A Hiatus.

I have been taking a hiatus from this blog. I am figuring out some personal things that I felt needed my time and attention. However, every once in awhile I think about blogging and miss it. So I may post periodically just for fun. I have a few nice items on this weeks menu that I might share.

Decorah Farmer's Market

These are last weeks items from our local farmer's market(excluding meat). Our farmer's market is nice because it is small and eventually you get to know the vendors you buy from. And we have pretty good variety considering its size. There are vendors who sell meat, eggs, cheese, honey, vegetables, baked goods, jams, and even jewelry. In this picture are green beans, radicchio, endive, spinach, broccoli and lettuce. The flowers are actually from a local Quaker family that does a flower subscription business(you sign up to get a delivery of flowers every week for the whole season-ours was a gift ).

I have one vendor that I buy all my produce from. His produce is organic, though not certified, and is always so good. He also has extremely low prices. I sometimes get frustrated at farmer's markets because they can be too expensive. They charge "boutique" prices for heirloom tomatoes and fancy lettuce mixes. I think that the food should be priced to eat not put on display. However, I do realize that organic and high quality food has a higher cost than conventional food bought in a supermarket and I am willing to pay a reasonable amount more.

Last night while talking with some friends we chatted about how much we would be willing to pay to eat high quality local food. We all seemed to be in agreement that we would be willing to pay significantly more than normal prices. Most of us are willing to make sacrifices(and many are) to try to eat healthy for ourselves and for the environment.

Winneshiek County Fair's Eat Local Cook-off

This week is our county fair and there was an Eat Local Cook-off on Wednesday. They needed judges and I thought it would be fun so I volunteered. There were 2 other judges and 10 dishes entered. This fun event involved trying to use as many local products(within 100 miles) as possible and in a creative way. The first place prize went to a Bangladeshi student from our local college. His dish was local lamb grilled with spices and served with a yogurt sauce and accompanied by potatoes and julienned squash. It was very tasty. The second place dish was kale and sausage Pie, which was very nice. The cook of this dish rendered her own lard for the crust and, I believe, ground the wheat. Third place went to a couple who entered 2 galettes, one sweet, one savory. The savory really was the winner in my book. It was a tomato, basil and cheese galette. I really had a good time being a judge for this. I look forward to attending again next year but maybe as a contestant.

We also had a great time attending the fair itself. If your an Iowan the food highlight of the fair is Pork Chop on a Stick. However, I had a very good piece of homemade cherry pie, which got my vote. Pork Chop on a Stick just hasn't won me over. For those of you who are not Iowans and are wondering, there really is no stick involved in Pork Chop on a Stick. It is called that because they cut them so that you can hold onto the bone as if it were a stick.

Things I love about California, cont...

One of the things I really like about Cali is high end gourmet delis. They are really an aesthetic experience. The smell of good coffee brewing, glass cases full of triple chocolate brownies and Italian cream cakes, in addition, to colorful salads and delicious sandwiches on artisan breads. What is not to like? And if they have a beautiful patio, heaven! While in college I frequented this particular deli, Pierre Lafond. One of the most novel things they have is air fries, fries cooked with hot air instead of oil. They are really great and healthy. For the life of me I cannot figure out why these have not caught on elsewhere. Can you imagine how great it would be to replace the traditional fries with these at high schools and colleges? Anyway, back to my deli reminiscence. Actually, it is secretly a dream of mine to own and run a place like this. Maybe not quite this high end(it would not be unusual to spot a movie star at Pierre Lafond's in Montecito). I think I would really enjoy running a deli. Maybe someday.

Strawberry Picking

Last week our family went out of town a bit to Wold Strawberries to pick our own berries. There is usually only a week or two a year when you can do this so we were glad we didn't miss it while we were traveling. We picked one tray/basket which came to 11 pounds. Originally I had wanted to pick 2 baskets but it is a good thing I did not. Berries don't stay fresh very long so you have to preserve them right away. I chose to wash and dry and then freeze them. I also made some jam and a strawberry crisp. The crisp recipe was from the Crisco website. I am not a fan of Crisco but I just substituted butter for the Crisco. It was a good recipe and passed my husbands test. His mother makes a lot of crisps so he knows what he likes. The strawberries are so beautiful it was fun to photograph them.

Things I love about California

A good Italian sandwich is a beautiful thing. Before I was married I lived in an apartment in downtown Santa Barbara with many roommates. It was fun to live just a couple blocks from the main strip. And one of the best things was that we lived just around the corner from an Italian market, simply called, The Italian Grocery. It is a tiny little market that has a very nice deli counter with very big and tasty sandwiches. The sandwiches are packed with real Italian cured meats, like capocollo, sopressata, cotto salami, genoa salami, and cheese. It is topped simply with tomato and lettuce and then dressed with mayo and with oil. Whenever I am in town I drop by this market for a sandwich. I have searched high and low for another Italian store like this but have not had much luck. When I lived in Chicago I kept taking little trips to try to find one but I never did. I am sure there must be one but I never figured out where. In Chicago there is a Little Italy but not a hometown market quite like this one. I bet Italian locals know where one is but for now this little tiny one in Santa Barbara is my favorite.

