World Beat Pumpkin Black Bean Soup

Never mind that it's the wrong season for this sort of thing. I just cleaned out my pantry last weekend and was thrilled to be able to make something this delicious, almost entirely from canned goods! It has the unlikely combination of coconut milk and chipotle, but somehow the combination of hot/smoky and sweet/spicy really works.

Ever since I got my handy pressure cooker, I've been making all of my beans from scratch - but I had several cans of black beans in the pantry that I wanted to use up, plus some coconut milk, fire roasted tomatoes and canned pumpkin. I'd been meaning to make pumpkin biscuits ever since last fall but it never did happen, and I'm glad because this soup really was quite exquisite. Here's how to do it:

1 onion - diced
1 shallot - diced
2 jalapenos - diced

Sautee the above in:

2 T. butter and
2 T. coconut oil (or if you don't have coconut oil, you can use olive oil instead)

When the onions start to turn golden, add:

4 cloves garlic - minced
1 t. salt
1/2 t. ground black pepper
1 t. sweet/smoky chipotle paste* OR 1 t. chipotle in adobo sauce

Combine 3 cans black beans and 1 can fire roasted tomatoes and coarsely puree in a food processor or blender. Add this to the onions/garlic/peppers.

Also add 1 can pumpkin puree and 1 can coconut milk, and 3 cups vegetable stock or water.

Stir it well till you get a nice, thick but still soupy consistency. Taste and adjust salt if necessary.

Garnish with sour cream.

*Sweet & smoky chipotle paste is a recipe I got from the Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen cookbook - it involves frying a massive amount of chipotles and then soaking them in sugar water, and pureeing it all with roasted garlic. It's very intense, spicy, smoky, sweet, and lends a depth of flavor like no other!

A Gardener is Born

I'm doing my best to change my plant killing ways.  My one houseplant has been alive for a good six months now, and the orchid that my sweetheart gave me is still blooming beautifully more than two months later.

For most of my life, I've never had much of an inclination towards gardening, but in recent months that has been changing.   Suddenly I'm obsessed with the idea of creating things in my kitchen that I grew in my yard.  Although really, we're growing them in the sweetheart's yard, but nonetheless, I am helping make it happen, and this is a first for me.  A very exciting first. There will be tomatoes and squash and arugula and herbs -  nothing terribly ambitious, but to me it's a veritable cornucopia.

Today my small contribution amounted to a little weeding and clearing away of the old stuff,  plus some turning over the soil with the shovel.  I know it just looks like dirt in the photo, but damnit, it's dirt that I lovingly  shoveled myself!  And it's way more gardening than I've ever done in the past.

And I can't take credit for this part, but when the day was done, this is what it looked like:

I can't wait to watch it grow and to learn all I can along the way!

My Fifteen Minutes...

I never had my name on a marquis prior to last week when I played at Ashkenaz in Berkeley (hence the peace sign because it's Berkeley!).   So naturally I had to take a photo for my grandchildren's great grandchildren to remember their  ancestor...

... see, my band-mates are still VERY, VERY exclusive.  So exclusive that only 17 people were hip enough to seek us out on a Thursday night.  But hey!  We got our name on the marquis!

The Gift I Bought for Myself

I just can't seem to move on from this theme - I'll take that as a sign of my wonderful good fortune and gladly give thanks!

Several months ago, I read (and wrote about) a very compelling article published in the New York Times by Mark Bittman, author of How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.  That article had a strong and positive impact on my eating choices, but until recently, I didn't have my own copy of the cookbook.  I had bought the cookbook as a birthday gift for my dear friend Alison, who, like me, had recently cut meat out of her diet.  I had kept meaning to buy a copy for myself, and it took awhile, but that day has finally come.

I enjoy reading cookbooks just as much as I enjoy cooking from them, and so it was with great pleasure today that I sat down and began to read the introduction to this book.   I love Bittman's no-nonsense writing style; I love the fact that he is not dogmatic, and that he is not a professionally trained chef but a home cook with nearly 40 years of experience.  But most of all, I know I am going to love trying out his recipes!  And let me tell you, this book covers everything from salads to sauces to desserts, with everything in between.   I can't imagine how long it must have taken to compile a definitive body of recipes such as these.  And I can't wait to start enjoying them!

Now if only my time spent in the kitchen could grow as rapidly as my cookbook collection...couldn't someone just pay me to throw fabulous dinner parties without me having to be a caterer?  I'm gonna have to ponder that one....

And Speaking of Gifts that Keep on Giving

Hey Mom & Dad!  This one's for you.  Cause you got me a gift certificate to Williams-Sonoma for my birthday, and I was like a kid in a kitchen store. 

I thought you might like to see what I bought.  See that timer in the middle?  No more burning things!  I mean really, how silly is it to have to use my cell phone to time things like pies and quiche?  Well no more.  Look at that sleek and beautiful timer.

And speaking of quiche and pie, I finally got a utensil with which to serve them.  And the first thing I did was make a quiche, of course!

Would you believe I've never bought a good bottle of balsamic vinegar in my life?  Until now, that is.  Thanks, parents!  This bottle is aged 25 years and it's so thick and sweet and luscious.  I can hardly wait till later in the summer when I can drizzle some of this nectar over fat, ruby red slices of organic tomatoes.

