Olives, Bagels, and SNOWTOBER

So for those of you who didn't know, New England had the most snow ever in October in 140 years. Typically, a little bit of snow is not such a big deal, but the problem with snow in October is that it was heavy, damp snow and the trees still had all of their leaves. The snow started around 4 pm on Saturday, and continued into Sunday morning. Aj and I were out shoveling our driveway around 10 at night and all around us we could just hear trees snapping. The leaves gave the snow something extra to grab onto, and the heavy weighted snow just became too much for the limbs, and they took out tons and tons of power lines.

Many people think losing power is "fun" and "rustic" and believe me I think the same thing...for the first day. Sure it's fun to heat up soup on your little propane burner and have a nice warm fire in the fireplace. Only... when it's in the 20s outside and all you have are duraflame logs that you picked up at the last minute (thank goodness) and the light you are reading by starts to go down with the sun.... well it's not so awesome then. Because you'll find that you need light to do things. Light to play board games. Light to read. Light to make food. Light to go down into the basement and let the dogs out. And it continues to get cold cold cold and you worry about your food spoiling because even though it is cold you're not sure it's THAT cold. So we were relieved to get power back on Tuesday night. On the down side, the Nashua Used Book Superstore that I am currently overseeing didn't get power back until Friday, and no amount of harassing Public Service of New Hampshire made it come back any faster. BUT the snow is MOSTLY melted at this point and now it's November, so snow is acceptable and even expected. But snow in OCTOBER? Starting things off a little early this year, huh New England?

Right before the storm Aj and I had gone to the grocery store and spent about $100 on mostly perishable goods, but luckily everything (even our milk) stayed good! Taking Aj to the grocery store is fun, but also a bad idea. While we were there he got into a conversation with the Deli lady and ended up buying stuffed grapeleaves. Needless to say he didn't like them and they ended up in the trash after a couple of days. But he did also pick up some cream cheese and green olives to make what is simply called "Cream Cheese and Olive" --- I did a little research and this appears to have been a popular thing in the 70s and 80s, and many people in the area had it on sandwiches as kids. I had never heard of it before I moved up here and met Aj's family, but it was something he remembered and loved from his childhood, so he made it. It's essentially half a jar of chopped pimento stuffed green olives, about 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive juice, and a box of cream cheese. It's actually very good, especially on Ritz crackers. I also ate an excessive amount of it on saltines. And one morning I had some on an everything bagel with Lox ...well...that was just overwhelming and way too strongly flavored, but otherwise it's really good! Perhaps another addition to my New England Food Knowledge, aka NEFK.

Over Christmas they also make this Velveeta and Olive spread that, by all rights, should be disgusting but is addictive. All I know is it involves Velveeta, mayonnaise and olives and probably is straight fat but is super delicious and only made at holidays, so it is OK. Any other time of the year you ask me to combine Velveeta and mayo and I will probably punch you in the face, but at Christmas time I suppose my taste buds and food sensibilities are a little more charitable.

So after we defeated Snowtober and moved on to the next level (aka got our power back) I wanted to make dinner. I ended up making another one of those "what have you got in the fridge?" pasta dishes last night that involved pancetta, garlic, shallots, the rest of that jar of green olives, cream cheese and smoked Gouda with farfalle. It was quite tasty. I know my pictures suck, but I keep taking them with my phone. Just imagine they look better than they do and we'll be all set. Anyway, this was a very tasty meal. I continue to encourage "what have you got in the fridge?" pasta.

And today, since I had the day off from work at the bookstore, and was doing freelance writing from home, I decided not only to do laundry (!!!!) but also to make BAGELS. That's right people, YOU can make bagels. This is miraculous information, I know. Sure, we all thought bagels were pre-made by gnomes at Pepperidge Farm and Panera and distributed throughout America, but we were wrong. Bagels can be made by HUMANS. So now that we've gotten that out of the way, I will tell you this was my second adventure making bagels. The first time Katie and I did it start to finish by hand, and we've been wanting to make bagels again for quite a while, but this time I invited her over and we used my bread machine to make the dough for us.

The problem with a drafty New England house is that is ...well.. drafty. (No, the problem is not that it is in New England, sorry.) Drafts are the enemy of rising bread, but an enclosed bread maker gives your dough a perfect first rise, and I am fully willing to sacrifice the 2 hours and 20 minutes it would have taken me to mix, knead, and rise the dough by hand for the sake of ease a bread maker offers and the ability to go off and do other stuff. Bread makers are awesome and you will never hear me say otherwise. So you put the ingredients into the bread maker, wait, do other stuff, hear the beep of the bread maker and take out the dough, then shape it and boil it and cover it in toppings and bake it and BAM, best bagels of your life. Seriously Katie and I could not stop eating these delicious treats. Now, I will make no claims to being a bagel connoisseur but these were legitimately the best bagels I've ever had, and Aj liked them just as much. Here is the recipe, adapted from this one based on some of the posted comments. You do need a bread machine for this, though you could probably adapt it if you don't have one.

Best Bagels of Your Life

• 1 1/8 C. of water at 110°F (this is pretty warm. I always measure the temperature with a candy thermometer)
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 3 C. bread flour
• 1 packet rapid rise yeast (2 1/2 tsp)
• Egg whites for glazing
• 3 Quarts boiling water
• 1 Tbsp cornmeal
• Toppings

1. In the bread machine, put the water, salt, sugar, bread flour, and yeast in in the order recommended in your bread machine. Put it on the dough function and walk away.
2. When the dough is finished with its first rise (the machine will beep or let you know somehow) take the dough out gently and lay it onto a flat, lightly floured surface. Let it rest for about 5 minutes, and then divide the dough into 8 pieces. I rolled it into a log and sliced gently to make the divisions and then tore the pieces off.
   
3. Lightly flatten the dough into plump discs and poke your thumb through the center, gradually spinning the dough in your hand until the centers are about 3/4s of an inch to 1 inch in diameter.
   
4. Lay the dough rings out on the floured surface and cover with a clean cloth. Let sit for 30 minutes.
   
5. Around the 20 minute mark, begin to heat up the 3 quarts of water to boiling. The original recipe recommends putting 3 Tbsp of white sugar into the water at this point, but I forgot to do that and so I don't know what kind of difference it makes.
   
6. When the water is boiling and the dough rings have risen for 30 minutes, put the dough rings 2 at a time into the water, letting them boil for 30 seconds on each side. Take them out and place them on a clean cloth to drain slightly. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
   
7. Transfer them to a baking sheet with cornmeal scattered along the bottom and brush them lightly with the egg white.
8. Put your toppings on. We used Pepperjack cheese, and a thick cinnamon sugar mixture made with natural cane sugar.
9. Bake for 18 to 25 minutes, keeping an eye on the bagels after the 15 minute mark and waiting until they are pleasantly golden before removing. If you made a sugar/cinnamon one, eat it warm with ample cream cheese.
   

If you want to mix in raisins or jalapenos, etc. you would do this during stage 2, before you form the dough into the bagels. I am not sure how heavily kneading the extra ingredients into the dough would affect the bagels, but hopefully they would rise the same. We plan to try to mix in some raisins to our next batch.

PICTURED: Pepperjack cheese bagel.