Caffeine California Style

While in California I ordered a Decaf Ultimate Vanilla Ice Blended Coffee with chocolate covered espresso beans and no sugar added. When did coffee get so complicated? Sometimes I just have to laugh at people's orders. Can't anyone just order a coffee anymore? The price of these complicated drinks is no laughing matter, though. This baby set me back about $4.50 and that was for the small. But I was on vacation and threw caution to the wind. I don't think that all these coffee house drinks would sell quite so well if they called them what the really are which is milkshakes with caffeine. Coffee sounds like something you can consume everyday without guilt. But it doesn't seem right to order a milkshake on the way to work everyday, even if it is non-fat, decaf, no sugar added.

On Vacation

I am on a long needed vacation and wont post for a while but I am gathering ideas and enjoying some California sun and food.

If you can't beat 'em enjoy 'em -- or not.

Our "lawn" is made up almost entirely of dandelions, creeping Charlie and clover with just a little grass to round it out. And recently we are trying to get rid of the dandelions to make way for more grass. We believe in living organically so this means we are hand weeding out each dandelion plant. I had heard that dandelions were edible. In fact, I had heard that dandelions were brought here(to America) as a food source(someone please correct me if I am wrong). So the wheels started turning in my head. Dandelions are edible. We are harvesting an almost endless supply of them. Why not eat them? I went online and looked up recipes. I came across several that looked promising. There were recipes for fritters, pancakes, salads and cooked "greens." I decided I would start by trying a salad recipe. It all started so well. And it looked so beautiful. But really it was awful. The dandelions are just too bitter. In fact, we made a gallant effort but I still threw half of it out. So next I was going to try cooking the leaves like greens, i.e. collards, but I just lost heart. I think I am giving up on eating dandelions. It just doesn't seem worth the effort to eat something so, well, yucky.

Martha Stewart and Korean BBQ

I am a big admirer of Martha Stewart(criminal history aside). She is extremely talented and she has taught herself most of what she knows. However, she is really not a charismatic TV personality. A show featuring Martha is always a bit awkward although she is somehow still likable, perhaps because it makes her seem less than perfect. She can't be great at everything, right? Anyhow, not too long ago on her current show she had on a Korean woman who was a charismatic personality and was great on TV. In my opinion she really showed up Martha Stewart on her own show. She was there to show Martha her Korean BBQ recipe. The recipe is great and I use it frequently. It is marinated meat served wrapped in a lettuce leaf with white rice. This recipe is so good I am sure you will love it if you try it. The link to the recipe and the episode in which it appeared is here, Martha and Korean BBQ. I don't expect to see this woman on the show again. Women like Martha don't like to be overshadowed:)

Steamed dumplings

I have recently become addicted to my bamboo steamer. I found it at the thrift store(surprise, surprise) a few months ago but I was a little intimidated by it and didn't try using it until just the last few weeks. I really love it. Mostly I am using it for vegetables and reheating things but I decided I should try it for something more traditional. So I made pork dumplings from a healthy Asian cookbook I have. The dumplings turned out great and I have been using the steamer almost daily since. It is really great for reheating rice. Normally I am not a big fan of leftover rice because it gets kind of hard and dried out, but if you put it in the steamer for a little bit it comes out tasting like it was just cooked. I lined the steamer with parchment paper(because the holes are pretty wide in the steamer) for the rice.

Future blogs coming soon are Dandelion adventures and Korean BBQ.

Finally Moroccan Chicken with Preserved Lemons

The preserved lemons are finally ready and this weekend I made Moroccan Chicken. I wasn't sure what to expect because I haven't eaten much Moroccan food. I was surprised by the subtlety of both the "stew" and of the lemons. The dish was very simple just a cut up chicken, minced onions, garlic, cilantro, parsley, cumin, salt and lemons. Essential you brown the chicken and then braise it with the rest of the ingredients, except the lemons they get put in after the chicken is cooked. I served it with leftover brown rice(that I reheated in the bamboo steamer) and beet greens and Noodle Kugel for dessert. A very nice meal. However, this only used 1 of the lemons so I have to think of some more uses for them. I am thinking that I might try a lemon risotto.

Farm Fresh Eggs

When my mom was visiting recently she was very impressed with the eggs we have. We get ours from some people we know who raise organic beef and have a few laying hens. The yolks in these eggs are orange not yellow(this picture does not do them justice) and they really do taste great. During my mother's stay she kept trying to figure out how she could bring some home with her on the plane. I finally convinced her that this was not a good idea. My mom has always been very pro-eggs. Even during the years when people said that eggs were bad my mother said they were healthy. I, also, believe that eggs are one of nature's most perfect foods. And my mother has always said that to find good nutrition you should follow the color. Meaning nature will show you what is the most nutritious by giving it an appealing color. So we strongly believe that to get the most out of eating an egg you need to eat the yolk because that is where the color is. Science seems to be bearing this out.