I also got some yummy sauces and spreads - I've mentioned the tomato-vodka sauce here previously - it's definitely worthy of your favorite pasta.  And the artichoke-spinach-parmesan dip is addictive, pretty much right out of the jar.  And I couldn't pass up a condiment that contains two of my favorite things - hot peppers and preserved lemons!  I can't wait to make a spicy chic pea stew using this Moroccan Harissa dip as a flavoring.

So thanks, Mom & Dad!   The only thing that would make these gifts better would be if you could come over for dinner and enjoy every last bit of it with me.

The Gifts That Keep on Giving

Boy do I ever love a good cookbook.  I probably have more than I need, but I can't seem to stop accumulating them, in part because every year people buy me more cookbooks for my birthday. Lucky me!  There are so many great ones, and a few that I keep going back to again and again. I continue to enjoy the Dona Thomas cookbook, a wonderful gift I was given on my 38th birthday. I've been LOVING their chilaquiles recipe, which features this beautiful, robust, spicy guajillo sauce...

... which begins by toasting, soaking and grinding guajillo chiles.

When I made this recently,  there was plenty of sauce left over and we couldn't possibly waste one drop of it, so later we sauteed shrimp in it, and that made for one delicious taco feast.

             

And what taco feast would be complete without icy cold margaritas?  Let me tell you, you 

never appreciate a margarita so much as when you have to painstakingly squeeze each individual lime for what seems like hours, until you have enough juice to actually make a drink.

Of course, since it was my birthday, I didn't have to squeeze the limes!  I was too busy making tortillas and roasting peppers and barking orders for assistance in making the chocolate peanut butter ice cream, because naturally this was the most important part of the meal! 

 

So thanks to all my loved ones for great birthday celebrations year after year, and for all the really cool gifts.  I'm not done talking about the gifts yet, because I got some fantastic aprons this year too, but more details about that later.  Ciao for now!

The Further Adventures of Life Without Coffee

It's been about two months since I stopped drinking coffee, and recently I haven't given it much thought, or missed it very much. And in fact I've been very pleased with the fact that all of my stomach and digestive issues have completely disappeared, and I can't help but attribute it, at least in part, to the fact that I'm not drinking coffee anymore. That's a pretty strong motivator to keep me from missing it very much!

Last night I had a revelation. For several years now, I've had this problem with my voice, wherein basically I become hoarse after singing for a half an hour, or even from just talking too much. It's been disturbing to me, seeing as I am a singer and also just a person with a big mouth who loves to talk! I kept thinking that it must be my technique, something I have been doing wrong in the way I use my voice. Acoustic gigs especially would be a nightmare, because although I could always get through the set, my voice would be mostly gone afterwards.

Well last night I was rehearsing with El Mirage in my living room, with three guitars, bass and a full drum kit, and my voice didn't even get tired. And the night before, I had sang two sets acoustically without a problem. That losing my voice thing seems to be a thing of the past now. The only thing I've done differently is to stop the coffee. Amazing! I've been battling this problem for a long, long time now and it's incredible to me that this one little change has made such a dramatic difference.

Am I the same person who once wrote in this blog "I'M NEVER GIVING UP COFFEE AGAIN!!!"? Never say never, I guess.

Janice Ian Knows

I've been meaning to write about this video ever since I first saw it. This performance of Janice Ian singing "At 17" absolutely takes my breath away. Actually I first saw her perform it on the pilot episode of Saturday Night Live (which I watched recently, that is, not back in 1976!). I can't seem to listen to this song without having my hair stand on end. I don't know if it's because she's singing about a topic that so many women can relate to, or if it's the cool, confident manner in which she delivers the message. She is stunningly beautiful and powerful and magnetic. That voice! Those guitar playing chops! That depth of wisdom at such a young age! All I can say is, those dummies in high school didn't have a clue. Watch it and enjoy. I'll be back with some more food porn before too long!

You can only be young Once....

... but you can be immature forever!

Oh, there is so much to report. So far I'm really enjoying being 39, and the fun just goes on and on. I am so very grateful to my wonderful friends and family for being so good to me. And boy do I ever have food pictures to post and report about!! But hell, I'm old now, and tired, so the best I can offer tonight is this picture of me enjoying the ice cream I made (or rather, what was left of it!) as part of the FIRST of my birthday dinner celebrations over the weekend! Yep, here's to being immature FOREVER!

Almost time for Limoncello

I don't know if I've mentioned Food Groupies in any previous posts, and that is a major oversight! We're a small group of friends who are obsessed with food. We meet once a month, each time at a different person's house, and that person leads the whole group in making something delicious and completely from scratch.

One time, John and Scott and I showed the group what we know about wild fermentation, and we made our own sauerkraut and pickles, and I swear the stuff we made is some of the best I've ever tasted!

Other sessions have found us making biscotti (of course!), Brazillian cheese biscuits and Brazillian fish stew, and last month, Kathleen taught us all how to make meyer lemon and orange marmalade, and Limoncello - a truly intoxicating Italian liqueur.

First, you peel the citrus very carefully, making sure not to include any of the white pith, which would make the final product bitter. We made one batch with oranges, and one batch with lemons.

