anyone with a juice-stache invited to this party??

this has been the summer of the veggie-frui juice.

hydration is essential. and since i've been a sluggard with this blog, don't expect full sentences in this post. ...ok, ok, starting now...

          beets, carrots, apple. a great base for any freshly juiced juice

 celery, parsley/cilantro. whoa, what??

           grapes. yay! bring on the grapes!

       kale, spinach. youre kidding, right?

       garlic. ok....

       fennel! i'm not joking.

                         
tomato: well sure

          radish. yes, of course, radish!

    apple cider vinegar. shh, a secret, or not so much anymore.

and the finale, a delicious, refreshing tonic of wedgetables.

when we couldn't keep up with the bounty of the csa, we - what do i mean 'we' - the chef juiced that sh&t.

the heat is coming!

Seems like a good time for a minor update.

i/we have been hydrating. with produce (in time for London olympics, i hope you read that as prah-doose, as i intended it to be read/said, pronounced). if i had had the foresight, i would have taken pictures. but it is time to re-stock, so pictures to follow.

We have moved to a new state, with it comes a new CSA and an exciting new season of 'what will we get this week?' Talk about suspense! It's been a few weeks and we have been flush with greens, radish, beets, carrots, and even fresh garlic BULBs. Plus garlic scapes, you know the garlic 'flower.' (that was news to me.) And what do you do with garlic scapes? You eat them! HA! Please enjoy the photo of early June strawberries below.

to be continueed

Hi,
how are you? Please, do not ask me how I am doing. Though, I do respect your good graciousness and manners. But, please do not ask. Its not like I am suffering from some artistic incantation, its just pure i hate society sh&t. Stay tuned, I'll be back. (yes, i do hope you said that with an ahhnold accennt). Please think of me when you purchase your firsts of the season, ie. asparagus, strawberry, etc.

Spring a Leek

Spring vegetable couscous, lentils, and braised CSA leeks (with a little white wine, woohooo!).

Spring vegetable couscous - a friendly gathering of little pasta pieces, asparagus, and fava. Nice and simple, nothing beats it.


Lentils = bliss. Chef added cumin to the pot, thanks for that Chef!


Now, to the leeks. If I haven't already mentioned this, I am a huge supporter of the leek. I like leeks. It is my favorite onion. And in case you are unfamiliar with the leek, it looks like a giant green onion, as in scallion green onion. The edible part is white and the green stalk is thick and even almost blue. When you buy it, look for it tied to together as a pair with all its green-blue-ery still attached - just a little tip for not getting hustled. Now (April) is the time for leeks, too, by the way. You should be able to find it at the early farmer's markets. We got ours with our weekly CSA basket. Once you get it home, don't clean it until you are ready to cook it up. There might be some grit in between the stalks > just a head's. And as for cooking it up, the first thing you probably think of when you hear 'leek' is potato and leek soup. Sure, go for it. It's great in soup, especially potato soup. You can also roast these onion cousins (see Conquering meat and other tales posted in March), or even eat it raw. The onion flavor is very mild and does not linger on the breath. It is the easiest onion on the breath in that respect! As for the preparation for this particular meal, Chef BRAISED the leeks. Oh yeah, if you want to chomp on a stalk of leek, braise it my friend, braise it. Braise it with white wine and some broth. Braising has been a game changer. A game changer. In fact, I think it has contributed to my leek obsession. I checked the LocalHarvest website in order to provide additional ideas on preparing leeks - they suggest to pair it with potato at all costs, gratins are good. Chef, here's one: potato, leek, chervil, and crouton. Interested?? And the website also says there is a famous Scottish recipe called cock-a-leekie soup. There you go,  I guess you can put it in your chicken soup, too, if you're into souping on chickens..

get your udon on

Udon: a thick, round, filling noodle hailing from the Far East. Udon is made of wheat flour, water, and salt. After mixing the ingredients, the dough is kneaded, takes a break, gets rolled out, and then cut into strips. Udon is usually served as a soup, or at least with a little broth. Haven't had it? It is quite a noodle and I heartily recommend you bump this up on the to-do list.

Tonight's udon was brothed in a spicy miso and joined by quite the array of veg, and included tofu cubes. We're talkin' carrot, edamme, leeks, sa-weet potatoes(!), cilantro, and. AND! et ready. First of the season ASPARAGUS!! Yes, the peepee perfumier! {And, yes, from our CSA, thanks George!} Chef garnished the bowl with a sheet of spicy seaweed. It like disintegrates in your mouth and then zzzing, the burn.  We bought special spoons and chopsticks for our souping pleasure :)

Satur-bee

Today we completed a 6-week short course in beginning beekeeping.  We received handsome certificates with our names on it. It was a proud day.

We also stood among 60,000 + bees buzzing, above our heads, past our heads, next to our bare arms (it was warm today), and sometimes landing on our shoulders to bzzz in our ears. WHOA! A totally new experience for me. I've been out in 'the field' and exposed to insects before, but NOT 60,000 at once! It was totally awesome!

a 'package' of bees = 10,000 bees = 3 lbs

Though we will not be starting a hive this year, it has been an informative 6 weeks and what we have learned will help us plan for when we are settled enough somewhere to get a hobby operation in motion. Especially after seeing the live demo today. The apiarist took a little box of 10,000 bees, squirted them with sugar water, then shook the box so that all the bees fell into a pile, and then poured - literally poured - at least 9,000 of those bees into a hive box. WHOA! They poured in, a stream of bees. It was amazing!

installing/pouring of the bees 

The initial installation of a brand new hive with brand new bees is like no worries. You spritz those babies good enough with the sugar water, and they won't bother you. Why: 1. they are fed and 2. they aren't technically a colony or in a hive just yet, so they are not protective. This goes back to bee basics - when bees are full of nectar, pollen, or honey their stingers can't pop out and bees sting when they feel they are being physically threatened or when they are protecting their colony. So check and check on the no stinging criterion ... so far.