Growing up we always kept chickens for eggs. And I have to admit to not really loving chickens themselves but I do enjoy eggs. In fact, my family would be shocked to know recently I contemplated whether or not I would want to keep some hens for eggs. But because I don't like dealing with chickens the answer so far is no.

This is a poem about the fig tree in our backyard when I was growing up but it talks about chickens so I am including it. Growing up we had lots of fruit trees including about 3 different types of plums, a peach tree, a guava bush, a pear, a couple of apples and last, but definitely not least, a fig tree. Also we had a banana tree but it was just an ornamental one.

figs

You are my first child
and I see you under the shade of the fig
chasing chickens.
You bend over,
hands low to the ground
just about chicken width apart.
The chicken is not too threatened by you
but avoids your hands,
pecking at fallen figs.

Later you will see what is above you
and pull the big flat leaves
from their rubbery branches.
Your hands will be sticky
with the milky blood
and you will be a seamstress
your only fabric green and furry.
And your dolls will be clothed with Eden’s best.

You will walk quietly up to the tree
in the summers of the future
and you will pull firmly but fearfully on your choice fig.
As you release the fig from its branch
you arouse and scatter a million iridescent beetles.
they are loud and frightening and beautiful.

When you are yet older
you will realize that you are bigger than a scarab
and you will want to play with them.
You will spend the quiet of a whole afternoon
trying to catch one and tie a leash about his body
and you will name him.

For years you will forget the fig
and the safety of the backyard
but later when you are me
you will stand on the blue porch
and watch your daughter chase chickens
under the fig tree.

Health Food People and Fudge

I come from health food people. My memory of peanut butter as a kid is going to the health food store and scooping out peanuts and then dumping them into the grinder(it looks kind of like the coffee grinders you now see in stores). Then you would catch the ground up nuts in a plastic tub. Voila, peanut butter! In fact, I now use Skippy All Natural Peanut Butter and it drives my mom nuts(pun intended). Every time she visits I hear the lecture about how it is not real peanut butter because it has sugar added and you don't have to stir it. I swear it makes her twitch just being in the same room with it(well, maybe I exaggerate a little). Anyway the point of this anecdote is that I am a born and raised health food person. As an adult I have chosen to be more moderate, hence, the Skippy but it is instilled deeply in me to eat naturally.

So recently I saw a cookbook at the thrift store called, Taming the Candy Monster by Vicki Lansky. It is a book of recipes of healthy treats for kids and recently we have been trying to cut down on sugar so I bought the book. In it was a recipe for Super Fridge Fudge(pictured above). I had to try it. I wont put the actual recipe up(because I am lazy) but I will describe it. It starts with warming up some peanut butter and honey. Then you add cocoa powder, lots of nuts and then coconut and raisins. You spread it in a pan and then chill it. It is nice and chewy and sweet. It will definitely appear again at our house soon.

My Mom is an amazing cook!

My Mom is visiting and is a very accomplished cook(and house cleaner - hooray!) It has been a pleasure to have her visit. She is especially good at Germanic and Italian food. This is a picture of a sausage and potato skillet meal. It is a very simple dish. It includes onion, potato, sausage, chicken broth and salt and pepper. The onions cook down until they give the dish a nice sweetness which works well with the salty sausage. We paired this with green salad and a loaf of crusty bread.

Church-y Sloppy Joes and Three Bean Salad

Today we had a church event and so I cooked Sloppy Joes in the crockpot from an internet recipe. Since moving to the Midwest I have rediscovered this meal. I think the last time I had a Sloppy Joe(before moving to the Midwest) was when I was 8 years old. In fact, I have to admit the first time I had it here I privately chuckled, thinking, "Who eats Sloppy Joes in this day and age?" But this homey classic is alive and well in middle America. It is the meal of choice for church gatherings and events like moving to a new house. It also appears at the auctions we like to frequent. Another variation of this is the Maid Rite sandwich. This type of sandwich can also be called a "loose meat" sandwich, which also warranted a little chuckle from me. I laugh but I am more than willing to eat and make these because they just are good and, well, homey. To accompany the Sloppy Joes I made Three Bean Salad from a Joy of Cooking recipe. I will post the recipes for both of these but for right now I am tired from cooking and entertaining so another day...

Hooray for Thai Food!

While picking up my mother from the airport yesterday I noticed a Thai/Cambodian Restaurant and since my mother arrived right at dinner time I decided we should give it a try. Thai food is one of my favorite cuisines but in the Midwest it is amazingly hard to find. When we lived in Chicago our favorite restaurant was a small Thai place but we essentially haven't eaten it since we moved to the rural Midwest. I do cook a pretty good red curry and a passable Pad Thai but nothing like the real stuff. It has been 3+ years since I have eaten Thai.