Then, you soak the peels in grain alcohol for 13 days, shaking the jar every day. Later you remove the peels and add simple syrup to the alcohol, and set it aside for another 2 weeks or so, again, shaking it every day.




Next, you bottle it and put it in the freezer, where its color transforms into a very creamy, but still very bright orange or yellow. And then, it's ready to drink!

You serve it in very small, chilled glasses. And believe me, you want the glasses to be small because this stuff packs a punch! And it's easy to drink too much because it goes down soooooooooo smooth.

Our Limoncello won't be ready for another week or so.... not QUITE in time for my birthday! But since I plan to enjoy a week-long celebration (at the very least!), I will certainly get to make a few birthday toasts with it.

And speaking of birthdays, the celebration begins today. I'm headed back to Gualala to enjoy a bit of gluttony in the company of a few friends and a few dogs. Of course I've packed the essentials - cookbooks, knives, tortilla press, ice cream maker, and ... tequila. No doubt I'll have many fine food pics to post next week! So stay tuned...

Fish in Parchment, 11 Years with Spider the Dog

Oh, it's not fair.  I should've taken my dog Spider out for a steak tonight to celebrate the 11th anniversary of the day I brought her home from the pound.  But since they don't let dogs into steak houses as far as I know, and since I had some frozen cod and a few other essentials on hand, I made fish in parchment paper instead.

And Spider sat under the table looking at me with hungry eyes, as if to say "I'm hungry... no one ever feeds me...I'm as starving as I was the day you adopted me 11 years ago...PLEASE feed me some fish scraps...and really I deserve STEAK DAMNIT...".  And I felt really bad because this meal that I threw together was SO INCREDIBLY GOOD.  And I didn't share, not with dogs anyway. 

The fish was so good in fact, that I have to tell you how I made it, and of course, I made it by bastardizing a recipe I once saw by Rachel Ray.  Yeah, love her or hate her, she has some good ideas.   Here's what I did.  May Spider forgive me.

First, take 2 sheets of parchment paper, about a foot long, and set them down on a baking sheet.   Pre-heat the oven to 400.

Next, take a handful of aspargus (well, 2 actually) and place each on a sheet sheet of parchment.

Next, chop this stuff up coarsely: green olives, garlic, a bit of anchovy, a smattering of roasted red pepper.  You don't need proportions.  Just use your instincts and add just enough.  That's right - sprinkle it all on top of the asparagus and season w/ salt & pepper.

   

Now, add your fish.  In this case, I used cod.   Lay it on top of the asparagus, drizzle w/ olive oil, top with a sprinkling of lemon zest, toss a few sprigs of basil onto the fish, and squeeze lemon juice over it all.  And then, just for good measure, toss a few capers and some chopped shallot over it all.

Next up: wrap the fish up into a tidy little parchment package. I used kitchen twine to tie it all up. And then, you bake it at 400 for about 20 minutes or so.

In the meantime, give all the dogs lots of rubs and pets and drink wine. Guaranteed to make the stress of the week just wash away. Especially if you have the music of Breech cranked loudly on the stereo, which of course, I did.

After 20 minutes, take the fish packages out of the oven, carefully transfer to your plates, and enjoy.




Give thanks that the week is behind you, especially if it was a slightly stressful and highly emotional week, which it surely was for me.  Give thanks for the company - a wonderful sweetheart and two wonderful dogs, and don't forget to give an extra fish scrap to the old lady dog.

Seeking Gnocchi Nirvana

My latest food obsession is gnocchi, and wow, is it ever hard to get just right. If you've ever tried to make it, then you probably know this to be true. There are so many factors that can go wrong. The dough can turn out to be too heavy or too sticky, or the gnocchi can fall apart when you cook them. And even if you avoid all this, the end result can still be heavy instead of fluffy and light as air.

I wish I could tell you what to do to achieve perfect results, but I'm still learning. I want the process to be scientific: measure out this much of this and that, do this to it, then do this to it, and gnocchi nirvana shall be yours. But I fear it's not going to be quite that simple.

Yesterday my lovely pal Sabine and I tested out a recipe we found in Food & Wine Magazine. And in fact, the gnocchi were quite good. Don't they look tasty in the picture? We followed the recipe to the letter, and the dough wasn't too sticky or heavy, and the gnocchi cooked up very nicely. But all three of us who enjoyed the meal agreed that while these gnocchi were good, we wanted them to be lighter and fluffier and a little more delicate. Gnocchi nirvana had not been achieved, but we were not exactly complaining as we enjoyed our feast. Sabine and I agreed to remain obsessed until we found the perfect recipe.

So today, I began looking (everywhere from The Silver Spoon to The Joy of Cooking and many random web sites and food blogs), and discovered that so many recipes offer different takes on the matter, with so much conflicting information. Some recipes say to use an egg in the dough, others don't. Some swear you must bake the potatoes while others say you must boil them. One recipe said you must work with the potatoes when they're hot, while other recipes said to cool completely first. Some say to always use a ricer and never mash the potatoes. And then, others say mash the potatoes! It's a little exasperating for someone like me who just wants to follow step-by-step instructions. And who's got the time to test out every single recipe out there?

For the record, I think the Food & Wine recipe has some very good techniques, such as baking the potatoes on a bed of coarse salt to draw out the moisture, and using yukon gold potatoes instead of russet. If this was the only recipe you had to work with, you would not be in bad shape.