On the other hand.... when you check an active hive, its another story. And for new-bees (heehee) like us, checking in on that established hive was a test of our bee tolerance! Yes, you use the smoker thing but its not like a bee tranquilizer. The bees remain active! They will still take to the air and buzz around. I think three people got stung during the demo. One guy had a bee in his hair and then started shaking his head. The apiarist actually picked the bee out of the guy's hair with his bare hands! That part was amusing but the guy was borderline freaking out and that was a little uncomfortable. For the mens, I think this is a time when sparseness of the melon is to your advantage. Please watch the video to the right, you will notice that most of the crazy wackos are not donning the notorious bee suit.

fish delish!

No shrooms tonight, fish instead.

Somedays, I honestly think, "Is this what it was like in the 50's when the mens of the house caught aromas of dinner as they careened up the walkway and into their homes?" I absolutely love it when I catch a nostril full of the Chef at work in the kitchen when I get home from the j-o-b. (Yes, I do know how spoiled I am!) And especially when that smell is garlic in the saute pan - - ooh garlic!

the menu tonight (Wednesday): oven roasted wild Pacific salmon (frozen) with dill. Dill, by the way, is so soothing and flavorful. Sauteed CSA spinach with crunchy garlic slivers and a petit CSA sweet potater. That white dollop atop the spinach: Chef's homemade ricotta. A nice little change-up to the spinach saute :) I know I have been an ultra snob bragging about freshly filet'd fish, but hey! what do we look like? We do what we can, when we can. I still maintain, and Chef agrees, go fresh when you can. In the battle of fresh v. frozen - fresh wins! But the wallet dictates, fresh or frozen...

And as if all that wasn't enough (and it was), Chef tossed an ever amazing salad. Mixed CSA spring lettuces, including some unidentified herbaceous item, sliced CSA radishes, aquacate (mmm), goat cheese dollops, and cherry tomatoes.

A gut buster for sure!

move over mamoun's

ya know what I'm talkin' bbout?? falafel, my friend, falafel!

I had this feeling, that if I had ventured out into Baltimore in search of falafel, the super bad breath that comes from eating this sandwich would be in vain. Plus, I fear the disappointed, ripped off, or hustled feelings that would accompany that 'bouquet'. then again, just to be fair, there is a good falafel stand at the Sunday Farmer's Market, but its 8 bucks, and sometimes its pretty darn chintzy and other times is overflowing. There you go, I rest my case - hustled! I'd much rather wrap my chompers around Chef's falafel anyway! Along with the falafel balls, he stuffed green onion, cukey, and our house-sprouted sprout into pita.

And, yes, he made his own yogurt sauce. In addition to the obvious, Chef added dill, sour cream, homemade garlic powder, and S&P. It was quite flavorful & cotton mouth inducing -- ahh, garlic!  Not only do meals like this remind me of how good I have it, but it also solidifies it for me that we don't have to go out and spend money for a fave like falafel...except if I'm in Cape May, I'm totally going back to that place on the beach, they use fava beans in the falafel. Did you read that, Chef? Fava beans.

the morel of the story...

As I am sure many of you are aware and happful for, Spring has arrived! And for food-minded people such as ourselves, Chef and I anxiously await the arrival of Spring for the goodies of the Forest. Morels being the prime target. And while many children may have been hunting gifts from the Easter bunny this past weekend, Chef and I were hunting goodies of our own. As another 'hunter' put, the "natural" Easter egg - the famed morel mushroom.

Behold! The morel: Sneaky little devils 

that hide behind vegetation and

pop up from below the leaf litter.

But in case you weren't aware, mushroom foragers, or hunters, are a secretive bunch. So don't expect me to blurb too much about these fungi... other than the basics ... Morels are edible wild mushrooms found in the woods. They are so prized and so tasty, they are referred to as a choice edible. That's high acclaim in the world of fungi. Finally, morels are only 'out there' for 4-6 weeks in the early Spring. So people get ramped up and hot and bothered and such when it comes time to forage. And, yes, we are guilty of that as well, but to a lesser degree...or so I think :)

If you are thinking, "Are you nuts! Wild mushrooms are poisonous! You're going to die! But there might be bugs on them!", I say to you - pssh! And just to test that dying theory, I started typing this entry Sunday night, after I ate some of our find, then went to bed. Guess what? I'm still alive, and there was no weird bathroom experiences. And no, no bug parts stuck to my teeth. By the way, I did dream of morels, and I liked it!

A few more morel facts for those of you whose panties may have slipped up into an uncomfortable position. The morel is a distinctive mushroom period; there really isn't any other mushroom out there that you can mistake for this choice edible.  Albeit, there is a mushroom called the false morel and it is poisonous, but it really doesn't look anything like the tasty ones. The false morel is all blobby looking, and there are none of the pockets or pits and ridges that the 'literature' refers to that the choice morel boasts. (heehee, literature, don't I sound like such an expert? i'm making up for the use of the word blobby).  Another quick and easy field test is cutting your morel in half, lengthwise. The good ones will be totally hollow inside. The ones you don't want will not be hollow: you will see little compartments as well as a cottony-type filling. Additionally, there are several species of the edible variety, varying in color and often depending on habitat. And the most important fact about morels: it is fun as heck to go out and collect these things. It can be hard work, but totally rewarding!

And here they are, cooked up. Chef took an ol' timer's recommendation and cooked them up with heavy cream. Sherry was also recommended with the cream, but we did not have any sherry in the house so we just stuck with cream and parsley. These little gems topped el pierogie and were joined by chived mashed potatoes and sauteed cabbage with caraway. You might also see another tasty wild fungi in the photos above, the oyster mushroom. I will restate, I am still alive and have not had any sudden dashes to the bathroom.