This Thai place turned out to be excellent. We ordered the dinner special which was Thai Attiya(spicy chicken with sweet peppers and bamboo shoots), Hot and Sour soup, an egg roll and a couple of Crab Rangoon. In addition, we ordered a meatball noodle soup and Larb(spicy chicken salad).

My test for good Asian food is Hot and Sour soup. This soup can be either wonderful or terrible. What we ordered was really good with a nice homemade quality to it and fresh taste(and lots of black pepper). This was a good omen for the food to come. The appetizers were next and were good but what stands out is the sauce they came with. My husband likes standard sweet and sour sauce but I really don't. It is always too syrupy for me. But this time it was just slightly sweet with a nice complex flavor. It might be the first time I have liked this type of sauce. Next came the Larb salad. I can't get it out of my head because it was so good. It was so fragrant with lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves. And, wow, was it spicy, tangy and flavorful. The spicy chicken and peppers was also good. The noodle soup with meatballs was reminiscent of Pho and served with my favorite; fresh vegetables: sweet basil, sprouts and hot peppers. The meatballs were really chewy and dense and tasty.

Overall very good Thai food. I will be back soon. I just wish I remembered the name. But no matter I wont forget where it is.

There would be pictures but the camera is broken. Pray for a serendipitous replacement for future blogging. For now I will rely on words.

Mock Cassoulet

This is a picture of the Mock Cassoulet before it was baked and covered in breadcrumbs. My camera is I think at this point truly broken and so there is no picture of this dish after it was complete. Anyway, this recipe is adapted from a recipe in the cookbook, The Dinner Doctor. The premise of the book is to make nice food from simple and easy pre-prepared foods, i.e. canned, frozen and pre-cooked. There are several recipes in this book that are regulars at our house. This is my first time trying this one but I will definitely use it again. Serendipitously, I just acquired a jar of Herbes de Provence 2 days ago. I have always wanted to try cooking with it but I never have the right mix of spices. I have a lot of spices but the one I never have on hand that is typical of this mix is lavender. I ran across this spice mix while checking out a new eatery in town. I was absolutely thrilled to walk in this shop and see great herb mixes and pasta and best of all real Italian deli meats(for which I am constantly on the lookout). More on the new eatery later.

The recipe I had for Mock Cassoulet was intended to cook on the stove top but I wanted to cook it in oven so I altered the recipe a bit. Also I wanted to add a bit more veggies and wine. So here is my version:

Mock Cassoulet (or Bean and Sausage Casserole)

1 lb kielbasa sausage cut on the diagonal into one inch slices
1 onion, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 cans Great Northern Beans with their liquid
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1/2 of a green pepper, diced
1 rib of celery, diced
Aprox. 1/4 cup wine(white or red), enough to deglaze the pan
1 rounded teaspoon Herbs de Provence or 1 tsp dried thyme
2 tblsp olive oil
1 1/2 cup coarse breadcrumbs

Brown sausage in a pan. Then add onion, pepper and celery and saute a couple of minutes. Deglaze the pan with the wine and then add herbs, beans, tomatoes, and garlic. Bring to a simmer and let simmer a few minutes. Mix together the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the breadcrumbs and season with salt. Pour mixture into a casserole dish and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Top with breadcrumbs and put back in the oven for 15-20 minutes to brown crumbs. Serve with a green salad and french bread.

Broccoli Rabe with Mom's Garlic Sauce

At the Asian Store I picked up a vegetable which I think is broccoli rabe. I checked some recipes and came up with the idea for this. This vegetable is kind of a cross between broccoli and greens. To prep it I cut an inch off the stalks and then peeled the top layer off the next inch of stalk with a veggie peeler. Then I chopped all of it and boiled it in a big pot of water until tender. After that I dressed it in the garlic sauce and served it with a slice of lemon. This is definitely a vegetable for vegetable lovers. The leaves have a strong and slightly bitter "greens" flavor. However, the stalks are sweeter and more delicate.

The garlic sauce consists of 3-5 cloves of garlic, aprox. 1/4 cup of olive oil, salt and crushed red pepper. You start by chopping the garlic, then you sprinkle it liberally with salt. Then continue to chop and smash the garlic and salt until it forms a paste. Let it sit for a couple minutes then add to olive oil and adjust salt. Add as much crushed red pepper as desired or you can leave it out or add it at the table. This will provide more sauce the needed for the broccoli rabe. This sauce goes well on practically anything: bread, meat, pasta and veggies.

This is a strongly flavored dish which would pair well with sausage or other meats. I served it with bratwurst and brown rice. We enjoyed it and would make it again.

Cooking Magazine Windfall

"What is literature compared to cooking? The one is shadow, the other is substance." E.V. Lucas as quoted in Saveur Magazine.