But, I'm dearly hoping that someone out there reading this may be able to point me to a recipe that takes me one step closer to nirvana - the perfect recipe for light, fluffy, delicate gnocchi. Does it exist? Sabine and I sure hope so!

Life without Coffee, Part 2

Didn't I say I was never ever ever going to give up coffee again? Never say never. I should know this by now, but it's a lesson I keep learning.

See, it all started when I was crazily ill with some kind of wretched virus. It was bad enough just having the virus, but then my doctor had me taking first anti-viral medication, and then, when it was disclosed that really, they didn't know what was wrong with me and that perhaps it was pneumonia, I began taking antibiotics. All of this medication wreaked complete and utter havoc upon my already delicate digestive system. I'll spare you the sickly details but let's just say that for the better part of a week, I couldn't keep ANYTHING in my system. Now there's a diet I won't soon be repeating!

I didn't really stop drinking coffee by choice, but rather by necessity, and I was honestly too sick to care.  I figured I'd reunite w/ my caffeine just as soon as I felt well again.  But then, when I finally did get well, a funny thing happened.  All of the stomach irritation that I had been experiencing previous to the illness was just GONE.   I had tried so many approaches in the previous months in an effort to make the stomach pain go away, including giving up alcohol (temporarily at least!), eliminating meat from my diet,  and getting acupuncture treatment.   All of these things no doubt contributed to my feeling better, but none of them was quite enough.

Of course, on more than one occasion I had read that sometimes giving up coffee is all that is needed to make stomach problems go away.  But NO WAY was I going to try this approach!  I couldn't live without my coffee!  Or at least, I couldn't get out of bed without it.  But feeling completely well is a powerful motivator.  That's what I tell myself every morning as I'm boiling the water for my green tea.

Perhaps one day I'll reunite w/ coffee after all, but I figured for now I'd give my body a 6 month break.  And who knows...  maybe once 6 months has passed, I won't even want it any more.  But never say never...

Pickled Red Onions and Geetar Pickin'

Mmmm.... it's bbq season again! Serve these pickled red onions at your next bbq, and your friends will surely devour them. Not only are they good on burgers of any kind, but they're a lovely addition to salads, and one of the nice things about these onions is that you can whip them up in no time at all.

I adapted this recipe from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone - a book that I love and find myself referring to again and again. The original recipe called for red wine vinegar, plus sugar and salt, but I used seasoned rice vinegar instead, and omitted the sugar and adapted the spices, and the results were mighty tasty.

2 large red onions
1 1/2 c. seasoned rice vinegar
2 bay leaves
a pinch of herbs de provence
3 dried red chiles
1 t. crushed black peppercorns
pinch of salt
1 1/2 c. cold water

Thinly slice the onions, place them in a colander, and pour boiling water over them to soften the onions a bit. Then rinse the onions in cold water and place them in a bowl. Now add the vinegar, bay leaves, herbs, chiles, peppercorns, salt and water to the bowl. If you don't have enough liquid to cover the onions, add more vinegar and water in equal parts. Place a heavy plate or bowl on top of the onions to press them down so they are fully immersed in the liquid. Let marinate for 15 minutes or more, and at this point, the onions should be tangy, sweet and zesty, and ready to serve. Refrigerate what you don't eat that day in an airtight container, liquid and all. It will keep for a long time in the refrigerator.

And about that matter of geetar pickin'... I have a REALLY BIG SHOW coming up this Saturday! When I was a mere twenty year old whippersnapper oh so many years ago and had first moved to California and begun playing music, I DREAMED of performing at the Great American Music Hall. I LUSTED after that place. I seriously could not have even imagined that I would get to enjoy playing there on more than one occasion in my life. But here I am, practically 40, and I'm lucky to be singing on that stage for the 4th time, come this Saturday, along with my cohorts in Loretta Lynch. Not bad for an ol' lady. I do hope that if you're local, that you'll be there to enjoy the show with us, cause it's gonna be a blast.

Organize those spices

I thought I'd share this little tip that has helped me organize my spices. I originally found the tip in Cook's Illustrated magazine in the reader suggestions section, and this is my adaptation.

Usually I like to buy my spices whole and toast and grind them myself. Consequently, I end up with lots of little bags which used to end up in a messy pile in my cupboard. Well no more, thanks to this little tip!

Just place each spice in its own little ziplock bag, and tape a bit of card stock on the top. The original suggestion was to use filing tabs, which is a great idea also but I just used what I had on hand.

Then, you alphabetize the spices, and place them in a shallow box (a shoe box works beautifully) and keep it in your cabinet or in a drawer. Now you can always find the spice you need (assuming you know the alphabet, that is!).

It's looking like Spring has sprung, and I'm very happy to report that I feel fully recovered and strong again. Hence, I've spent many an hour in the kitchen recently, so stay tuned for reports on homemade pickled onions, orange and lemon marmalade, limoncello, and more!

Eggplant-Zucchini Parmesan

It's alive! Well, I'm alive. And what a feeling it is, after feeling so cruddy for so long. And hey, I lost that annoying five pounds that had been bugging me! So naturally, the first thing I did once I started feeling better was to start cooking again! Friday it was Vietnamese spring rolls, and Sunday it was salmon burgers, with a trip to Mangia Mangia in between. Man, have I eaten well. The perfect antidote to a solid week of not being able to keep anything down.