Contemplations on Apples and Winter Setting In

Just two weeks ago we were enjoying 60 degree days, and now we're looking at the prospect of snow. New England weather can be extremely fickle. Last year, we had no snow almost all the way through to Christmas, but it snowed at the last minute. This is particularly terrible because it is no less cold, it's just not pretty and you don't get any snow days. Aj and I did manage to make it to Mack's Apples this year to pick. Typically we go to a more local farm, but this one was only about 25 minutes away and had a lot of Honeycrisp apples, as well as a delicious hybrid called Jonagold.

Honeycrisp apples are my #1 "eating apple", and closely behind that are Jazz and Pink Lady. For baking, I haven't figured out my favorite yet. Jonagolds are supposed to be great for baking, but I found them to get soft a little too quickly in the oven. (Here's what Midwest Living says about Jonagolds:Jonagolds (left) are daughters of Jonathan and Golden Delicious, with the best of both worlds--firm flesh and a sweet-tart taste. ) Finding the right apple for what you are baking is imperative, because apples have very different tastes, consistencies, and abilities to hold up when heated. So every year is a process of elimination and trial/error.

We liked Mack's Apples a lot and also picked our own pumpkin there. Speaking of which, only a few days after picking the pumpkin we woke up and saw some smashed pumpkins in the street, and were very scared it was ours! But ours was safe on the porch. I don't know what hoodlum kids did it, but it's annoying! I think they belonged to the family down the street, who I am sure was disappointed that they didn't get to carve their pumpkins. I may try to carve ours tomorrow, which means pumpkin seeds! Yum.

We'll probably go back to Mack's Apples next year for another harvest. We picked 22 pounds of apples and hardly have any left. Aj keeps eating two a day! I wanted to use some of the apples to make a crisp, which I haven't done before. Typically I do a lot of fried apples (Southern thing) and baked apples, but this year I made a 5 pound apple crisp (five pounds of apples, that is)! I used a recipe from Ina Garten and it turned out very nice. I mixed the topping a little too long so it came out almost like an oatmeal cookie topping instead of a streusel type topping. I also had to do some substituting because I didn't have all the ingredients... Here is my messed-up but delicious version of the recipe!


Cookie Top Apple Crisp
Filling

• 5 lbs Jonagold or other baking apple
• 3 Tbsp. orange juice
• 3/4 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 C. white granulated sugar
• 2 Tsp. cinnamon
• 1 Tsp. baking spice

Topping

• 1 1/2 C. flour
• 3/4 C. granulated sugar
• 3/4 C. packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 Tsp. salt
• 1 C. rolled oats
• 2 Sticks salted butter

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Peel core and cut the apples into wedges. Mix with the remaining filling ingredients and toss in a large bowl (I used a flexible baking sheet to help keep the apples from overflowing).
3. Place the apples into a 9x14 baking pan (I used glass, not greased).
4. Combine all of the ingredients in a mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix on 2 until the consistency of a cookie dough.
5. Crumble the dough topping into small bits across the entire top of the crumble.
   
6. Place on a baking sheet and bake 1 hour or until the top is brown and the apples are bubbly (I did 50 minutes but should have baked less - it all depends on your oven.)
   

Parsley Schmarsley

Ah Autumn is here! The trees are really starting to change at this point, and the weather is crisp and beautiful. I do worry, though, because we have yet to go apple picking or to snag our pumpkin for the year (and I have a great toasted pumpkin seed recipe I really want to try). We did go to a place called the Topsfield Fair last weekend, though. It's New England's biggest agricultural fair and it's only about an hour outside of where we live, so we got out of work and headed down and ate our fair share of fair food (though they didn't have what I wanted most - the chicken on the stick with the pickles in between all deep fried...maybe that's only a Southern thing) and saw New England's biggest pumpkin for 2011, which was 1.6 tons.

While at the fair, we were going through an exhibition/sales type tent and came across this guy doing "as seen on TV" demonstrations for something called a " Swiss Super Peeler" - not that great (or is it?) BUT they also had a Swiss Super Julienner (I doubt that's what it's called) that juliennes veggies in a jiff. Really nice, thin, restaurant style delicious veggies. That's what I'm hoping anyway. As I was walking away I checked my bag and ended up with a peeler, so I went back and exchanged it. I haven't used the thing yet, so who knows if I've been hornswaggled. Although judging by the videos on Youtube, apparently they've been "selling them for 27 years!" Youtube Video. They don't show the julienne veggie cutter though because I guess it's a new product. Well I'll get back to you and let you know how amazingly awesome it is...or isn't.

So last night Aj, my most wonderful husband, made dinner. I had this recipe that I had gotten from the supermarket - it was attached to a coupon (you know, the kind they put on to convince you to buy the product with the coupon because the coupon is way more than you would ever purchase in normal circumstances) and I thought it looked pretty tasty. Sausage & Tomato Rigatoni. I had some turkey kielbasa in the fridge that I wanted to use up, and I thought this looked pretty easy so Aj got the job (although don't get me wrong, he's a good cook and can make things that are quite complicated).

I have to tell you, when I look at a recipe and it says "fresh parsley" I snigger and think to myself why would I buy a bundle of parsley to get 2 chopped tablespoons to top off this recipe? Legitimate concerns, but last night I decided there was DEFINITELY a reason people put fresh parsley into their dishes. See, if I had made the recipe I would have skipped out on the fresh parsley, but because Aj made the recipe and wanted to follow it as instructed he picked up parsley at the grocery store and I'm glad he did! So when you make this recipe, make sure to include the parsley because it genuinely makes a difference.

This recipe is nonetheless doctored; the original recipe calls for the green-bottle Parmesan cheese and Italian sausage, which both got substituted in my version of the recipe.


Turkey Kielbasa & Tomato Rigatoni

• 4 C. rigatoni, uncooked
• 1 package turkey kielbasa
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 Red pepper, chopped into large chunks
• 2 Cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Jar spaghetti sauce
• 2 Tbsp. chopped Italian parsley (Don't ignore it!)
• 1/4 C. Grated Parmesan cheese

1. Cook the pasta and sausage as directed on the packages, omitting salt in the pasta cooking water.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add the peppers and garlic; cook and stir 2 minutes or until the peppers are crisp but tender.
3. Cut the sausage into 1/4" thick slices and add to the skillet.
   
4. Stir in the spaghetti sauce and cook 4 to 5 minutes or until heated through, stirring frequently.
5. Drain the pasta and plate the servings, scooping the sauce over the top and sprinkling with parsley and cheese.
   

Steak Lovers Unite!

Now forgive whatever parts of this post doesn't make sense and/or are offensive, as I have had some wine and cannot be held responsible for what I type. Today I finally managed to get to the grocery store, and I picked up some stuff for a "fancier" type of dinner. You know the filet that comes prepackaged with the bacon wrapped around it that you don't want to buy but you do because your grocery store doesn't have any other kind of filet? And you're thinking as you buy it "Oh god. What did they do to this meat. Why is this filet so cheap?" Well that's what was for dinner! I've succumbed to the ease of this prepackaged filet many times in the past months. It's not that terrible, but let me advise that you don't eat it often. It's probably like tuna fish...not toxic... in small quantities.