Fridays are our day off and often involve a trip to the local thrift store. This last week there were loads of good food magazines. At 10 cents each I got as many as I wanted. I got 20 to be precise. For all of $2.00 I now have lots of good reading. There were Saveur magazines(my personal favorite - almost nothing comes even close), La Cucina Italiana(which is new to me) and a couple of Gourmets to round it out. I am a happy woman. Hopefully I will get plenty of inspiration and substance from them. As Jacques Pepin would say, "Happy cooking!"

Asian Store Finds

Over the weekend I went to the closest Asian Store I can find, which is 70+ miles away. I venture there periodically to stock up on Asian food. We particularly like Wah King Chinese noodles and fresh rice noodles. Also this is where I get dried shitake mushrooms, soy sauce, bamboo shoots and other sauces. The prices are always so reasonable. In addition to our usual items we picked up a couple of noteworthy things. Our favorite new item was "Peanuts Coffee Flavor Coated." This was literally peanuts covered in a coffee flavored shell. The unique thing about it was that it was right in between a salty and a sweet snack. It leaned towards being a salty snack. This was my first experience with anything salty flavored with coffee. It was really quite good.

The other new thing I purchased was mock chicken in a can. Near where my parents live in Seattle there is a Chinese restaurant that is completely vegetarian. You can order chicken, beef or fish but it is all vegetarian and it is really tasty. So when I saw this at the store I had to get it. We have not tried it yet but I will post our thoughts on it when we do. I got mock chicken and duck. It is made of fried gluten. I think it is similar to seitan.

I also got a dark soy sauce which I had not used before. It is thicker and with a more meaty flavor than regular soy sauce.

My Friend Vyd's Italian Ex-Boyfriend's Mother's Tiramisu - Part 3

So I completed the Tiramisu several days ago but have not had the time to put up the photos and the recipe. But finally here it is. And as I made this I came to realize that Tiramisu is not an exact science. The recipe is really a guide. As the title suggests the recipe is from my friends ex-boyfriend's mother. It got rave reviews from my husband. He kept saying "This is really good." So here is the recipe.

My Friend Vyd's Italian Ex-Boyfriend's Mother's Tiramisu

Yield is one 13 by 9 inch pan or plastic container:

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2+ cups Mascarpone(or ricotta)
1 tsp vanilla
Lady fingers or Biscotti
1+ cup strong coffee or espresso(if using a Mocha espresso maker do 3 Mochas worth)
1/2+ cup Liquor(Rum, Khalua or Amaretto)
Unsweetened Cocoa powder(to generously dust on top)

The first step is to separate the eggs. Mix the yolks with the sugar, mascarpone and vanilla. Then beat the whites until stiff peaks form. Slowly fold whites into egg/cheese mixture.

In a separate dish mix the espresso and liquor together.

Spread a small bit of egg/cheese mixture on bottom of pan. Put biscotti in espresso to soak aprox. 15-30 seconds(turn to let it soak into both sides). Then layer biscotti in pan. Then top with egg mixture. You can do 1 or 2 layers of biscotti depending on how amounts are working(with this recipe I suggest 1 layer). If you do 2 layers, lay biscotti the opposite way the second time. End with egg mixture.

Top with a generous layer of cocoa powder and any other decorative food item i.e. chocolate shavings or chips(or coconut like I did). You can also stencil designs with cocoa powder and powdered sugar.
Refrigerate 4 hours to one day. Enjoy!

A few notes about this recipe:

I put too thick of a layer of egg/cheese mixture on the bottom of the pan and I ran out of topping before my second layer of biscotti was completely covered so I had to make more egg/cheese topping to make up for it. So the first layer(of egg/cheese) needs to be thin or you should do only one layer of biscotti.

I used Amaretto because I happen to have some. I really liked how the flavor turned out(I do love Amaretto flavor, though). Also you could just use extra coffee if you wanted to skip the liquor.

I used biscotti because I couldn't find ladyfingers but I think that ladyfingers might work better.

If you are timid about raw eggs you could use some pasteurized egg substitute in the egg/cheese mixture(or leave egg out altogether) and then use whipped cream instead of whipped egg whites.

Also, in case you are wondering the sugar I used was called Demerara and it is an almost brown color. I tend to use this type of sugar rather than just white. Theoretically, it has a bit more nutrition and really great flavor.

I think that is all. Thanks, Vyd!

Here is a little poem about Italy to finish off this entry:

Italy

We had no idea
that the Duomo stood
resolutely behind us.
We would have talked of much
grander things, I am sure.
I suppose if we had been listening
we could have heard the Bell strike in its tower.

But we were children
listening to the crackle of leaves
as we kicked them out of the gutters into the air.
We had no idea of such elevated things
as High Renaissance Art and Ghiberti.
We were too busy rolling lemon gelati around in our mouths
and drinking out of fountains.