And the morel of the story is .... don't be an un- fun-guy and scoff at people who eat wild mushrooms! Let me try that again .. if you are going to eat wild mushrooms, do your homework! Nah, that's too authoritarian. And the morel of the story is ... there ain't nothing like freely foraged food!  I'm going with that.

whole lotta ricotta!

Chef used some leftover milk and made ricotta cheese. How resourceful! And how else is a pasta-loving pair like us to eat ricotta? That's right, with pasta. If you can't tell, that photo on is of shells, ricotta, and parsley. And a bit of sauce, too.

Ricotta means re-cooked en Italiano. Chef put milk in a pot and on the stove, added salt, and let it reach 190 degrees. After that he added lemon juice and let it sit for 10 minutes. Final step: separate curds from whey by straining. The final product: a smooth, creamy ricotta. Very different than the tubs of the conventional stuff you find in the grocery shop. And the flavor, very smooth, none of that gritty nonsense.

Ricotta Day 2: on a cracker with a little tom.

Snap-fu

fish night!
the Chef went to the local re-vibed fish market over dere on Broadway. He's trying to get in with the guys and get the scoops on the fishes and such. Chef's selection this trip, a fresh and freshly fileted Red Snapper*. Snapper's got a nice, firm texture and takes to seasoning nicely, ie. not fishy.

Entree: Red Snapper filets pan roasted (in the oven) with salt and pepper. served with lemon wedge.  MAN (!) does fish taste great when it is fresh and like freshly fileted, as in right in front of your eyes! Woo-wee, if you are one of those people who desperately wants to like fish but doesn't, splurge and get something fresh and not frozen. It makes a big diff.

side 1: roasted CSA red potatoes with from our back stoop rosemary.
side 2: sauteed CSA mustard greens with roasted mushrooms. mustard greens = bitter bitter goodness.

And just when I was getting a little sad that the meal had almost been eaten, I glanced down and spied a glorious salad awaiting. We're talkin' that heirloom blend of lettuces, radish, carrots, roasted slices of CSA beets and dollops of goat cheese (i ate them all mooshed together), black eyed peas, and Chef's blend emulsed O&V.

*though the dinner was thoroughly delightful: Chef selected an "Avoid" (in red) rated fish from the sustainable seafood watch. <GASP!!> But that's ok, its a mere opportunity to provide a brief blurb on the Seafood Watch movement. I believe there are several groups out there who have issued Seafood Lists, but I usually refer to the Monterey Bay Aquarium's list. No reason in particular, other than the aquarium is on my "to go to" places - they have a kelp forest!! Back to the subject and to our Red Snapper. And on the seafood watch thing - Fish to Avoid include fish that are just plain ol' overfished, or over-harvested, making their numbers dwindle. Also in consideration for the Avoid category, is the method in which the fish is harvested; for instance, sea floor trawling sort of rakes up the sea floor and also is often guilty of a little "crime" called by-catch.  By-catch is the stuff the fisherman is not targeting during a haul: immature fish (fish not large enough to harvest according to regulations), mammals like dolphins, or even the majestic sea turtle - a sad reality is that it is possible for by-catch to die while entangled in nets or brought on ship. Sorry to get so dark. I highly recommend you look into Monterey's website for more information and neat apps for your phone when you are food shopping! Upon consulting the site, we found a good alternative to Red Snapper is Silk Snapper, from the Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico, or U.S. Southern Atlantic, or Red Snapper from Hawaii (ours was from the Gulf of Mexico). Where the fish is harvested is important too: consider that the U.S. has water quality standards and some other places do not. :P (that's a smily with a sick tongue sticking out.)

eatalian weekend

if you haven't read my intro on the right side of the blog page, please read one of the last sentences...the one about not judging me on my calorie intake. <I am pausing so that you may do so>
did you read it? because i really need you to put aside "that type" of bias. why?

I ate an 8ish course meal last night. that's why. And even though I thought I'd wake up still feeling full, I wasn't. Finding myself in NYC, I nearly sprinted, ok more like briskly walked to and ate/devoured/scarfed a NY-bagel with schmear in less than 2 minutes. anyway, Back to that MEAL.

Chef and I were invited to a top secret location, and exclusive Italian rifle club in (to keep in top secret) NXC. No neon pizza signs in the window at this joint. The few "field markings": a plain red awning, the house number/address, a sole 3' X 3' bronze-like plaque adorning the image of two crossed rifles next to the front door, and a buzzer. And, no, the password was not a gabbygoal (hee hee that's my joke in reference to the sopranos..not sure if there will be more...)

We were greeted by our host, a member of the club (to be a member, you have to prove a high percentage of Italiannish on both sides of the familia to rise to such stature. Guests, on the other hand, doesn't matter apparently because they let us mutts in; and the other members of the party were Asian). Anyway, upon arrival, we went into a lounge-like room - low ceiling, five or six small tables, built-in wooden bookshelves, somewhat not bright/not dark lighting. And in this room we were served wine, a plate of salumi and cheese, and another plate of focaccia bread. Nice little snackies- for some people of the party, this was their first bite of the day because they knew the onslaught that awaited, but only some people...