Anyway, though. I use a recipe out of my Williams Sonoma cookbook that I talked about in this post and usually I just use their quick method for cooking filet mignon but this time I decided to make the recipe... kinda. Let's get this straight... I'm not LAZY exactly but when it comes to marinating steaks in bone marrow juice for 6 hours... well let's just say both "ew" and "I have better things to do." I am just not really going to sit around poking bone marrow out of cow bones...not to mention then I'd have to buy cow bones and who knows what kind of look the cashier would give you. Just not for me. I'm not that crazy yet.

Anyway, I was able to put together a really delicious meal in about 40 minutes. Would have taken less time if I had more than 2 operational stove top eyes to work with... Damn you 1950s kitchen! You are funkyretroawesome and yet you suck. We had long grain wild rice, wheat rolls, filet mignon with "bordelaise" sauce, and garlic asparagus. Delicious! (Anyone else see filet mignon and say in their head "mig-non" for giggles? Ok, good.)

For the long grain wild rice I opt for Carolina brand - it's cheap (under $1 per package) and has a great flavor. For the rolls, I had some pre-baked frozen rolls that you just pop in the toaster oven for 12 minutes and they are crusty and very tasty. In this instance, I used Rhodes rolls out of the frozen aisle. The asparagus was fresh, and always tastes better with fresh garlic, though I used bottled minced garlic. And the filet was tender and delicious with the quick'n'easy "bordelaise" sauce. Below are the recipes for the asparagus and the filet, and this recipe serves 2.

Filets Mignons with "Bordelaise" Sauce and Garlic Asparagus

• 1 Package pre-bacon-wrapped filet mignons (2 Filets)
• Olive oil
• 1/2 Tsp beef bouillon concentrate (I use "Better than Bouillon" brand) combined with 1/4 C. water
  
• 1 Medium shallot, minced
• 3/4 C. Red Wine (I use a Michigan wine, Grand Traverse - best red wine for people who don't like red wine.)
• Butter, unsalted, unsoftened
  
• Pinch of Thyme (dried OK)
• 1 Dried bay leaf
• Salt and pepper
• Asparagus 1/2 bunch
  
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Remove the filet from its packaging and pat it dry with paper towels. Rub it lightly with olive oil on both sides and let it sit.
   
3. In a shallow skillet, melt 1/2 tbsp butter and add shallots, cooking until translucent about 5 minutes.
   
4. Add the wine, thyme, and bay leaf and simmer uncovered until it's reduced by 3/4ths about 12 minutes.
5. In the mean time, heat about 1/2 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet, and sautee the garlic lightly. Add the asparagus, and cook over high heat for about 3 minutes, and medium heat until the asparagus is cooked but still slightly crisp, about 10 minutes, tossing regularly to keep the asparagus from burning.
   
6. If you have a double oven, place the asparagus in the oven that is not on. If not, place it (skillet and all if possible) in the microwave and close the door.
7. At this time, when the wine mixture is reduced, add the 1/4th cup of beef bouillon and let it continue to simmer uncovered.
   
8. Heat a well seasoned cast-iron skillet over high heat until very hot. Return to the filet and coat it lightly in fresh cracked pepper and salt. Place it in the skillet, and cook on one side 2 1/2 minutes. Flip and cook 2 1/2 minutes on the other side.
   
9. Transfer the whole skillet into the oven and cook 3 minutes for rare, and 5 minutes for medium. If you like it really well done, you probably shouldn't be eating filet.
10. In the mean time, while the filet finishes, continue to stir and simmer down your sauce. Let it cool for a few minutes. When the filet comes out of the oven and/or the sauce has cooled a bit, take 1/2 tbsp chilled butter and mix it in until it melts - this will thicken the sauce a bit.
    
11. On the serving plate, pour the sauce over the filet, and serve the asparagus and other sides together. They all blend well with the "bordelaise" sauce.
    

Spring...Summer... AUTUMN!

Hmm. I just realized how odd the word Autumn looks. Well... That aside, autumn is my favorite season. In the South, I loved spring because it brought the dead world back to life, and the blooms were amazing and the weather was even better, but in New England, it's autumn that has stolen my heart.

New England autumn is absolutely stunning. With so many deciduous trees, and lots of rain, the colors in the fall are absolutely magical. From late September to October and slightly into November, the leaves catch fire in yellows and oranges and reds. But it's not even the trees that get me so excited. New England comes together as a community in the fall. There are pumpkin festivals and hot Yankee soups in fresh bread bowls and tours of cemeteries in Salem and best of all, there are apples. Autumn is apple harvest in New England, and I absolutely adore the U-Pick apple orchards all over the state. Every year since I've moved up here, Aj and I go to the orchards at least once or twice. We're learning the different types of apples. What's best for pies, baked apples, caramel apples, eating, storing through the winter.... It's a past time that a lot of people up here take for granted, but being from the outside I can see the pure magic of it. I can't wait to do all of these things with my children some day.



The trees haven't really started to change just yet, and the apple orchards will operate until late October, but I am already in the autumn mood. I can't help but think of hot spiced cider and caramel apples and pies. Yum! Here is a recipe that I think is good for fall nights. The original recipe called for ricotta cheese, but I substituted marscapone in a pinch. It's good either way.

Spaghetti with Sweet Potatoes and Marscapone

• 12 Oz. Spaghetti (about 3/4 box)
• 2 Tbsp. Olive oil
• 2 Small sweet potatoes, cubed into 1/2 inch pieces
• Sea/Kosher salt & cracked black pepper
• 2 Shallots, sliced thin
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/4 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 Cup marscapone or 1-2 dollops per plate

1. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. I like to cook mine a few minutes longer because I think Al Dente is Italian for "gross."
   
2. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water before you drain the pasta.
3. Meanwhile in a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and add the potatoes, pepper and salt (to taste) and cook, covered, stirring every few minutes for 10 minutes.
4. Add the shallots and rosemary and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender about 3-5 minutes longer.
5. Toss the drained pasta with the potato mixture, Parmesan, and the reserved cooking water. Top with a dollop of marscapone.
   

Pork, Pork, Pork!

There was a time, once, when pork was not something I liked... at all. Needless to say, those days are gone. In fact, after I went through the menu for this week I realized 3 out of 4 dishes included pork. The thing is, pork comes in so many forms it's hard to keep track! Between prosciutto and pancetta and pork chops and loin.... The thing about pork, though, is that it can have a lot of different flavors and that makes it enjoyably versatile.

So far, the two recipes I've made out of the Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook are really good and will be made again. Our favorite of the two was definitely Fettuccine With Vegetables and Prosciutto. It had a very mild flavor and tasted very fresh. I have to wonder if these recipes made it into the newer edition of the cookbook. The great thing about this cookbook is that it tells you whether the meal is fast, low fat (and includes nutritional counts) and the instructions are quite concise and easy to follow. Plus there is an abundance of photos, which we all know quickly converts me to a cookbook.

Last night, we had Rosemary Porkchop Skillet which was surprisingly quick and easy, though I think that the pork was a bit over-done. (Most likely due to my ridiculous stovetop that knows only two settings -- hot as hell and off) Then later in the night I had some friends coming over for dessert and a chat. I didn't want to go buy a dessert so I figured I would make something I had all the ingredients for. I chose this Crockpot Chocolate Mud Cake recipe. It was a real winner - simple to make, and perfectly hot and delicious when it came time to eat. I served it up with vanilla bean ice cream and it was a big success. I did have to do some research on Dutch-processed Cocoa versus Unsweetened Cocoa and luckily I was able to substitute Unsweetened Cocoa for the Dutch-processed. I imagine it also helped the mellow sweetness that I used milk chocolate instead of semi-sweet. The cake was floating on a sea of melty chocolate sauce. This recipe will definitely be going into my favorite-recipes cookbook. If you decide to make this recipe - put a papertowel under the glass lid of your crock pot before you start cooking. It doesn't affect the cake at all but prevents the condensation from dripping onto your cake as you remove the lid or check to see if the cake is ready.