Tiramisu Part 2 - My Little Mocha

My friend Vyd has lived abroad several times including a stint in Italy. She is always great about sending little gifts from the places she visits. The Mocha(or Moka) was one of these gifts(although not the Mocha pictured - this is one I got at IKEA - I let someone borrow the original). The Mocha is a small personal espresso maker with 3 sections. The bottom section is filled with water. The middle section is packed with finely ground espresso and then you screw on the top and put it on the burner on Medium-Low. As the water heats up it passes through the espresso and into the top section. It is essentially a tiny percolator. You know it is done when it stops making noise. It makes about enough for one large espresso or Latte. You have to be a little careful not to put the heat too high or let it go too long or the espresso gets a burnt taste.

I used the Mocha to make espresso for my Tiramisu. And I have to be honest here. I just use finely ground regular coffee in my Mocha. It seems to work just fine. I used about 3 Mochas worth of espresso for this recipe.

Tiramisu Part 1 - Biscotti

I am making Tiramisu this week. I have been gathering ingredients which has proved more difficult than I first thought it would be. The recipe calls for mascarpone, but apparently Northeast Iowans are not big consumers because I couldn't find any. Now to me ricotta seems similar enough that I am willing, without too much angst about authenticity, to make this replacement. Next the recipe calls for either biscotti or ladyfingers. But for the life of me I cannot find ladyfingers in our town and the biscotti was too expensive to put into a dessert where it is going to get wet. So I came home with butter cookies. But I was not satisfied with this replacement. All this brings me to biscotti making.

So I pulled out Joy of Cooking and used their recipe for Plain Biscotti. It is very tasty, with a nice almond flavor. It is nice to have a good biscotti recipe to use. I think I will make this again just for eating with coffee. Next time I think that I will put toasted almonds in it or anise flavoring or both.

So step 1 of Tiramisu making is complete. Next up is making espresso in my Mocha(or Moka), which is an Italian personal espresso maker. More on that tomorrow.

Pineapple, Peach and Cream Cheese Salad

"The fruit salad gives the hostess a wonderful chance to be decorative. That is why it makes such a fine choice for party refreshment." So says Marye Dahnke in her Salad Book circa 1954. This is just a ring of pineapple topped with a peach half and filled with whipped cream cheese. I had it for breakfast this morning and it was quite good. I am always looking for ways to increase our fruit and veggie consumption. And because it is April in Iowa, there is not a whole lot of good fresh fruit. This makes a nice winter(or spring) fruit salad. I really enjoyed the salty cream cheese with the sweet fruit. I did drizzle a tiny bit of honey over the top but I don't think it needed it. The author of the cookbook suggests a vinaigrette as the topping for this but it did not appeal to me. My mom says they used to top fruit with mayonnaise and that it was good but I don't know how I feel about that. I guess someday I will have to give it a try.

Recently I have been trying to sit down and have a substantial breakfast rather than just picking at food all morning. I have liked it and this salad made a nice addition to my eggs and toast and coffee.

My First Jewish Seder Dinner

I was invited by an Israeli friend to participate in a symbolic Seder dinner. The dinner commemorates God's deliverance of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. I had hoped to get several photos but I think our camera is broken so I was only able to get a couple. The picture above is of Matzo Ball Soup. The other picture is of kosher grape juice on the table. I had a lot of fun at this event. I got to help out in the kitchen a little. It has been so long since I have worked in a commercial kitchen(the dinner was held at our local coffee shop). I used to get to do this regularly. I have had several jobs that involved cooking or catering type work. I used to work for a Greek restaurant that catered Persian food(the owners were Persians). And for a summer I worked as a personal vegan chef for an English family, who ironically were beef cattle ranchers. And I have had several receptionist jobs that included catering projects. I really do enjoy working with food.

The Seder dinner began with the lighting of the festival lights. Then everyone drank a glass of juice(this happens 4 times during the dinner). Then the leader of the dinner did a ritual handwashing. On the plate in front of us was parsley, bitter herbs(horseradish), haroset(a mixture of nuts, apples and wine), and a roasted egg. On the table was a stack of unleavened bread(matzo) and salt water. There is no leavening in the entire meal. Leaven symbolizes sin which infiltrates all parts of life, like the leaven infiltrates the whole bread. So the meal is served without leaven.

The first thing we ate was the parsley which symbolized life and vitality but first we dipped it in salt water to symbolize the tears that were shed under slavery, and the tears that are part of our human experience. Then we ate the bitter herb as a reminder that life is sometimes very bitter. Next we ate the sweet apple mixture, which is a symbol of the mortar which the Israelites used to make bricks for Pharaoh. It is eaten with some of the bitter herb and matzoh to remind us that even the most bitter part of life is sweetened by hope in God.