The grand ballroom, I mean dining room - a much larger room, more tables, brighter lighting, and the good ol' push carts and hailed dessert cart in the front of the room. Wait staff in jackets and ties. Which reminds me, it was a dress up occasion and Chef did wear his suit. He looked handsome. We were seated, and then our wines from the lounge arrived separately, take that applebees. And then in instant, more food arrives! Plates of peppers, olives, celery, bread, butter. And they push the specials board over and an old italiano goes over the specials of the night first in italian and then a description in english but with an italian accent. The menu only showed a three course selection - appetizer, pasta, and entree - but on my accounting system we were up to 2 courses so far. Chef ordered a scungilli soup that was served with tomato broth and white beans. A little spicy, he said, but the scungilli was tender not rubbery like you most people are probably used to. Me, I ordered the farro salad that was tossed in olive oil and had little balls of mozzarella and cherry tomatoes. Our fellow diners did not know of the farro so i got to strut my food-nerdiness. "Farro is a grain, and resembles barley, except it is slightly larger,"I said something like that. And a note to my readers, do not buy it in Whole Foods in the packaged section because they totally mark the carp out it and sell it for like $7/lb but you can get it for less. Back to the meal, pasta - Chef chose the orcchiette with broccoli rabe and sausage. THe broc rabe was done right. Another note to my readers, if you don't like broccoli rabe its probably because who ever made it for you, didn't make it correctly. Additionally, sometimes when I eat it out in a restaurant, I nearly choke on it. bad, bad, bad, obviously. Orcchiette pasta by the way, is a cute little UFO shape pasta (no filling). Moi, I had fusilli (fusilli jerry, remember?? from seinfeld, fusilli jerry gets lodged in George's...you know, c'mon!) with cauliflower and bread crumbs in olive oil a few chunks of garlic. This was good, nice and simple. We were told all the pasta was made in-house. Pretty good. And then the entrees: Chef had some panchetta (pork) special and I had salmon with lemon and herbs. By this time, ugg the entree was somewhat gratuitous especially since they uncorked the second bottle of wine.

and, then, as a break in the feasting and with stained red teeth, off we went to the basement, where i fired my first firearm. a 22 rifle. and i even got one bull's; not the exact center, but in that sector. (will update with photo soon.) <<I am hoping that this blog is never taken out of context or used against me to defame my character ... I just hit the delete button in order to comply with my intentions of keeping this blog food-centric, but that doesn't mean you can't use your imagination :D >>

Back to the eating, after target practice, but as an aside: the club only allows the use of the club's 22 rifles in the basement, no personal firearms allowed. shooting practice is also proctored by an nypd type person or u.s. marshall. this all stems from an incident when a member's own firearm dislodged and he was shot himself in the foot upon ascending the stairs. And even though there is a sign that says no alcoholic beverages beyond this point at the top of the stairs, you are still allowed to fire a weapon if you have wine stains on your teeth and lips. phew! my dreams would have been crushed otherwise!

So, now back to the eating. Where were we? Cheese course! The cheeses, a half wheel of hard parmigiana (cow's milk) and lesser sized chunk of pecorino (sheep's milk) were placed on a cart on wheeled over the table. The waiter plated up a hunk of the parm and a sliver of the pec and we thoroughly enjoyed it after we busted caps down range.  The parmigiana had little nuggets of flavor crystals and the soft pecorino was v. nice and authentico! Cheese was followed by a plate of cookies and biscotti for the table and an actual fruit bowl. Like your at your friend's house on any day of the week fruit bowl. Name it, and it was probably in there as well as a prickly pear cactus. The fruit was a nice little pick me up.

Out came some coffees/espressos and then the maggiore dessert cart wheeled its way over. Nothing fancy, but good homestyle treats. We had one of each and shared it amongst the five of us. I had ricotta cheesecake for the first time, pretty fluffy and light I think I like it. We also had some berries soaked in booze, rice puddin (none for me), an apple tart, and an orangey-jam filled tart. Finally, the meal was over. Helluvalotta food. And did you hear about the mega millions>

Wow. Anyone have any tips for me for fasting?

from the depths of the freezer...the return of veggie lasagna!!

look at this lovely slice o'lasagna -- need i say more?

yes, we are normal people, eating things from the freezer. it was as delicious as the first time, too. Grazie Chef.

Wondering what's inside? Yes, veggies. But to be more specific: eggplant, zucchini, Chef's famed mushroom Bolognese, onions, tomatoes. And of course, formaggio.




And the insalata:

an heirloom blend of lettuces, CSA radish and carrots, nicoise olives (tiny purples), artichokes, our home-sprouted crunchy sprouts, and some dollops of creamy goat cheese.
Also, Chef made an emulsion vinaigrette. Ya know when you make an oil and vinegar and it separates? Well, an emulsion is the magical tactic that unites the mixture. An emulsion is made by slowly whisking oil into vinegar and adding something extra such as mustard. Chef used his homemade seedy mustard. Robusty!

brrrrreatoe time

una mas, una mas! ja ja ja (that's how my Argentinian facebook friends type LOL)!

It has been some time since we feasted hispanic style (does that sound racist or am I being overly sensitive??). Tonight, Chef broke the spell and dazzled me with a flavorful burrito.

A great burrito requires a great filling and for me, my filling of choice is the one-two punch of rice and beans. Arroz y frijoles! Since we have a 15 pound bag of jasmine rice, that's Chef go-to grain - move over uncle ben (you had to see that coming).  Chef cooked the rice with onions, tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and red beans.

Once cooked, Chef scooped the arroz y frijoles onto a tortilla and topped it with cherry tomatoes*, salsa verde, shredded jack & cheddar cheese, red onion, and homemade hot sauce.  And a speckling of cilantro.

*in a fit of weakness, Chef had a breakdown, buying out-of-season tomatoes from the grocery store and the not farmers market. he is asking for forgiveness

In other news, Burlington, Vermont will be hosting what they plan to be the world's largest cowbell ensemble. The record to beat: 1.306 cow bell tollers in Glarus, Switzerland. And here's the food-related 'scoop' - Ben & Jerry's will be there giving away a free scoop of their ice cream! Heehee I am giddy with the thought of free ice cream! Date: April 14th. Road trip anyone??

let the couscous loose!

Another one of those "blank canvass" foods, couscous is versatile and takes up flavors easily. It is a tiny pasta-like granule and is made from hard wheat aka durum wheat as in the famous pasta wheat, semolina. Hard wheats, fyi, boast a high protein content - no, not in steak proportions but in wheat proportions - which contributes to a flour that is high in gluten content. And to finish up the wheat lesson, gluten is what gives bread its elasticity.