In other news, my garden is growing! Here is a photo of my first "harvest" (though I did already have my other head of lettuce). My green beans got too much rain and a lot of the nitrogen was flushed out of the soil, so I'm trying to nurse them back to health with some Miracle-gro. I think it's working, but it's hard to say. Luckily I took the "don't put all your eggs in one basket" approach this year and I also have a green bean plant in my in-ground garden as well as my container garden. That one is quite healthy but needs a trellis to grow on.


And take a look at my herbs! The basil plant is a new one, though I am please to say that the one I had written off as dead and decrepit has now made a full recovery and has been re-potted. It's quite persistent! (the one in the small pot on the side) Also growing in my garden this year are strawberries, bellpeppers, green onions, and roma and cherry tomatoes. We've also made a planter in the front yard filled with Impatients and Begonias, and dressed up the side of the driveway with some Day Lillies and ..some other perennial I don't remember the name of. And we've planted and mulched the flower beds and trimmed all the bushes. We're actively trying to intimidate our neighbors by our yard. It's awesome. The only bad thing is that the birch tree in our front yard consistently loses leaves almost as soon as it starts making them. We don't know what's up with this thing but it drives us crazy. It's like perpetual Fall here.


We're happy with our yard this year and so happy to have the "birch circle" as we call it, finished. It's been haunting us with its unfinished-ness since March.

Here's the recipe for Fettuccine with Vegetables and Prosciutto - it was quick, mild and delightful. It's fast and low fat.

Fettuccine with Vegetables and Prosciutto

• 8 Oz. dried fettuccine, broken in half
• 1 Pound fresh asparagus, bias-sliced into 1 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 4 Roma tomatoes, de-seeded and chopped
• 3 Oz (a little less than 1/4th a pound) of Prosciutto cut into thin strips
• 1/3 C. grated parmesan cheese

1. Cook fettuccine according to package directions. Drain and keep warm.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook and stir asparagus in hot oil for 4 minutes or until nearly tender. Sprinkle asparagus liberally with salt. Add tomatoes and prosciutto and cook about 2 minutes more or until heated through.
3. Add asparagus mixture to fettuccine and stir gently to combine. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
   

What's on the Menu...

As usual, work has been insane. This humorous article on Why Your Used Book Store Clerk Hates You only scratches the surface of why I REALLY have some rough days at work sometimes. Among the non-mentioned is that you would assume that people coming into book stores could read - read signs, read price tags, read signs saying what is down what aisle.... But Alas, A surprising number of customers who seem to be shopping at my book store are merely buying for pretense because it is QUITE CLEAR that they are illiterate and dumb and GOD FORBID we move something in the store because using your EYES to look ten feet is more effort than you can put in. We know, we know.

But my days aren't filled entirely with wacky customers and their inane questions...they're also filled with the fun of unpacking and shelving and ordering books. And that's the part I love. However, sometimes I need a break. And next week is going to be a nice 40-ish hour week where I get out early enough to cook dinner not just once but FOUR NIGHTS next week! That feels nearly impossible right now, but it is written (so it shall be done).

Indeed my shopping list and menu for the week are created and ready for the hated trip to the grocery store tomorrow. At work I picked up yet another cookbook. I'm always telling myself I won't buy more cookbooks but how can I resist Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook with great photos and information on canning and preserving and all kinds of helpful cooking tips for just $1.50! The answer is that I can't. And that's why it's on my kitchen table!

So here's what is on my menu for the week:

Monday: Fettuccine with Vegetables and Prosciutto - Looks simple and delicious! Involves asparagus and Roma tomatoes.
Tuesday: Rosemary Porkchop Skillet - Finally an interesting way to use that butternut squash on my counter....and to use some rosemary from my garden!
Wednesday: Out to dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant.
Thursday: Pork with Fennel and Pancetta - Aj is making this... supposed to be quick and easy, but I have to figure out a way to cut down on the fat.
Friday: Spinach and Feta Quiche - It's been a while since we had this and it makes great leftovers for work on Saturday.

I will hopefully also have time to post the successful recipes! Tomorrow is either salt-crusted grilled trout, or trout amandine. Also let it be known that amandine should not be so close to almondine since it involves almonds it is wholly confusing. Those damn French.

Crockpot Japanese Curry

There are a few absolutely great reasons to break out your crockpot no matter the time of year. The first reason is obviously that it's ridiculously convenient - throw a bunch of things in a pot and end up with a (typically) delicious dish! The second reason is that it's one-pot cleanup. The third reason is that you prep it in the morning and come home to a ready-to-eat meal. The final reason is that it puts off minimal heat. And while you may think that's not a big deal, when you have a 1950s oven that brings your kitchen to a toasty 85 degrees every time you turn it on...well...you start to think "What can I make that DOESN'T involve the oven?"

Now, with life in the South, central air conditioning is a staple of life - just like an ice maker in your fridge. In the South, every drink is iced and every building you enter is literally FREEZING. You take sweaters to the movies and restaurants even though its 100 degrees outside and you'll be damned if you don't take a sweater to the refrigerator section of the grocery store. Here in New England, things are a little different. Central AC is a novelty. Most stores only have it on half heartedly. New Englanders believe in a "comfort" level of acceptable cool. Southerners believe in turning your house/establishment into Antartica during the summer months. Because let's face it - it's HOT outside and the last thing you want is to go inside and be HOT in there too.

The first months of a New England summer are a stragetic battle. How long can you go before you have to install your window-AC units, and do you really need to install ALL of them, or can you just get away with one or two until July? How hot do you let your house get before you muster the energy to install an AC unit you're going to have to take out in 3 months? For Aj and I, we installed the first AC unit in our bedroom when the indoor temperature hit 85 (Without the oven on) and the second unit that goes in our kitchen window? Today. June 20th.

We have 2 window units to cool our entire upstairs of 3 bedrooms, a living room, bathroom, hall and kitchen. Why do we suffer through this, you ask? The answer is simple: old buildings and no choice. Not only does our house have ancient kitchen appliances, it also has old pipes, windows, and no central AC. And since you Southerners all had your houses built with AC in the first place (Because what kind of jackass builds a home in the South with no AC?) you don't have these worries. But tons of the houses up here were built when they were still delivering ice on trucks. And really...there's only a few days in the year where heatstroke can be a real issue up here. The rest of the time Northerners just putt around bitching about how hot it is (which is increasingly irksome as I had to listen to them also bitch about how cold it was, as if the same thing didn't happen every year). Not me, though! I'll bitch when it's 85 in my house but not when it's 101 outside. Because that's just it: I'm OUTSIDE. My house? That's man-made and should be chilled to whatever temperature I want so bitching is fair game.