Next came the roasted egg which is a symbol to the Jewish people of mourning, a reminder of the destruction of the second temple. After that there is a lamb bone to represent the paschal lamb that was sacrificed to spare the children of Israel from death. Then we ate the matzoh and talked about leavening and sin and God's provision of bread. Next the children participated by asking the older people questions about the ceremony. Then the story of Passover is told. After that we dropped ten droplets of wine on our plates to remember the ten plagues and those that suffered. Then we drank again and gave thanks. Then the real(non-symbolic) eating began.

The meal was really great. It started with matzoh ball soup. Then we had chicken marinated in wine, soy sauce and garlic(and maybe white pepper). There was also a beef stew with raisins and potatoes. Served with this was a beautiful rice dish with raisins and almonds. Then there were sides of peppers and onions and sweet carrots. Overall a really enjoyable and meaningful meal.

I had to leave before dessert was served but I got a bite on the way out the door. It was really delicious cake. I think I will have to get all these recipes from my friend. The only problem is that they will have to be translated from Hebrew:)

I will end with a poem about Israel:

The Spring at Tel Dan

the air is cool
with the scent of fig trees
cool and sweet
next to me the sound of water
the spring of dan
i have sat here for three thousand years
and died and been reborn here
and yet spring perpetual,
you endlessly pour forth
your song
even in years of drought
you keep the fig trees
sweet and green
a shadow sweet and green over me
i have felt the waters of dan
tasted the manna in famine
the water in drought
and my mouth is full of honey
my body clothed
with the shadow of fig trees
and my lungs filled with this sweet breath

Hummus

I have been feeling uninspired the last few days in terms of the culinary arts. However, even when I feel uninspired we all still get hungry. So one of my main fall backs is Hummus. Here it is pictured with some spices: paprika, cumin and turmeric. To go with it I made Greek Stuffing for Pita out of La Leche League's Whole Foods for the Whole Family, which has also become a staple recipe for us. It has tons of oregano and mint. Yum!

So one of my secrets for Hummus is to cook my own garbanzo beans but I don't love cooking beans on the stove. So I make them in the Crockpot. This is so easy. Just put beans and water (usually around a 1-3 ratio or 1-4) then cook on high for 3 1/2 - 4 hours. I have heard some say that beans are creamier if you cook them via the stove but really this is about 10 times easier and if there is a difference it is minimal. Also I never pre-soak beans. No matter what my mother says I really don't think they need it:) Though I disagree with my mom on pre-soaking, I learned a very valuable trick from her in regards to garlic. I like garlic but raw it has too much bite for me. So what my mother does is macerates the garlic with salt. In others words chop/smash it up with salt and then let it sit for a couple minutes. It takes away the harshness. When you do this you will notice that the garlic changes consistency a little bit it gets kind of(I hesitate to use this word but..) gelatinous.

I don't use a recipe for Hummus but when I make it these are the ingredients:

Garbanzo beans (canned or home cooked)
Tahini (or sometimes I use toasted sesame seeds)
Olive Oil and lots of it (you can even drizzle some on at the end)
Garlic
Lemon Juice
Salt
Spices: Cumin, Cayenne or Paprika or whatever strikes your fancy

Hummus is so versatile. I made some Chipotle Hummus this time. My friend Molly brought me over some her husband made with Kalamata Olives. You can use sun-dried tomatoes, cilantro, basil... the possibilities are endless.

Later this week I will post a blog featuring my friend Vyd's Italian Ex-Boyfriend's Mother's Tiramisu. Maybe I better get her permission in the meantime :)

Comfort Food from Childhood - Chili Spaghetti

It is a rainy cold spring day here and I needed a little cheer-me-up so I made a favorite from my childhood. We did not eat out very often but when we did we went to Bob's Big Boy Restaurant. They no longer exist but I have a very clear memory of that big chubby boy with a cowlick that was at all the restaurants(a statue of sorts). Not fine art, but definite pop art.

When we would go to Bob's we very often ordered this specialty, Chili Spaghetti. It is a simple dish. Spaghetti noodles with a hearty serving of chili and a large slice of melted cheese on top. My sister , who also uses this as comfort food, says it has to be American cheese. But I like a nice slice of sharp cheddar cheese.

I think that this must be a western cousin of Cincinnati chili. But I have never actually had this Cincinnati favorite.

When I make this at home I use noodles, canned chili(nothing fancy here) and sharp cheddar. Like I said simple.

Preserving Lemons

I have been wanting to try this for awhile. I happened to have a bag of organic lemons that needed to be used so I gave it a try. But now I have to wait 30 days to find out if it worked. I like the idea of learning old fashioned techniques of preserving food. Because of refrigerators and freezers it is a dying art. I am of German descent and my mother says she remembers her grandmother making her own pickles, sour kraut and olives. I wish the techniques had been passed down more thoroughly. My mother used to make sour kraut but not so much anymore. I have to admit to a slight fear that things will go awry(i.e. rot instead of ferment), which is why I haven't committed to learning to preserve.