And to go a little bit further, if you are having tummy troubles you might want to try to rid your diet of gluten products to test the effects. I'm a pasta for life kinda gal, so it's not like I'm pushing this drastic change but it has helped other people ease the belly in terms of girth and discomfort.

Besides being pretty easy to cook, couscous is fun to eat and cleans up nicely - like, you can get it dressed up and make it look oh so fancy! And if you hadn't guessed already, the Chef prepared it incredibly well seasoned and flavorful. Using our CSA veggies - leek and sweet potatoes - and digging into the freezer, the fava beans <Luke, I am your FAVA>, Chef sauteed these guys with olive oil and cumin (he totally gets me!). Meanwhile, Chef made toaster oven shrimp scampi with white wine, garlic, parsley, butter, and a lil bit of that olive oil and of course, the power couple, the S&P.

Behold, the salad- that'd be arugula on the bottom - so peppery, so tender, but not so visible in the photo... Topped with slice o' radish, red pepp, some chiogga beets (CSA nicety, notice the striations, there's a big purple plunker in the background) and some dat' goat cheese with Chef's vinaigrette. There is a reason why you may see the beet & goat cheese salad on so many menus and that is because it is, hand's down, one of the best pairings on the planet. Try it, be a fancy pants, and relish it!

Divine, simply divine!

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

sacre bleu! 

the holy trinity

Chef got roux'd up today and prepared a Cajun gem, gumbo.


The essence of gumbo, in case you weren't aware, is built upon the backs of the following:

1. the roux. the R-O-U-X, roux. "Cook it dark,"says Chef, "to develop the flavor."
2. the holy trinity: the New Orleans mirepoix, the celery, the onyawn, and the bell peppa

First, chef developed the roux, and blessed it with the holy trinity. Chef then added a broth mixture - he has an infinite stockpile/arsenal of assorted broths in the freezer. Today, he chose his big hitters: a shrimp selection made from our leftover shrimp peels, and the famous fumet, that's fish stock (ala rockfish, see my fish fumet friday post on March 2nd) made a couple of weeks ago. 


The second part of the 'bo: Chef added frozen okre, cooked shrimp, and get ready for it -- drum roll -- have you guessed it yet? Oysters!!  These shelled filterers of nasty polluted water (mmm!! biology is so cool and delicious!) were Chincoteagues from the Chesapeake Bay region. From the Chef's Resources website, "True Chincoteague oysters ... have a distinctive briny flavor followed by a sweet finish." 'Briny,' now there's something that makes me salivate! After the addition of the shellfish, Chef continued the cook on low, low heat in the cast iron dutch oven.   

Plated up and presented to moi, the gumbo adorned a hearty scoop of Jasmine rice and was graced by chopped parsley.  Ah yes, let the good times roll!  

we be clammin'

Chef prepared and served a possible "death row meal" tonight - (the other possibility, if you are curious, is dungeness crab) - linguini in white clam sauce!

what made it even specialer was that Chef went to a fish market and bought the fresh stuff (see right). woohoo baby, littleneck clams! tons of fresh parsley, clam juice, a little extra extra chopped clams from the can and hoila!
and what else? the last of the shiitake stewed up with some escarole on the side. Chef, you can make that for me anyday!

If I had my choice, I would only eat pasta the next day as a leftover. But tonight will do just fine!

2 cabbages 2 ways!

tonight's din: a little kick back to Chef and I's Eastern European roots but not exactly the cooking of our Nanas, since they were famous for ketchup & macaroni night.

Chef prepared 2 cabbages: the green stuff and the red stuff. the green was sauteed - low & slow - with olive oil and butter, caraway seeds, salt & peppy. Talk about tender cabbage, and have you ever had caraway seeds, it makes everything divine! He dug into the fridge and released the red cabbage sauerkraut he fermented in the winter and warmed that up, too. Tah dah (!) 2 cabbages, 2 ways! Chef placed these two cabbage cousins on the plate, topped them with pierogie (potato filled pasta, genius!) and then topped that with a few dollops of goat cheese.

Chef also made his faboo warm potato salad with mustard. once you have this tater salade, you will never want that mayo business again. trust me, you'd love it*!

*yes you should have read that with your best, most obnoxious Long Island accent.

conquering meat and other tales

this is not sequential but nonetheless/
in true american tradition, Chef and I observed the 17th of march holiday by joining up with a celebration of not only the fizzy sort of beverages but also that meat stuff. this year's celebration was especially notable due to several marked events - a birth, a birthday, and a veg lady's embark on corned beefdom, and amongst these hosts, a choice line up of characters made it a notably fun, fun weekend.  but since this is a food blog, I'll keep it to that and to a mystique by observing anonymity too. onward to the beef--
with a few deep breaths, the St. Patty's day chef slid two hunka hunkas of those red meats went into a big pot with water and the season packets. phew! not too terrifying a task as evidenced with not as many exuberant vocalizations I had expected to hear from our St. Patty's chef!   A few hours later, she added some carrots and <holy heck> awesome colorful fingerling potatoes. yes, even purple! how exciting!! but that was not all, a broiled salmon joined by roasted veggies - leeks (what a great day! purple potatoes AND leeks(!)), zucchini mamas, peppers, and more vegetable friends. it was a grand spread and the St. Patty's chef nailed the beef, remarked the Chef. Only three thin little slices of the meat stuff remained after the meal! Bravo and thank you St Patty's chef! And, did I mention there was cake? yes, chocolate.  