So naturally with two window units to cool my entire upstairs (and nothing to cool the downstairs), I generally have been trying to NOT use the oven. Or if I must, I try to use the mini bottom oven because it's better insulated and ...well...smaller. So today I decided to try something new: Japanese curry in the crock pot. And it was definitely a good choice! Anyone who knows me knows I am a fan of Japanese curry (Chicken Tatsuya Curry) - it's mild, flavorful and slightly sweet. It's become a real comfort food for Aj and myself. So try this recipe out because it's different, and extremely easy, and extremely yummy!

Crockpot Japanese Curry (Pork)

• 1 Package of boneless porkchops (I used thin-cut) with the fat trimmed off and cut into small 1/4 inch cubes
• Approximately 3/4 lb baby carrots
• 4 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into large cubes
  
• 1 XL box (about 8 oz) Japanese curry roux. I used TopValu curry which is a store-brand I got when in Japan, so it's unlikely you can find that here, but any Japanese curry roux would be fine. Available now at almost all Wal-Marts and some Market Basket grocery stores, but please support your local Asian market!
• 32 Oz (or slightly less) of chicken broth
• 2 cups cooked rice (I use my rice cooker and set an automatic timer to be finished by the time I want to eat)
  

1. Heat up 1 cup of the chicken broth to near boiling and put it in a measuring cup.
2. Add the curry roux and mix until it dissolves.
3. Put the curry roux mixture, the rest of the chicken broth, the potatoes, carrots and diced porkchop into the crock pot and turn it on low.
4. Cook for about 7 hours.

Whether it's a cold winter night or a hot summer day this stuff is irresistible!

A Recipe From Mom

UPDATE: Southerners use Hellmann's mayo, but cut back on the lemon juice in this recipe by at least half, since Hellmann's is a vinegary mayo and Cain's is a sweet mayo.

I've been WORKING WORKING WORKING. Last week was a 53 hour week for me. This week should be much more easy going and I'm more or less trapped inside because of the rain. So while Aj cooks his Shrimp With "The Best Shrimp Marinade Ever" I get a second to sit down and blog. The best part is that at the end I am rewarded with grilled shrimp. Sweet.

What I am really here for, though, is to give you a recipe that was my favorite childhood recipe: Chicken Devan. This was the recipe that I asked for when I got to choose dinner. For my birthday, or just a regular weeknight, almost any time I was asked this is what I wanted. And when I moved away to college I kept trying to make it. It just wasn't as good. I went back home and found the old cookbook my mom got the recipe from - it was one of those community cookbooks - a tatty old spiral thing. And I kept making it...but it was never as good as hers. When I moved to New England it started getting worse- almost inedible. I just could NOT figure it out. Finally I had to call my mom and confer with her. Why was it turning out so terrible?! The secret is the mayonnaise.

In the south there is a mayo that my mom uses that you can't get up here (or it is harder to find but I forget the name). Turns out, not all mayonnaise is equal. Miracle Whip is practically a sin against nature. And name brands don't compare. It took me AGES to find the comparable Northern mayo. Turns out it's Cain's mayonnaise. Mayo needs the perfect blind of tang and sweet, and of course it needs to be made with real eggs and oils. So after YEARS (literally) of trying to get this recipe JUST RIGHT....I finally did it. Now it's back on my favorites list and a recipe I would be happy to pass on to family and friends. It's creamy, delicious, easy to make, and just the smell of it makes me happy.

There's one more perk to this recipe: The leftovers are just about better than the dish out of the oven!

It is VITAL that NO ingredients are left out of this or it won't be anywhere near as good.



Chicken Devan

• 3 Chicken breasts - boiled and cubed in small bite-size pieces
• 1 Bag frozen broccoli - cooked/drained
• 1 Can cream of chicken soup (don't skimp, go Campbell's)
• 1 Tsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 Tsp. salt
• 1/4 C. Cain's mayonnaise
• Dash cumin
  
• 1/4 C. Italian Breadcrumbs
• 2 Tbsp. butter, melted
  
• 1/4 C. Shredded cheese (Cheddar or another melty/savory cheese)
  

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Layer chicken and broccoli in a 9x9 baking dish
3. Cover with sauce, spreading it around as needed
4. Sprinkle with 1/2 the cheese
5. Mix butter and breadcrumbs together in a small bowl.
6. Sprinkle all breadcrumbs on top and then sprinkle with the remainder of cheese.
7. Bake for 25 minutes.
   

What Does My Garden Grow?

The weather has been beautiful and I've been in high spirits. Sunshine will do that to you. It's like some kind of happiness drug. The downside is that when it's gone you have withdrawal that can't be ignored. Sometimes even coffee doesn't help (That's when you know it's bad).


I've been gardening this year and it's so much fun to watch my plants grow. Some of them I've grown from seedlings...those are my favorites. Yes, I do play favorites. From seeds I grew bellpeppers, green onions, and green beans. I also grew basil but once I put it outside it keeled over and died from too much exposure to happiness. It was a miserable plant anyway. (RIP) I'm also growing some cilantro ...it seems to be doing pretty well, but it's not from good seeds so I'm not crossing my fingers. From the store I bought lettuce (which is growing quite well!), rosemary (I plan to keep this alive perpetually), mint and strawberries. I also plan to buy a tomato plant. Somewhere deep inside myself (not that deep, actually), I know that I'm a ridiculous whitey who is growing vegetables in their front yard with overpriced soil and that I could have bought all of this crap at the grocery store and it would have been A Whole Lot Less Trouble. (As it were) . HOWEVER...that feeling is combated by the hope that these won't just provide me with food, but with happiness and purpose and an excuse to be outside on sunny days.

I've also been planting some bulbs and annuals. I don't think the bulbs are going to do as well as I hoped because our house gets very little sunlight (except for outside my bedroom window which appears to get an abundance). My neighbor noticed I had been outside gardening (digging around more like) and brought over some of her "chocolate raspberry irises" --- well aside from being disappointed that I can't eat it and it won't bloom for 2 years... I took her advice and made a flower bed in a sunny spot. I thought it was nice of her to take the time to dig up some of her flower bulbs for me. She's probably trying to make up for that time she gave me the cold shoulder one night when I tried to borrow an egg and she told me to go away. Apparently she thought I was casing her house for robbery and didn't recognize me...She ended up giving me an egg when she realized who I was.


In other exciting news...It's Spring! That means that a lot of great foods are popping up in the wild. Since Aj and I have been trying to learn a little more about the part of the world we live in, and have been trying some camping and foraging and "rugged" skills, we know a little about what is "in season". At a job he was on, Aj found us some morels the other day. They look gross...like brains...and not at all like something you'd pick up and say "Oh man those are totally going to be delicious." Miraculously Aj recognized them from our mycology learning and brought some home in his lunch tupperware. He just wanted to show me for shits and giggles, but when I saw that the SCIENTIFIC NAME of these things was morchella deliciosa I told Aj we were absolutely frying that shit up in some butter and eating it. He was extremely skeptical but let's get our facts straight.

1) There is only one other look-alike morel called a false-morel...it is extremely easy to identify because the stem is not hollow and a true morel's is. Also it isn't poisonous...it will just make your stomach hurt so if you're totally blind and mess up it won't kill you.
2) These mofos are like $30-40 a pound
3) They only grow wild
4) Mushroom hunters search lifetimes for these and don't find them
5) They are ranked in deliciousness only beneath truffles
6) They are only in season 2 weeks out of the year.