Tonight, I made the most delicious eggplant-zucchini Parmesan, and would you believe I made it with..... ALMOND CHEESE?! That's right folks, it was made with fake mozzarella, and supplemented w/ real Parmesan, and WOW, was it good. See, I'm still hacking up bits of my lungs, and if I'd slathered this dish entirely in REAL dairy cheese, it would just mean more hacking. So I tried something that my lovely sweetheart recently turned me on to: almond cheese! Would you believe I laughed at him when he first told me about it? Well, I'm eating that laughter now because tonight's dinner was unbelievably good, so good that I have to share the recipe. This recipe was adapted from several different sources that I found on the web, the main one being Simply Recipes.

- Approximately 1 lb. eggplant and 1 lb. zucchini
- 1 cup breadcrumbs (I made my own w/ sprouted wheat bread)
- 1/2 cup flour
- 3 or 4 eggs
- Around 3 cups of the tomato sauce of your choice - I used Williams-Sonoma Vodka Tomato sauce - yum!
- 1 package almond cheese, mozzarella style - cut into 1/2 inch squares
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Around 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
- Oil for frying the eggplant and zucchini

First, cut the eggplant into rounds and salt it generously. Layer the slices in a colander and weight it down with a heavy plate. Let it drain like this for around 2 hours. Yes, this will require some advance planning but it's totally worth it because it will make the eggplant so tender and delectable!

Meanwhile, cut the zucchini into slices on the diagonal and try to get them to be close to the size of the eggplant slices.

Next, place 1/2 cup of the breadcrumbs and the flour into a shallow bowl and mix it up, seasoning with salt and pepper.

Beat the eggs into a separate dish.

Once the eggplant has finished draining, press the slices onto paper towels to extract any remaining moisture.

Now you'll want to heat a generous amount of olive oil in a skillet, and dip the eggplant slices first into the egg, and then coat both sides with the flour-breadcrumb mixture. Drop the slices into the pan when the oil is shimmering, and fry on each side until golden brown. This should take a couple minutes on each side. Place the slices onto a plate with paper towels to absorb the excess oil. Do the same thing with the zucchini slices. You will need to add fresh oil to the pan along the way, to make sure the vegetables don't burn.

Once you've fried all the vegetables, you're ready to assemble the dish. Coat the bottom of your casserole dish with a generous amount of sauce, and while you're at it, pre-heat your oven to 350.

Now place your slices of eggplant and zucchini, alternating them side by side until you've completed one layer. Top each slice with a square of mozzarella, sprinkle Parmesan all over it, and top each slice with a basil leaf. Now repeat with another layer. Pour more sauce over the top layer, and top with more Parmesan and the remaining half cup of breadcrumbs.

Bake it at 350 for around 25-30 minutes or until the top is bubbly and golden brown. Then take it out and let it sit for 10 minutes or so before serving. Inhale it, and watch the pounds slowly creep back...

Super-bugs and Lemon Caesar

Oh people, have I been sick. Sicker than I can remember being, for something like 25 days now and counting. Too sick to enjoy life, too sick to enjoy food. Never wanting to look at another can of soup again, or a thermometer.... you get the picture. I haven't been able to post anything because there has been no culinary or musical fun in my life! I'm hoping that is going to change in the not too distant future, but until then, here's a little something to tide us all over. It's my friend Steve Lucky's recipe for a yummy lemon Caesar dressing. I'm sure it would perk me up if only I had the energy to make it. Maybe you do, and if so, enjoy! Don't give up on this blog! I hope March will be much more promising than February has been. Here's Steve's recipe, verbatim:

3 organic lemons
1 head of garlic
1.5 oz (3/4 tube) anchovy paste
Worcestershire sauce
Your favorite velvety olive oil (don’t use a spicy or complex one)


Wash and zest 2 lemons, then juice all 3

Peel about ¾ of the garlic and chop finely or press into the bowl of lemon juice and zest

I use Spanish anchovy paste in a tube, but of course you can use canned filets and mash them…in which case you may have to add some sea salt
Just pile it on to your garlic island in the lemon sea

Add 5 dashes of Worcestershire sauce

Wisk in some fine extra virgin olive oil. I usually use about 750 ml (3/4 bottle) for this recipe, but start tasting after about ½ the bottle is whisked in. Keep whisking in oil until the acidity is bearable, then stop…you want it to have some bite. Adjust garlic and anchovy paste to taste.

I usually use hearts of Romaine, radicchio, and arugula, but this dressing is great with just a head Romaine, dark leaves and all. But no matter what the greens, I consider Parmesan reggiano an absolute must!

Optional: take a portion of the dressing that you will use just for this meal and whisk in one egg yolk for a truly decadent semi-classic Caesar experience

Vitamin C is your Friend!

The trip to the Oregon coast has come and gone, and it was not without its highlights. But unfortunately, this stubborn illness latched onto me right about the time we were leaving, and it still hasn't let go.

I'm writing this tonight when in fact I'm supposed to be performing. This is only the second time in my life I've ever bailed on a gig, and I'm particularly bummed because tonight's gig was to be a celebration of local song writers, and I've been working up versions of songs by some wonderful people whom I'm fortunate to know. But alas, I've been so shaky and weak and feverish the last few days that I just couldn't summon the strength tonight to get up and try to act otherwise.