but before all that fun, the Chef had quite a night mentoring and organizing his students. their school participated in a very unique event. they were asked to prepare food for all attendees (300+) at a fundraiser for a local non profit in a top chef type of food competition. talk about tension!! an eco-minded event, the majority of the ingredients came from local farms, dairies, and ... meat producers (what's a better term for this??). goat cheese, milk, dinosaur kale (OMG!), sweet potatoes, goat meat, turkey, beef, eggs, beets, oysters, perch, spinach, mushrooms, and much more! the top guy beer guy of Baltimore was there, the maker/owner/hero guy of heavy seas beer - i told him i loved his beers (giggle giggle). it was quite an undertaking - 40 or so students and dedicated chefs prepped all week and late the night before. down to the minute, it went off without a hitch. woohoo to the group of alumni students & chefs and present ones as well!

and to bring it all up to date, my din-din from tonight:

Chef fried rice!  he mixed in a little hoisin sauce with a veggie array of baby bok choy, chinese eggplant, freshy shiitake mushrooms, ginger, onions, marin-tofu, cilantro. all that shoved in the pie hole with chop sticks...

tonight's b(l)ee(g)

dinner was a one hand on the wheel and the other one strangling a fish taco from the local taco joint around the corner from my place of employment. yes, fast food BUT not from a chain. and when i got home, i discovered the most heinous thing - a smashed black frijoles attached to the seat of my pantalones. can you imagine!!

the real enjoyment of the evening took place back at the nature center (yes more frogs were heard in the parking lot! and cookies at intermission! and more stuffed dead animals) during the beginner's beekeeping course. tonight's lecture was on bee biology, followed by some beginner's information.

we got to watch an awesome film - it was from the 1970s! It was originally on 16mm film! Do you feel the enthusiasm for nature films in their original format?? However, "The Life of the Honeybee," had been digitized - still, it had that reminiscent feel of high school and a darkened classroom of drowsy teens; but this film was really, and i mean REALLY good!!

The basic bee bio thing you need to know: the 3 types of bees -
1. The Queen lives for 3-4 years and whose sole purpose is to lay eggs.
2. The Drones are the males and will live in the hive for about a year (then they are driven out by the females - WOOHOO! - at the end of Autumn when food becomes scarce. Say goodbye to the free ride buddy!), they do not have a stinger, and their sole purpose is to mate with the Queen.
3. The Workers are the females and they do everything (protection, feeding, building, foraging, etc) except mate. They live for 6 weeks - they work themselves to death.

here are 3 of my most favorite neat bee-bio things:

• when a bee returns to the hive with an abdomen (key insect word) full of nectar, SHE (the females do ALL the work) does a little wiggle dance to show the others where to find some of the sweet stuff
• bees control the population of their hive by swarming. did you know that? I did not. So the swarm, made up an ousted Queen and her workers (all females), will leave a hive and search for a new one. Actually, the workers will cover the queen to keep her safe while others go looking for a new spot. They come back and do wiggle dances to describe where their spot is located and then, by consensus (how, i don't know), they decide on where to go. Usually this happens when a new Queen is born. 
• worker bees (the females) make wax from glands on their abdomen and then use the wax to build the perfectly hexagonal cells in different sizes for all sorts of uses from rearing young, to storing nectar, honey, etc. But, I think i might have written about that last week, so here is another one - PHEROMONES! the queen gives off a pheromone to attract the workers to her beck and call as well as to attract males to mate with AND when a worker bee stings (only the females sting), she emits a pheromone that puts the others in 'alarm mode'

and if you were wondering, the Chef's fave fact is that the sole purpose of the drone bee (the male) is to have sex with the queen. typical male.

Golabki Galore!

before oven time

Are you thinking gah-what?!? Also known as golumpki, or gwumpki, golabki (pronounced however you can sound it out) is stuffed cabbage! Now are you thinking, oh yeah, that's right ... right?

It's a nice old world European meal - golabki being the Polish counterpart - and what better time to eat a cabbage friendly meal than during St. Patty's time.

Please check out the glam shots of Chef's special golabki.

out of the oven, so steamy!

<pausing for oh's and ah's>

the traditional stuffed cabbage is about 30% ground meat (beef/turkey/pork) and 70% rice - over vice versa depending on the cook.

so what's so special about these golabkis? other than their super fine good looks? Chef, using his skills and vision, crafted a masterpiece. First, he built his pistata = the carrot - onion - garlic in olive oil saute mix. next, using our massive
food processor (its new, and i might be bragging, but just only slightly), the Chef put baby bella mushrooms in for a fine chop. He took that chop and added it to the pistata on the stove; a splah of red wine - oh la la - and finally cooked jasmine rice was added to complete the filling. Chef had blanched a dozen or so cabbage leaves, added the filling, and rolled those babies up. Into the oven with a little stewie tomato topping, and <drum roll> bada boom, bada bing - Golabki for your babki!

what did the broth say to the vegetable?

i see your balls are hanging! matzo balls that is!

in this corner, weighing in at 72 ounces, and 12 ingredients, the refrigerator cleaner outer, the guy in the stainless trunks, the belly buster, the man from la mancha ... the matzo ball minestrone SOUP!! (cue the yays from the audience)

and in this corner, weighing not nearly as much but just pretend because otherwise this wouldn't make any sense because the competitors must be in the same weight class but then why would soup and salad be fighting, anyway just go with it, ok? as i was saying, in this corner, the lean green fighting machine, dressed in a ginger carrot trunk (dressing) --- the refresher ... the gut suppressor ... the SALAD!! (cue different yays from the audience).

its a big city soup story of forbidden love...matzo ball sneaking around and diving into an affair with a steamy Italian minestrone. a dumpling traditionally made in chicken fat shedding the animal byproduct for a wholly veggie meal...(meatless monday people!). the co-conspirators in this romance-drama, the supporting cast, the misfit bunch: Baltimore-raised broccoli, cauliflower, green beans (these were canned over the summer), carrots, onions, turnips, and kale (dried from the summer); and the super misfit bunch, the who the heck knows the origins of these guys - pinto beans, canned tomatoes, frozen peas (bought for supplementary ice pack), and okra (what?).  

for those about to BROC ... we salute yOU!

hey how you doin'?