It's a damn no-brainer. And I did fry them up. And we did eat them. And they were damn good and caused no gastrointestinal stress whatsoever. Points for us!


Also in season right now are fiddleheads...which are fun. I've never had them before, so we're going to go "fiddleheaddin" (I just made that up, but I'm going to pass it off as something New Englanders do) on Sunday. I'll let you know how that goes. Maybe I'll see if I can't find some fiddlehead recipe in my yankee cookbook.

Well...honestly I was going to give you a recipe that was passed down by my Mom, but I think that will have to wait. I've already blathered enough. So I'll meet you back here and we'll get down with some delicious southern chow.

Trout: Stuffed and Baked with Broccoli

Grilled fish is one of those things that just says "Hey - It's summer time. Live it up." Trout especially reminds me of warm days cruising down the White River in Arkansas catching fish left and right in a canoe with my family. I was never really much for fishing. My dad tried to instill a love for fishing in me from an early age but it never quite caught on. Even now I can't sit still for long periods of time if I'm not DOING something - reading, surfing the internet, knitting...anything. No one ever suggested I bring a book to fishing, so naturally, I hated it and found it excruciatingly boring. I mean really... you expect to take a kid to a lake and have them sit there for hours while they wait for something to bite at the wiggly worm on the hook? Unlikely.

To this day I still don't enjoy fishing...most of the time. But trout fishing holds a special place in my heart. I like how the water is clear and quick and cold and rushing past your canoe carrying you along. I like how the fish bite all the time and you can catch more than you can eat. I like the sun and the family and always being on the move. Not to mention trout tastes quite good. Luckiy for the trout, I don't go fishing. Unluckily, they sell trout at the supermarket sometimes. I had trout on my shopping list when Aj did the grocery shopping, and since "trout" is both singular and plural he wasn't sure whether to get one...or two...or five? And he just got one. Which is obviously not enough for two people. Especially when it's as good as this trout was.


So today after I got back from the gym and planted my strawberries in my new topsy-turvy strawberry planter.... I decided to cook trout for lunch. Trout for One. Trout for Me. Yum! The whole thing came out QUITE delicious and I thought I would share the love with you fine folk.

So without further ado...

Baked Stuffed Trout with Broccoli for One

• 1 Trout
• 5-6 Green Onions/Scallions, chopped into small pieces
  
• 1/4 C. Italian breadcrumbs
• 1 Tsp. dried or fresh garlic (I used sliced dried)
• 1 Tbsp. butter
  
• 1 Head of broccoli, cut into florets
  
• Salt
• Olive oil

1. The trout should be gutted. Make sure you rinse off the whole thing in warm water, even if it was gutted at the supermarket. You want the trout to have a fresh, light taste.
2. Smear the inside of the trout with butter.
   
3. Combine the scallions, breadcrumbs, and garlic and mix well. Stuff liberally into the trout.
4. Put the trout into a bread loaf pan and surround with broccoli.
5. Sprinkle liberally with salt and drizzle lightly with olive oil
6. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes. Lightly cover with tin foil and bake at 375°F for 10-15 minutes. Fish is ready when it flakes and can be easily removed from the bone with a fork. If your fish is frozen at the start it might take longer to bake.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

So the time has come (the walrus said) to go back to eating healthier. I've been carried away these past few months with things that are just not good for me. Casseroles and pastas with heavy cream and loads of cheese, loads of oils and butters too. Until a week ago I hadn't even been to the gym in 5 months! That's pretty bad. And I'm not typically one to call myself fat or be down on my eating choices but my clothes are getting a lot tighter and I could use the health-boost of eating right.

That being said I've got myself on a 5 meal a day routine. You're laughing I know BUT I think most of our problems come from eating 1) the wrong foods 2) too much of the wrong foods 3) too often. I always snack. Always munching on something or other. I think as a culture we can get to a fine line between boredom and hunger, which is just twisted. SO I've got myself eating breakfast, a snack, lunch, a snack, and dinner. And I think that's just fine.

One of the foods I came up with for my lunches is a buffalo chicken salad. I haven't seen a buffalo chicken salad that isn't fried and drenched in bleu cheese dressing ...which is disturbing. So I made my own version. It's pretty tasty and not too spicy for my sensibilities. Easy to pack in the morning. Easy to eat. Healthy.


But before I give you the recipe I'd like to post a few other recipes that I made today that I discovered on this amazing new website that my cousin sent me called foodgawker- Their tagline is "Feed your eyes" and for anyone who loves beautiful photos of delicious food, prepare to be overwhelmed and in love! This website completed my life (OK so maybe that's a little dramatic, but it definitely is awesome.)

Here's what I made today:

• Asian Glazed Drumsticks - This recipe was great! The cook time was longer than it said but I think that's because I used a dutch oven instead of a large saucepan. Chicken was nicely spicy and really flavorful. You've gotta have rice with this!
• Chocolate Pudding Cookies with Mini Robin's Eggs - I know I just said I was on a diet but I just fell in love with these when I saw them - and when Aj asked me to get some "keebler knockoffs of girl scout cookies" at the grocery store I thought "I can do better than that." and decided to make these. I ate two of them and boy are they YUMMY! Tell you what though, there is no "Chopping" those hard-shelled robin's eggs...more like smashing with the flat of your knife. You don't know how many of those little punks rolled onto the floor as I tried to chop them up.
• Pineapple Bliss Cupcakes - Mostly I just thought it was amazing that you could mix a can of pineapple and a box of cake mix and it turns into delicious muffins. Awesome. These are SO good. I didn't use any frosting. Just ate them straight. Best part? Low in calories and fat with no frosting! YUMMMMM.

I also made a fresh batch of Pico de Gallo and grabbed some Crystal Light Lemonade mix at the grocery and put some limes and mildly crushed mint into my cup....Amazing.

Well without further ado...
Buffalo Chicken Salad

• 1 Rotisserie chicken, skin removed and meat chopped/shredded
• 1/4 C. diced red onion
• 1 C. diced celery stalks
• 1 Tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 Tsp. Paprika
• 1/4 C. Frank's Red Hot sauce
• 2-4 Tbsp. mayo depending on tastes
• Leafy lettuce and romaine lettuce, torn into edible size pieces
  

1. Mix the first 7 ingredients
2. Top the lettuce mixture with 1/2 cup of chicken mixture.
   

Spring and Pico de Gallo

Spring is technically here, but it is just starting to feel like it. Only a few days after spring officially began we got a few inches of snow. Thanks, New England! But it's finally starting to warm up and I'm totally in the Spring Mood. Cleaning, cooking, feeling more alive and active!

When I went grocery shopping this week I made sure to do it early in the morning - the later you wait the more packed the grocery store is (no matter if it's Tuesday or Friday...) and I hate the jostle of carts and the absolute ineptitude with which people park their carts and asses in the middle of the aisle while they look at cream cheese varieties and granola bars. Since grocery shopping can be a severe stress on my life (mostly due to the magnitude of people who shop at the same grocery store I do) I have been making a list of exactly what I need for a week of recipes. That, of course, cuts out impulse buying and makes my shopping much cheaper, but it also makes it so much faster and easier.


On my grocery list were ingredients for Pico de Gallo, something my dad used to make when spring and summer started coming around. If you asked me to define fresh with food, this would be my answer. The tang of cilantro, the crunch of onions and the soft fresh tomatoes just scream YAY in your mouth. Paired with tortilla chips (baked tostitos anyone?) or couscous you get a real treat you can use in tons of ways.