And on the one hand, I'm completely disappointed at the timing. There is part of me that really wanted to push myself to just do the show anyway, however badly I might find myself singing and feeling.

But on the other hand, it feels good to be able to slow down and realize my limits and be able to honor them. My usual tendency is to just barrel on full speed ahead and never look back, but then, surely that's a contributing factor to why I find myself sick in the first place!

During these seemingly endless days of down time, I've had the opportunity to read a couple of great books - cause what would I do if I wasn't obsessing over food and music? The first is called Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Wow, can this woman write from the heart. Highly recommended if you've ever eaten, prayed, or loved!

The other is called Shakey: Neil Young's Biography, by Jimmy McDonough. An in-depth look at the life of one very talented force of nature.

I'm looking forward to getting back in the saddle, as it were, but in the meantime, I have a pot of hot tea, a good book and a hot bath waiting for me.

No-Knead Bread, Winter Vacation, Pressure Cooking

Ah, what a beautiful sight to behold. Would you look at that bread? Does it not look like it came straight from a fancy French bakery? Well it did not. It came straight from my kitchen and I'm still rather thrilled about it.

I finally had a chance to try out the famous recipe for no-knead bread from the New York Times (Jim Lahey's recipe actually), and it made a believer out of me. In fact, I almost wish I hadn't learned how to make this bread because I try to keep my wheat consumption to a bare minimum. And this bread is just so good you want to inhale it! So I've created a policy that I will only bake this bread when I'm going to have or attend a dinner party. So, feel free to invite me to dinner. I'll bring the bread!

Tomorrow I'm off to the Oregon coast for week-long winter respite which will include cooking and enjoying many fine meals. When I get back, I can't wait to start trying out recipes in my new pressure cooker! If anyone out there has a good recipe featuring the pressure cooker, or a recommendation for a good cookbook, bring 'em on!

Until next week, happy bread-baking!

Tuna Noodle Redux

Sometimes you just need your comfort food. And sometimes, your cupboards are pitifully bare. I had a night like this recently, and somehow managed to whip up this tasty dish which reminded me quite a lot of that childhood favorite, tuna noodle casserole (well, it was a favorite of mine at least!).

In our kitchen, this dish consisted of egg noodles, canned cream of mushroom soup, milk, and tuna. Toss it all together and bake it, take it out of the oven, gorge yourself and wait for the stomachache to commence! Mmmm, don't I make it sound appetizing? Well not to worry, the version I made was a tad more elegant, and it hit the spot. And it was so easy! Alas, there were no mushrooms in this dish, but it was still tasty, and lighter than the original, thankfully!

I managed to scrounge up a wee bit of dried pappardelle, a can of tuna, and some herb butter from my sad little kitchen. All I did was cook the noodles, toss them in the herb butter, and mix in some of the tuna. Oh, I also had some shredded parmesan, so I tossed in a bit of that as well. I reserved a bit of the water that I used to cook the noodles, and sprinkled in a teeny bit to moisten, and within the time it took to boil the water and open a can, I had dinner. I like those kinds of nights. If you make this and are feeling extra fancy, some lightly sauteed shitake mushrooms would be a lovely addition, as would toasted breadcrumbs. Or, there's always my perennial favorite, frozen peas! Use it if you've got it, I say.

And on an unrelated note, it was a great experience to go without any form of alcohol for a month, but now, the month is new! And with that, I'm off to enjoy a cold, bitter, strong, delicious beer. Cheers!

Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler, indeed...

I enjoyed this very thought-provoking article in the Sunday New York Times. I didn't even realize as I was reading the article that the author is the very same author of the cookbook I had just bought as a gift for my friend Alison for her birthday. The book is "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" by Mark Bittman, and I'd been wanting to pick up a copy ever since I'd first heard of it. Soon I'll pick up my own copy of the book and I can't wait to start trying out the recipes.

Although I've been a vegetarian at different periods of life, in recent years my dietary tendencies have leaned more towards omnivorous. And although meat has not been at the center of my diet for a great many years now, the above article serves as a good reminder to me about all the reasons I ever chose to keep it out of my diet in the first place.

Many years ago I was on tour in Tucson, AZ and very nearly crossed paths with Howard Lyman, aka the Mad Cowboy- remember him? He was being interviewed on the radio station KXCI that I was headed towards to be interviewed myself, and the interview with him just blew me away. Sadly, by the time I got to the radio station, he had already left, but suffice it to say he left a lasting impression upon me, and I bought his book while I was there in Tucson, and stopped eating meat right then & there. I didn't start eating it again for quite a few years, but eventually, I did start eating it again.

Now, my reasons for wanting to change my diet again are personal as well as political. The unfortunate news is that my stomach has been very unhappy for some time now, so I don't want to make it work any harder than it has to (I am NOT looking forward to having procedures with names ending in "oscopy").

The good new is, I've fallen in love(!!!) with an amazing person, who is, among other things, a vegetarian. And of course one of my favorite things to do is to cook and share food with the people I love, so I just haven't been all that interested in recipes heavy on the meat, and I really haven't missed it.