who of you'ts out there from the new yawk-new JERSEY areas don't know what i'm tawkin'bout? broccoli rabe, baby, broccoli rabe!  what better way to welcome back the sunlight than a pasta dish with the BROC!

for those who have yet to experience the broccoli rabe. like you un-Italians, or Boston-metro area residents, I suggest you seek out the broc when it is on sale, Or not, whatever. once you have it, grab your pasta - we had shells, but the standard spaghetti is good too- you'll want to boil some water (2 pots, one for pasta, one for BROC), do a blanch on that BROC and then transfer it into a sauté pan with oil & garlic. after that pasta boils, drain it, and add the pasta to the pan with the BROC. you'll have EYE-talian heaven (esp if you are generous with the gahhhlick) for dinner in less than 20.  if you're into it, add some crumbled up sausage, if that's the way you lean...

welcome back sun! who doesn't love daylight savings, right? is there a such thing as day light savings in Afghanistan? and why are people such disagreeable s.o.b.'s on day light savings, ie. phone calls at 5:30 am from who the heck knows who and door bells at 7:30 am.

baack to the food ...
to end on a happier note, yes of course we had salad tonight, "Goat cheese and beets are like the best combination ever", sayeth the Chef. I concur, Chef! I think we finally finished our 5 green salad blend. i'm going to miss that blend ... but there are more good eats in my future, stay tuned!

Souper souped-up Saturday

Tonight, I begged Chef to go easy on my tummy and put in an order for soup. 20 minutes later, I got what I wanted ... and I think he did too. (I just confirmed with Chef, soup is what he wanted too.)

Super SOBA!

CSA-Asian soup - a soup like no other; a soup featuring a fusion of Asian influences; a soup utilizing fresh winter veggies; a soup...haha gotcha. Here's the ingredient break-down--
Japanese miso broth & buckwheat soba noodles combined with (home) made-in-Vermont Korean style kimchi. Other Asian influences include ginger, edamame (one more tick mark on the Japanese list), thai chili paste, Tamari, toasted sesame oil, and, as garnish, hot & spicy nori (seaweed - that's some real Sponge Bob stuff). I think Chef jammed in most of our CSA delivery from yesterday for the veggie elements - broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, radish, onion. And for an extra crunch and protein (not that kind of protein), Chef added some of our home-sprouted sprouts (freshly sprouted yesterday). The kimchi, nori, & chili paste gave the soup a lil' zap o' spice that I'm still feeling on my lips, but fully enjoying. This soup, this soup, I tell ya it was exactly the right thing.

(forced) lactose tolerance

"there's no binge like a free binge," Chef, 2012

It has been a week since the (free) mass quantities of dairy have arrived in the house and we have almost, almost consumed all of it. (And did I mention neither Chef nor I have drank a full glass of milk since elementary school?) Ugh, milk, gross...except with cereal; and Chef reports, with a smile, that he would only drink the leftover milk in the cereal bowl if it had changed colors and was enhanced with - what else- sugar (!). Alternatively, the solid forms of dairy are favored and prized around here: cheese and ice cream, bring it! But since it was all free, hey, welcome to my fridge milk and half-and-half. The whole gang is on the right - whole milk, skim milk, half-n-half, a goat cheese (or what's left), bleu cheese (similar comment), and empty glass bottle of heavy cream (which is now on my hips), and a great addition to our freezer - Chefmade homemade ice cream is in the back left (vanilla w/a speckling of real vanilla beans).

But, the plus side of this dairy haul is that all of it is from local producers who have that organic ethic (yay)! The milk is from a dairy in PA, Trickling Springs Creamery, and the cheese (OMG the cheese) is from about 3 hours west of Baltimore from the FireFly Farms Creamery. The cheese is made from goats, giving it a hint of a sour flavor but so creamy and so fine. I'm not a refined food snob, so I won't say that when I eat this cheese I taste notes of grass and azalea but ... it's totally freshy-fresh cheese from well-taken-care-of animals who are eating what they want and should (not corn, not bonemeal) and the result is purely grande fromage - and I'm just not saying that because it was free, and no, this is NOT a commercial!! Now, the FarmFriends Milk: 1. comes in glass containers, old school, I like!, 2. the cows are pastured, 3. no synthetic hormones rBST or rBGH, 4. has information printed on the bottle about how the dairy-iers use practices that respect the environment. Another neat thing about the milk is that they print the "edition" on the bottle; I'm not sure what that means, but its neat, and yes 2012 appears on our bottles (phew).

Final remarks:
this has been a period of forced lactose tolerance for me. for one, we have all this milk and though i would for it to become ice cream, a constant supply of the treat may not be in my best interest; i mean, bikini season is coming up -- oh how i crack myself up! back to that tolerance thing - most people lose their ability to produce lactase, an enzyme that's sole purpose is to digest lactose, a sugar in milk, after their bodies have developed into 'adulthood' (physical, not emotional) - in other words, babies are born with the ability to digest lactose in milk until about the time they are weaned from it. Doesn't that make sense? Look at nature: Lactose is a common sugar found in milk produced by all mammals, and do you see adult animals drinking milk? That's just my bio-geek insight for the day or week; jeez what kind of bio-geek would i be if i only had one insight a week? Anyway, how about I end with a cute pic of Cheez, our resident milk enthusiast?

let me tell you 'bout the fishes and the bees

it was a rockin' fish Thursday! 

Chef took two Rockfish filets from the freezer (see fish fumet Friday for more deets), defrosted them, dipped those guppies in some flour (he teased me by telling me he had added cumin to the flour), and did a quick fry up in the skillet. it wasn't a deep fry, just a fry in a little bit of oil. The thin coat of flour made that fish lively, and a rockin'! crisp. Spritzed with some fresh lemon and oh la la - gimme that filet o'fish! 

the sides -- green kale with black eyed peas. Yes(!) greens and beans sans ham. What could be better? Ham you say? Really? Not tonight, which reminds me back to the presentation we saw earlier this week on food waste. As the author was discussing how cheap food has become, he switched slides to a photo of an poster in a grocery store window that read "Pork 99 cents/lb" and underneath that price, "Happy Passover!" Our second side dish featured mashed red skin potatos with roasted garlic and a shot of milk...our dairy binge continues. oh and of course, butter wiggled its way into that glorious velvety potato dish. 

and now, onto those bees... 