There are a lot of recipes for Pico out there, but the one I swear by is so simple it hurts. Next time you're in the mood for something fresh and healthy, go for this!

Papa's Pico

• 4 Roma tomatoes
• 1/2 Bunch cilantro
• 3/4 Small red onion
• 1 Small jalapeno pepper
• Salt to taste

1. Cut the tomatoes into thirds and remove the seeds/innards. Cut the tomatoes by hand into small chunks (I promise it's better to cut this stuff by hand).
2. Dice the red onion.
3. Finely chop the cilantro leaves (not stems.)
   
4. PUT ON GLOVES and cut and de-seed the Jalapeno. If you do this with your hands they will burn for hours. So don't.
5. Mix all the ingredients together and salt to taste (I like salt so I add a lot of sea salt).

Enjoy!

Cheeses and What I Know About Them

There are few things in life that can make even the worst day a little better. Cheese happens to be one of them. Cheese can change your everyday foods - and almost always for the better. There is a reason that there is such thing as a "Cheese plate" and a "Cheese and Wine tasting". Cheese is fabulous. Of course, if you're lactose intolerant...well... I'm sorry. Funny story. Did you know many lactose intolerant people BECOME lactose intolerant in their adult life because they eat too much dairy? That's the world's way of saying LISTEN ... I know cheese is FUCKING DELICIOUS but chill out and don't eat so much.

So here is the little bit I know about cheese at this point in my life and career as a home cook. I hope these descriptions help you make wise cheese decisions when faced with an array of cheeses you can't even pronounce.


Gruyere: (Prounounced GROO-YAIR). Origin: 1795–1805; after Gruyère district in Switzerland where the cheese is made. This cheese is a new discovery for me. A recipe from my new-used Yankee cookbook called for it...and I try to trust recipes when they name particular cheeses. This cheese has a deliciously mild and milky taste. It's a harder cheese. It's absolutely perfect with wheat thins, and would go great next to grapes or possibly apples. Sprinkled on top of a baked casserole or quiche it becomes richly flavorful. A revelation for me...cheese wise.

Creme Fraiche: (Prounounced: KREM FRESH) Origin: French for "fresh cream." I was supposed to get Fontina cheese for one of my recipes and for whatever reason I was just like "Oh. Yeah. Creme Fraiche, Totally... that's what I need." Turns out...it wasn't. But it was an AWESOME mistake. This cheese is still in its fresh, squishy creamy form. It makes any dish you might normally add milk into...well, delicious! Creamy pasta sauces, mashed potatoes, even sugared with a little strawberry on a bagel? Sure why not!

Gouda: (Pronounced: GOO-DUH) Origin: Named after Gouda, a city in the North East of the Netherlands, where it originated. I must be honest: I've only ever had Smoked Gouda. So perhaps my judgement is a little skewed. Smoked Gouda, at least, is a rich cheese. It's mildly soft, similar to Gruyere, and pairs really well with crackers. I imagine, in its regular form, it would pair extremely well with fruits as well. But I'm not sure what else I'd use it in. This website suggests using an aged Gouda in Mac & Cheese, scalloped potatoes or on a pizza. Come to think of it I've definitely seen a lot of Gouda Mac & Cheese recipes. Perhaps worth a try?

Romano & Parmesan: (Pronounced: ROH-MAH-NO and PARM-UH-ZAHN (not PARM-EH-JAHN) Origins: Romano - Roman, Parmesan - from Parma, Italy. Both are dry Italian cheeses with strong flavors. Romano is made with sheep's milk, and Parmesan is made from skim cow's milk. Both are absolutely perfect in cheese sauces or with pastas or sprinkled on salads. Everyone is familiar with Parmesan cheese, but give its friend Romano a try next time you're doing an Italian dish.

Cheddar: (Pronounced: CHED-ER) Origin: 1655–65; named after Cheddar, village in Somersetshire, England, where it was first made. You're thinking "Oh. Cool. Cheddar, I totally know Cheddar." But do you? There are so many different varieties of Cheddar! Go to your basic cheese aisle in any grocery store. There's Mild, Sharp, Extra Sharp, White... Where do you start? Which one is the best? What if your recipe just wants CHEDDAR and doesn't specify what kind!? Oh God! Well, take it from me. MOST Cheddar cheeses are totally delicious and you really can't go wrong. The only one I take exception to is mild Cheddar. I don't like it. It seems to try to have the flavor of a full Cheddar, but fails miserably and just ends up halfway there and milky. Bleh. My genuinely favorite cheddar is made by Cabot and is Seriously Sharp White Cheddar. I have to warn you this is a STRONG cheese. But it makes an amazing topping for spaghetti, or a delicious grilled cheese between hearty wheat slices. It's great on crackers, or even in cubes by itself! This cheese can sucker punch just about any other cheese in a fight. Oh yeah.

Havarti: (Pronounced: HUH-VAR-TEE) Origin: 1957-62; < Havarthigard, farm in Denmark. Havarti is a cow's milk cheese. It's a mid-range cheese. Not too mild, not too strong. It is my number one "Cracker cheese". You can get all kinds of variants of this cheese. Dill is my favorite, but the garlic variant is good too and I'm sure there's others that are delicious. This cheese is also a sandwich cheese, so you can get it at your deli. Put cubes of this in piping hot tomato soup, or in a grilled panini-style sandwich. Or just eat it on crackers for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Chèvre: (Pronounced: CHEV-RUH) Origin: from French chèvre meaning goat. This is a really broad term and it is essentially any cheese made from goat's milk. HOLY EW you think? No way! This stuff is SO delicious you can barely stop eating it even though you know you've had like...5 servings. This cheese is super soft and goes well with almost any flavor. It's mild and creamy. My best experience with Chèvre is a blueberry variant on Triscuits. I am not sure how else to use Chèvre, but aside from telling me how it's healthier than cow cheese with fewer calories (awesome), this website suggests using it in place of sour cream on your baked potato (ok!) or in lasagna.

Cream Cheese: (Pronounced: Do your best) Origin: Probably France or England since those have the earliest references..but no one knows for sure as far as I gather. Everyone knows cream cheese. Everyone loves it. Everyone sits puts way more than 2 tbsp on their bagels. Try this, though: mix it in mashed potatoes, smother a baguette and toast it with some chives, mix it with marshmallow fluff and eat it with strawberries! The possibilities with cream cheese are endless. And it's delicious. 'Nuff said.

American Cheese: Origin: AMERICA! So the sad part is that American Cheese is not even, by FDA standards, real cheese. BUT when its creamy processed goodness is overflowing from your grilled cheese and turkey in the skillet, or dripping down the sides of your juicy AMERICAN burger...you just think to your self...My country tis of thee...Sweet land of American Cheese...of thee I sing! Then you know it's alright.

Brie: (Pronounced: BREE) Origin: France, from Brie. Brie is a soft cheese a little bit like cream cheese except richer in flavor and matured, so that it doesn't need to be eaten fresh like cream cheese does. It's famous for being paired with wines and fruits (hey, nothing wrong with that!) but works in more or less the same way cream cheese might work. Spread it on anything. Toast it. Make fondue. Yum. Just don't try to make cheesecake with it...I don't think that would turn out too well for anyone (especially not your test subjects).