I don't know if the vegetarian police are going to object, but I'm still eating fish, with no plans to stop that. And, I'm not saying that no bit of meat shall ever touch my lips again, because rarely in my life have I been able to pull off being a purist of any sort. For now though, the path without meat seems to be the right path for me. I'm going to get my own copy of Mark Bittman's book, and I am looking forward to trying out all his great recipes!

Slow-Braised Chard

Wow, this month is flying right by, sans alcohol! The first week was rough; the second week was better; now I'm almost finished with the third week and it's been the easiest yet. I expect the fourth week will be a breeze.

But, I digress! I'm here to tell you about my favorite new way to eat my greens. My friend Jamie from work mentioned that there is a delicious recipe for slowly braised chard in Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, and as always in all manners culinary, he was right. That Jamie is a smart man (he's also helping me create my own cookbook, but that's another story!).

Tonight was a cold, cold winter night and once I got home from work and cranked the heat and got into my bathrobe, no way was I going to leave the house again (in case anyone out there had any illusions that I might flit about the kitchen whipping up culinary delights while looking stylish and sexy, I'm here to dispel that myth!).

So I had to use what I had on hand and thusly, I altered the recipe a teeny bit, using toasted and ground coriander instead of cilantro, but it still tasted fabulous. I also used less oil and salt than the recipe suggested. Served it over herbed basmati rice, and savored every bite.

Here is the recipe with my adaptations:

2 large bunches chard, about 2 pounds, leaves sliced into 1 inch slivers and stems diced
1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
1 generous swirl of olive oil, roughly 2 tablespoons
3/4 teaspoon paprika
3/4 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted and ground
1 garlic clove pounded into a paste along with 1/2 t. salt

Place all the ingredients in a very large, heavy skillet with a couple pinches of salt. Add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup water. Cover tightly and cook over low heat for 45 minutes - yes that's right, 45 minutes, hence the title slow-braised... definitely worth the wait. Lift the lid a couple times during the 45 minutes to ensure there is enough liquid, and add more if needed.

Enjoy!

Sometimes, You get what you Need...

... see, what I want right now is an ice cold, strong, bitter beer. In fact, I want two or three. But hey, it's still January and so for now, the fake beer and veggie juice cocktails will have to suffice. I don't NEED the beer. I just want it, and miss it!

One thing I do sort of need however, and have needed for some time, is an immersion blender. You know, the kind you stick into a big pot of soup in order to puree it. I keep thinking I need to buy one but probably, I've been drinking just enough beer and wine to kill off the exact brain cells needed in order to remember to get the dang thing! Well now, that little problem is fixed, because yesterday at work, a friend of a friend showed up and handed me one. Alex loves to cook, and bought several of these to give to friends & family, but somehow ended up with one too many. And knowing that I love to cook, she decided I should have it.






Thanks, Alex! I think I feel a big pot of creamy roasted squash soup coming on, oh yeah...

Sans Alcohol

I wasn't really sure if I could do it. But so far, I've made it nearly eight days. That's eight days without so much as one drop of luscious red wine or strong, bitter beer touching my parched, parched lips. How sad is it that I wasn't sure if I could do it? Well friends, that's another story, a story we might not need to tell because the fact is, I AM doing it. And I'll be doing it for another uh... twenty three days, but who's counting?

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you might remember when I once foolishly decided to give up coffee. Well compared to that, this is really a piece of cake! But also, it's an interesting way for me to see just how much I rely on the booze to do things like help me relax and help me sleep (and then consequently keep me awake!).

One thing's for sure; I'm not missing those calories, and I won't be complaining if I find myself sans a few pounds of spare tire at the end of the month. I gotta say though - it was weird hosting a dinner party and buying, and then serving, wine to my guests while I sat there drinking sparkling water!

But on the up side, the lack of alcohol has inspired me to pull out my dusty old juicer and now I'm enjoying daily "cocktails" of juice made from carrot, celery, beet, ginger, lemon & apple. After all the consumption over the holidays, my body is liking this.

I still have to report about my Dad's homemade pasta (hey Dad maybe you should send me a list of step by step instructions so I can post them with the pics!) and much, much more! But hey, the work day is almost over, and it's nearly time for my evening cocktail, so excuse me, I have some vegetables to scrub...

Holiday Highlights

Happy 2008! It sure crept up fast, didn't it? I'm happy to report that I had some extra time off this year, and I spent much of it laying around, cooking, eating, and drinking wine. Not a bad way to pass the time!

This year my family did a gift exchange, so I only had to buy a gift for one person, and one person bought for me. My niece Emily chose well for me, feeding both my obsession with Indian cooking and my lust for Le Creuset cookware.



And lest I should forget my Italian roots, a little something extra was thrown in for good measure. Emily must know that I suck at making sauce and that I love vodka, so the Williams-Sonoma vodka sauce and fancy dried pasta were perfect additions!

I was psyched to be the one to buy for my Dad, and it seemed that he was quite pleased with my gift selections. And fortunately for all of us, he likes to share!




When my parents volunteered me to cook dinner for their friends, of course I was happy to oblige.


All was going swimmingly until I realized that it was in fact a bad idea to bake pizza directly on the oven rack without putting something underneath it to catch the melting cheese, which soon turned into burning, smoldering cheese, which filled the house with stinky smoke! I do believe my parents might be needing to buy a new oven thanks to their talented chef daughter.