Someday I would like to can and preserve more of my own foods. But right now I do not have the time to spare. So just for now I will give these lemons a try. The final product I will use in some Moroccan Food. I will also probably give some to friends. In 30 days I will post an update.

Chocolate is an important health food!

I was reading yesterday on mercola.com that Chocolate is showing promise of lowering the risks of cancer, heart failure, diabetes and stroke. Some said it might rival penicillin in its societal importance and maybe its health component (epicatechin) should be considered a vitamin. You gotta love that! The best part of this article was a quote from a reader "That does it! No more penicillin-chip cookies for me!"

This means that I am now on the hunt for chocolate recipes. But I don't want to overdue the sugar so I am looking for savory chocolate recipes. Mole, anyone? I will keep you posted.

A Poem

When I told my mother about this blog she said I should add this poem. It is an old one and I am having to recall it from memory but I think it went something like this:

Oatmeal and Raisins

Molten porridge,
Instant lava,
Let us sacrifice little wrinkly raisin people
To pacifist Quaker gods.

A Pea Salad and a Do-Si-Do.

Here are some of the veggies for the all American Pea Salad and the finished product. I have been starting a collection of old cookbooks. I frequent the thrift store and pick up ones that seem interesting. I love to see how people used to eat and cook. One of the ones I picked up recently was Marye Dahnke's Salad Book. It was published in 1954.

Our church did a folk dance and Potluck tonight. I decided this would be a perfect dish for such an occasion. According to the alphabet designation half of us were supposed to bring salads and half dessert but as usual almost everyone just brought dessert. Midwest priorities, I tell ya!

Dinner with friends and some Black Tea Ice Cream.

After a very busy day I rushed home and spent 3 solid hours making Veggie Chow Mein(correctly called Lo Mein), Buddhas Delight and Chicken with Black Bean Sauce. But truly the highlight was the Black Tea Ice Cream with Chocolate Hazelnut Rolled Wafers. A recipe will follow. I wanted to try this because while traveling in Japan I tried green tea ice cream as well as black. While the green was interesting and fun to try, I thought the black more suitable for Western tastes. So I gathered some recipes online an then played with them to come up with this:

Black Tea Ice Cream

2 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup pasteurized egg product
3 plain black tea bags
3 Vanilla Nut Creme flavored Black Tea
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
Pirouette Chocolate Hazelnut Rolled wafers to garnish

Step 1 is to heat 1/2 cup of the milk with the tea bags to a simmer. Then take off heat and steep 10 minutes. Then add eggs and rest of ingredients. Process in an ice cream maker(depending on capacity you might not be able to process the full amount in your machine) and place it in a container and freeze for a couple hours.

This produced a really perfect ice cream consistency and feel. I used my Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker that my mother gave me for Christmas a couple years ago. And the wafers were a perfect complement with their Nutella-like taste.

The only problem was that one of the guest at dinner doesn't like ice cream. Who knew there was anyone in the world who didn't like ice cream? Sacrilege in our family:)

And now that we are thinking tea, here is a poem I wrote in Granada, Spain about a teahouse (Teteria). The Tuareg are a nomadic middle eastern ethnic group.

La Teteria Tuareg
11-15-97

We throw shadows on the wall
And speak of martyrdom and Perpetua
Candle tilts and melts
Tea is down to dregs
And its cinnamon scent mixes with smoky air
St. Theresa comes to mind
And flees upon appearing
I am not she
I am not even Dorothea, an impassioned fool
God, give me patience to endure and strength for final cry.

Putting my food knowledge to good use: An exercise.

I know entirely too much about food and I am a writer who never writes anything. So why not start my own food blog? Maybe we'll talk Northeast Iowa local food or write some poetry or do some home cooking. I am really a Californian disguised as an Iowan. But since my husband is pastor of a rural church in Iowa, here I am in little Decorah. And Decorah is not without its virtues both for quality of life and food. In California I shopped anonymously at generic stores. But here I buy meat from a friend and am a loyal customer of a particular vendor of produce, a man of few words but lots of tasty tomatoes and extra veggies thrown into my bag. And this will be my 3rd year buying chicken from a family just outside of town.

Now let's talk rustic. There are very few isolated places left in the USA but we live in one of them. We are 70 miles from any large town and about 150 miles from any metropolitan area. So because of that our food habits have definitely changed. Goodbye, gyros and feta and hello, ham steaks:) At first I was scared but we have simplified and gone local. We also have discovered that you can make your own, of just about anything. Imagine making your own bread, pretzels, Moroccan food, etc... Now, I may have some advantages over most people. I have had a pretty good food education previous to moving here. I was raised in home where matzo ball soup was a far more frequent occurrence than boxed macaroni. And we are not Jewish. But more on my food history at a later date.

All of this is to say I am going to give blogging a try. In future blogs I will post some of my poetry, which often features food; talk about my unique food upbringing; relate future food ventures I have planned and last but not least I will talk about cooking and what I am doing in the kitchen.