Chef and I enrolled in a beekeeping short course offered by the Central MD Beekeepers Association. We hustled with dinner and scampered off out of the city to a nature center (YESSS!) in the area known as "the county."  Not only did we get our first dose of the season of frog calls - peepers, wood frogs, and maybe someone else - but we also got handouts and cookies! Exciting. During break, I went outside hoping that the Chef could quickly download an app for owl calls, but he just laughed at me and headed back in for a cookie. Good thing I followed because I found the fudge stripes; I hadn't had a fudge stripe since I worked at a nature center back in '00's. So here is some fun bee facts: 

bees need 2 things to survive: carbs (nectar) and protein (pollen): for that, they need floral sources (but of course!). Normally, when you begin beekeeping, you must order bees and the usual starter package contains around 10,000 LIVE bees! The post office will deliver the bees in a cage with a separate compartment within the cage for the Queen. You will then have a 3 lb package of live bees outside of their hive, disoriented, and hungry! I guess in week 3 or 4 we will find out how the heck you get those jet lagged, cranky bees into a hive ... Here are some stats for you numbers folks from tonight's lecture: 

• there are 1,531 beekeepers in MD;
• 1,780 apiaries (places where bees are managed) in MD; 
• 9,800 colonies in MD and 2.5 M colonies of bees in the U.S. (registered with departments of agriculture); 
• and the industry is worth $40M in MD and $15B in the U.S. 

Stay tuned, bee bio will be covered next week! And yes, hopefully I will be donning the get-up at the last meeting in April!

a little spice for your knowledge receptacle

its been an I-like-Baltimore kinda day: (1.) the sits-on-a-crate guy who asks for money didn't tell me to eff off when i didn't fork over some pocket change, (2.) i didn't see anything undesirable on the sidewalk such as vomit, man doo or even fresh (note fresh) dog doo on my walks to/from work today, and (3.) we got to take advantage of a dinner/HH special at a local-hole-in-the-wall. peeled and ate my way through a pound of steamed shrimp with the Chef and an Uncle. Plus the place had a "notable" beer list; at $2 a pint, we drank the good stuff!

since we went out to eat tonight, i'm going to try to give the blog a different spin...

intro: Being a little sister, I have this innate tendency that makes me somewhat of a tag-along. it's a birth order thing, ok. Recently, i tagged along with Chef to a presentation at McCormick's Innovation Center in Hunt Valley. Yes, that McCormick...I'm picturing their old packaging, little tins of this and that in my mom's cabinet, white, red, and a little blue, stacked on top of each other against the wall...Anyway, in lieu of a what-I-ate-for-dinner/ what-Chef-cooked-for-dinner blog tonight, I thought I'd take my inspiration from my trip to Pepper Road and report on a spice that I love, called CUMIN!

more on cumin ... don't think you've ever had it? think again! have you had hummus? if so, you've had CUMIN! and chili? most chili powders include CUMIN in the mix! what else? cumin is an essential spice in most global cuisines east of here like India, the Middle East, and North Africa...dating back to Ancient Egypt when it was cultivated in Nile River Valley, cumin has been traced along the ancient trade routes north, east and west and eventually into the Americas by the Spanish when they arrived in Mexico*. Cumin, the spice, comes from the seed of the small white flowers the plant produces; it is an annual plant that is ready for harvest after four months*. too much booky-boring-type info? Let's talk about eating it ... incorporated into the meat-favoring type of diet, you can use cumin as a flavorsome rub for your steaks or include with a taco filling sauté. I'd put the stuff in any bean puree (hummus), or a black bean soup, too. Oh CUMIN. Idea: steamed shrimp with cumin on top -- Take that (!), Old Bay... Old Bay is very big down here in Merlin. (Old Bay list of ingredients, surprisingly, does not include cumin; it does, however, include celery seed, paprika, mustard, bay leaf, b&r pepper, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, salt, mace (huh?), and ginger). Anyway another spin on this spice is to take the seeds and toast them in a saute pan - the result, instantaneous foodie status as you waft the intense aromas as essential oils are release in the heating process. You can use your toasted cumin in a puree type soup or salads featuring grains like couscous or quinoa....right, that yuppie crunchy granola stuff.

conclusion: Try cumin. You'll like it's flavorsomeness. Set forth and explore the depths of its flavor!

*I learned this from the McCormick website, check it out for some recipes and purty food pics.

corn ... winter style

tonight was a throw back to the rustic, to the summer, and to a hearty winter meal.



by this, I mean, POLENTA. my friends, POLENTA. i hate to say this but the part you can't really see in that pic on the left, is the word "grits." EECK! I feel so southern .... ahh hem, i mean, southern italian! prego!

POLENTA! ever have it? you should try it, it is home-chef-friendly but of course having CHEF make it for you, is pretty darn nice. so Chef used this mix, the Bob's Red Mill. he actually made it yesterday, stowed it in the fridge, then cut triangles today and put it in the cast iron pan on some hot, hot oil. a crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside triangle of corny, corn-like goodness ... POLENTA!! From the freezer, Chef pulled out some of our foraged hen of the woods  mushrooms from "the season" and warmed those puppies up in a saute pan with, what else (?), cream. (we have been on a genuine dairy binge lately).

yea, so that was dinner and then we ran after the bus to attend a restaurant re-opening party and ate again, but mostly schmoosed. yes, me. Ok not really me, mostly just Chef ... open bar and all.