy
11. Learn to post pictures on my blog
12. Wear shorts, a tank top and a thong on purpose, all day and in public
13. Join a Ladies’ Disc Golf League
14. Begin Muay Thai lessons

Because both of these new groups are in the evenings, this means a lot of make-ahead and crock pot meals that can be put on the table soon after I get home. We had a chicken and rice crock pot meal tonight that was less than spectacular. Last night, though, we had a great make-ahead dinner. Oat cakes. Not oat pancakes, but oatmeal cakes. You make a batch of oatmeal, using the super-good-for-you-and-cholesterol-lowering-but-long-cooking steel-cut oatmeal, put it in a 13x9" pan and let it cool and harden, cut into squares and pan-fry. Here's a more detailed recipe:

Griddled Steel-Cut Oatcakes

3 1/2 cups (or more) water
1 3/4 cups steel-cut oats
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup plus additional for serving
1 tablespoon (packed) dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Melted butter (for brushing)
2 pints strawberries, hulled, sliced

Butter 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan or rimmed baking sheet. Bring 3 1/2 cups water to boil in heavy medium saucepan. Add oats and salt. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until oatmeal is tender but still firm to bite, stirring often and adding more water by 1/4 cupfuls if too thick, about 30 minutes. Add cream, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, sugar, and vanilla; stir until mixture thickens, about 3 minutes. Spread oatmeal in prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 4 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.

Cut chilled oatmeal into squares or triangles. Heat griddle or heavy nonstick skillet over medium heat. Brush griddle with melted butter. Cook oatcakes until golden brown and heated through, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Divide oatcakes among plates, drizzle with maple syrup, spoon strawberries over, and serve.

Makes 4-6 servings

Bon Appétit | September 2007

Yum! I served it with sausages, making it a breakfast-dinner. Had I used turkey sausages, it would have been a healthier meal, but it was delicious nonetheless.

Getting to Know All About You: What's your favorite make-ahead meal?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 08:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Sometimes the origin of phrases are intuitive. "Bring home the bacon," for example, makes sense as a sign of wealth from the days when meat was an expensive luxury item. A person who brought home the bacon was a person who could provide for his/her family. Makes sense. However, there are two more possible origins of the phrase which aren't quite as intuitive. The first comes from an old English custom of giving a young couple bacon if they are still happy after the first year of marriage. That's an awesome tradition. GC and I are still happy, even after 2 years of marriage. Where's our bacon? The second possible origin of "bring home the bacon" comes from greased pig competitions at county fairs, where the winner got to take home the pig he/she caught.

Nowadays, however, the phrase isn't used to convey marital bliss or one's swine-catching prowess, but refers to one's ability to provide for others, i.e., work. Because yesterday was Labor Day, a holiday to provide a rest from work, I thought it appropriate to celebrate with bacon. Plus, I love bacon. GC and I started the day with bacon and cheese-egg biscuits and ended the day with Bacon, Egg and Cheese Spaghetti. A bacon binge is decadent and depraved, I'm not going to lie, but just as you have to sacrifice something to work, you might just have to sacrifice nutrition to celebrate your ability to work. Or something like that. Anyway, here's the spaghetti recipe :

Labor Day Bring Home the Bacon Spaghetti

The Good Housekeeping Cookbook, edited by Zoe Coulson, NY, 1973

16 oz. pkg spaghetti
8 slices bacon, cut up

2 med onion, coarsely chopped
4 eggs, slightly beaten
½ (8 oz.) pkg pasteurized process cheese spread, cubed, ~1 c. (can sub any cheese, shredded)

~30m before serving:
Cook spaghetti as directed; drain.

Meanwhile, in 12” skillet over med heat, cook bacon until crisp; with slotted spoon, remove to paper towels; set aside.

In drippings in skillet, cook onions until tender, ~5m. Add spaghetti and bacon to onion mixture and toss until well mixed; stir in eggs and cheese and heat until cheese is melted.

Serves 4.

"If there's bacon involved, I dread to imagine the depths of depravity we're going to find." - Jeremy Irons as Bishop Pucci in Casanova (2005).

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Back on track here at the Blue Artichoke HQ. I returned from my trip back east just in time to get sick with GC. We moped around the house, popping pills and tossing tissues, from Wednesday through Saturday. We thought we were better on Saturday, until a trip to the farmer's market used up all our energy and tuckered us out for the rest of the day. Sunday we were much improved, and took in a round of disc golf to get us outside and moving in the fresh air. I felt well enough to cook (and eat!), so we wandered to China for some Kung Pao Pork.

Kung Pao is a Sichuan dish named after Ding Baozhen (1820–1886), who served as governor of Sichuan province under the title Gōng Bǎo ("palatial guardian"). The name "Kung Pao" is derived from this title. Usually made with chicken, Kung Pao's characteristic heat comes from Sichuan peppercorns and dried red chiles, which are flash fried in hot oil, then removed before the meat and vegetables are added to the now-fragrant hot oil. This dish follows the traditional method, but omits the peppercorns and adds the blackened chiles back at the end of cooking. Kung Pao recipes also traditionally include roasted peanuts or cashews, originally raw nuts roasted in the hot oil before adding the rest of the vegetables. Nuts are still included in the Westernized version, but usually are preroasted and tossed in at the last minute.

This dish was easy and quick to make, but I think I used the wrong kind of chiles because the meal was actually sort of bland. Often I can't order Kung Pao from Chinese restaurants because I'm a spice-wimp, so I thought I'd give it a whirl at home where I can control the heat. I used 3 giant dried chiles in place of the 8 small ones called for in the recipe. Maybe with the proper chiles, you'll have better luck.

Kung Pao Pork

Dried whole red chiles are often packaged in small jars and sold in the spice section of the supermarket.

1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound pork tenderloin
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, divided
8 dried whole red chiles
2 cups coarsely chopped green bell pepper
3/4 cup vertically sliced onion
1 teaspoon minced peeled gingerroot
1/2 cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts
6 cups hot cooked rice

Combine first 8 ingredients in a small bowl; stir until well-blended. Set aside.

Trim fat from pork. Cut pork into 1-inch cubes. Combine pork, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, and 1 tablespoon soy sauce in a bowl; stir well. Cover and marinate in refrigerator 15 minutes.

Heat 1 teaspoon vegetable oil in a wok or large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add chiles; stir-fry 1 minute or until blackened. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon; set aside. Add remaining oil and pork mixture to pan; stir-fry 2 minutes. Add bell pepper, onion, and gingerroot; stir-fry 1 minute or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Add sherry mixture; stir-fry 1 minute or until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat; stir in chiles and peanuts. Serve over rice.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 3/4 cup pork mixture and 1 cup rice)

CALORIES 449 (23% from fat); FAT 11.7g (sat 2.1g,mono 4.9g,poly 3.8g); PROTEIN 23.8g; CHOLESTEROL 49mg; CALCIUM 45mg; SODIUM 398mg; FIBER 3.3g; IRON 3.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 60.4g

Cooking Light, MAY 1996

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 09:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)