Well that's MOST of my world of cheese at this point. There is still a lot to learn, and believe me, I'm pursuing with reckless abandon.

As an interesting sidenote: Google Cheese in Google Images and 70% of the photos are Mac & Cheese.

The Road to Becoming a Yankee Chef?

At work I came across two cookbooks I felt I needed to get. The first is Favorite New England Recipes, compiled by Yankee Magazine's "Lady Editors" and it's original publication date was 1972, though the version I got was from 1990. (Still..can you believe that was 21 years ago?) I thought to myself that it was perfect for me and for this blog! The recipes seem to be characterized by simplicity, with very few ingredients. Often quite contrary to any deeply flavored Southern dish.

There is quite a variety of recipes from "Jellied Chicken Pate" (You can bet I will NOT be making this) to "Yankee Chicken Hash" and "Fried Cucumbers" (hmm...) to "Yankee Christmas Pudding" and a LOT more. This cookbook is PACKED with interesting recipes. Many of them are fish-centric and use mostly ingredients able to be grown in the north (Excluding spices). I think this is great.

When I first moved to New England I had never had, or had an interest in tasting New England Clam Chowder. When I went to a dinner at Silo's Steak House (RIP) in Merrimack, NH and was served Clam Chowder as an appetizer (Set menu..I didn't choose it) ... Well, I was blown away. It was amazing. Creamy and flavorful, with perfectly cooked clams (which I am starting to appreciate...at least when they are in other things or deep fried). Since then I've been a connoisseur of New England Clam Chowder and have tried it at many restaurants. There are two types of NECC, one of which I like and the other I find gross. There is the thick NECC... that's the worst. It's the kind you get at chain restaurants and out of a can. It's not fresh. It's full of potato chunks and overcooked clam. The kind I do love is thin, creamy and all of the ingredients are fresh and the clams are perfectly cooked. No one element is predominant the flavors are a perfect harmony. This is the kind of NECC I am dying to learn to make. To be honest, I haven't even attempted to make NECC...because I am afraid of what I will do to it. I want a tried and true and perfect recipe. I have a feeling I will have to experiment in the end, though.

The other cookbook I got was The Williams-Sonoma Cookbook. The thing I like most about this one is that every single recipe has a picture. A lot of times I'm flipping through cookbooks and I see a recipe and think "That COULD be good...I wonder what it looks like." Most of the time I'm about 75% more willing to try a recipe at random (meaning I'm not looking for a recipe for that particular dish) if it has a picture.

I've already seen some dishes in this book that I really want to make. I have read a few reviews that the recipes can be bland, though. Luckily I've got a pantry of Penzeys Spices to supplement if needed. For anyone who is not familiar with their spices I highly recommend them. Their best are their "blends" that can bump a dish to the next notch with almost no effort. I'd strongly recommend the Bicentennial Rub for rotisserie chicken, and Pork Chop Seasoning for delicious pork chops with no effort. And of course they have GREAT flake sea salt for cheap.

I've been pretty busy at work and without a lot of time to cook. Earlier in the week I made some portabella mushroom and guacamole sandwiches that turned out well, and a couple of meals we make when we don't have the energy to cook, such as angel hair and spaghetti with turkey kielbasa, or shake and bake chicken wings. Hopefully soon I'll have time to do some exploratory cooking.

Food of Japan

I know that when I left for Japan I promised you all I'd post photos of what we ate when I came home...and I know that I didn't do it. Honestly I always INTENDED to...it's just...time is short and all that. Well - here I am - ready to show you all the splendors of Japanese foods. These are going to be things you're surprised even exist. Oh yeah - you thought you knew ALL about Japanese food... Well, ya don't. Here's just a little snippet for you - because most of the time we got 3/4ths of the way through our meals before we realized we hadn't taken a photo.



This is Kitsune Udon. There was this udon restaurant around the corner from the first hotel that we stayed at and every time we walked by it smelled SO good. So we decided to go in. It was the best udon i had the whole trip. The place was ALWAYS open --- they seemed to stay open all night because we saw them open at 11...and 8 am! What??? Who knows? In Japanese "Kitsune" means Fox. I am not sure why it is called Fox udon, but the broth is mildly sweet and doesn't taste like any particular kind of meat. There were greens in the bowl (that I ate before I took the photo) and the part that makes it particularly Kitsune udon is the square of sweetened fried tofu. Udon itself is a thicker noodle made to be slurped up. The bowl was bigger than my face.

This is called Kushi Katsu and it essentially means (and is) "Fried things on a stick" This is one of my favorite Japanese bar foods. Fried ANYTHING... We had mushroom stuffed crab, onion, pumpkin, shrimp, chicken, pork, quail egg, sweet potato...Almost anything you can imagine on a stick, deep fried with sauce. The Japanese do it right.


While this probably LOOKS disgusting, it's actually AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS. This is called "Omraisu" (Omelet Rice). Mine was the top and it was cheese and eggplant. Aj's was chicken katsu (Fried chicken cutlet). This is essentially buttered rice, wrapped in an omelet, with a topping and then covered in Japanese curry sauce. I don't know how to explain that this is in fact delicious unless you try it. Aj and I are HUGE fans of Japanese curry. We tried a ridiculous number of things deep fried and drenched in curry sauce while we were there. It was a great fallback food. We knew we loved it, and it ALWAYS hit the spot. And it's abundant. It's sweet, mildly spicy, and alarmingly flavorful. If any of you ever gets the chance to try Japanese curry, I'd highly recommend it. It's very different from any Indian curries.

This is Japanese somen. I had never had Somen before and especially not prepared like this, but this was one of the most memorable and delicious foods I had while I was there. The broth was rich and sweet and chicken-y. There is something resembling general tso's chicken in there, a soft-boiled duck egg, and some greens. And then of course Somen noodles which are thin and made of wheat flour. They're delicious and I've decided to try to recreate something like this in the near future. I think the greens were Mizuna, "Japanese Mustard" - it's a tasty green we don't have readily available here in America. But delicious.

The last photo I have for you is of all of the delicious FOOD we brought back from Japan. We took 2 suitcases, one packed inside the other. The small one held our clothes and some souvenirs, and the big one held just souvenirs and food. Yum. We've eaten a lot of this stuff already but we do have plenty left. The Japanese kitkats were something we searched EVERYWHERE for to get the most flavors. We could only find five flavors ...they are seasonal and February is not a popular season for unique flavors. That's OK though...we got plenty else!

We also ate a lot more food than this, but forgot to take photos. We had sushi, tempura, okonomiyaki, and lots of other traditional Japanese foods. We did not once eat an American restaurant or fast food place (Though I was tempted to have Aj try to Tamago Big Mac from McDonalds)... We really went for Japanese comfort foods and day to day things with some traditional foods thrown in. We had real green tea and Japanese sweets. We had more bread and pastry items than you could ever imagine (Oh the Japanese are HUGE on pastry and take a lot from France. Their pastry and breads are amazing). Overall, we had a huge variety of delicious foods and to top it off, we probably spent over $100 on tiny cups of coffee, vending machine drinks, and a couple of beers. (Japanese vending machines do hot AND cold) --- perfect!

For those of you more interested in the Japanese sites, we did take tons of photos. You can check a selection of them out in this album.