And then, just in time for dessert, I somehow managed to make the coffee machine have a seizure.


I swear I hadn't even drank that much of my Dad's wine stash when these little mishaps occured!

I wish I'd taken pictures of my Mom baking pizelles, but I was too busy eating them to stop and grab the camera. Soon I will need to post photos of my Dad and my niece Angela making tender, delectable homemade pasta. For now, here is a photo of the finished product. I wish I had some right now!



Happy 2008 to one and all!

Spread the Biscotti Love

Wow. I got to work this morning and found a note on my desk from a friend of a friend, someone whom has long been a fan of my baked goods (which is funny because I am SO not a baker!) and who, at one point, had offered to help me turn my granola-making hobby into a business.

But you know how life is.... we get busy, we get distracted, we get lazy... so I never really gave it another thought. After much consideration, I decided that production baking wasn't for me, and that I'd rather just bring people little bags of goodness when the mood strikes, and be thrilled by their happy responses, like this one, in response to my dark chocolate cranberry hazelnut biscotti ...

"Dear Val,

I am by far the most critical person I know. Especially when it comes to food, I have a very, very specific way I envision things. I analyze every minute detail, every aspect of asthetics, presentation and consumption, and when I find any disagreeable detail it is commented on with tactless disdain. So it is a wonder that I continue to fall in love with your baked goods. They are, simply put, flawless. Your biscotti met all criteria and far beyond, they are a catalyst for content. Perfect texture when dipped in tea, just the right amount of chocolate to keep the palette interested and excited, not too sweet, and certainly not a burden on the conscious after three or four. How foolish I am to have not prioritized helping you get your products on the market shelves; everyone deserves to appreciate a product made with so much love. Again, if you feel you can use me in any way, I will do my very best to help. Bravo!"

So yeah, no production baking for me. Just little bags of joy. Speaking of which, I gotta get back into the kitchen now...!

More Fun with Preserved Lemons

Oh, how I love preserved lemons.

I'm not even sure how to describe their amazingly fragrant, sweet and tart and salty and super-lemony flavor. If you made lemon perfume, it might smell the way these taste. I find them to be a complete delight to the senses. Preserved lemons are frequently used in Moroccan cooking, and contrary to what your intuition might tell you, it's only the rind that is used.

It isn't that difficult to preserve lemons; just takes a little advance planning and some patience!

First, get yourself a nice sized jar with a tightly fitting lid; I like to use a jar that's about the size of a big mayonnaise jar. You'll want to boil a big pot of water and very carefully use tongs to drop both the jar and the lid into it to sterilize them for a minute or two. Using the tongs, pull them out and set them onto a clean rack to dry.

Now you'll need to prep your lemons. You'll need not only enough lemons to fit into the jar, but you'll need a whole bunch of extra lemons to juice, because you'll need enough juice to completely cover the lemons.


Start by scoring several slices into the rind of each lemon, being careful to only slice into the skin and not go all the way into the flesh. You want the whole lemon to remain intact.

Next, you'll want to take some nice coarse kosher or sea salt, and pack it into the spaces where you just made the scores. Pack in as much salt as you can, and place each lemon into the jar.

At this point, I like to add a cinnamon stick, a smattering of whole cloves, a few whole black peppercorns, and a few coriander pods. Perhaps you'll like to add these spices also, but you could just as easily leave them out, or improvise with different spices.

Next, you'll want to use a clean utensil to press the lemons down so that they release some of their juices, and then you'll need to pour fresh lemon juice over the whole lot of it, so that the juice completely covers the lemons. You can also add another generous sprinkling of salt at this point.

Now, seal the jar tightly, place it in a cool, dry place, and be patient! It should take about 3 weeks until your lemons are completely preserved. During this time, you should pick up the jar every couple days and turn it and shake it gently.

Don't be surprised it there's pressure build up when you remove the lid, and do use a clean utensil to remove each lemon before you use it. And, make sure to replace the lid tightly when you're done!

These beauties will last a long, loooooooong time in your fridge if left to do so, but duh... they won't last because you'll be using them all the time!


To use preserved lemons, remove a lemon and rinse it gently. Cut off the rind and discard the flesh. Chop the rind finely. It adds dazzling flavor to any dish, and here are a few suggestions:

Add a sprinkling of preserved lemon to a salad of steamed beets with olive oil, lemon juice and goat cheese. Add some to a stew with chic peas and chard. Make a Moroccan tagine with chicken or lamb, and add preserved lemons and green olives. Stir a little bit into some basmati rice and top with a sprinkling of fresh mint....get the picture??

How sad is it that I'm writing this posting with NO preserved lemons in my kitchen?? I guess I know what I need to do this week!

A Bedtime Story about Wild Fermentation and Biscotti

The last three days have been so action-packed with music and food and deliciousness that I couldn't begin to summarize it all in one posting. Probably not even in two postings. But alas, we've gotta work with whatever little bits of inspiration & motivation we've got, and right now, sleep is calling so...

... I'll just rattle off the highlights, in no particular order: A chamber chorus concert! A totally kick-ass, hands-on workshop on wild fermentation, with a live soundtrack by a great band playing Eastern European music! A marathon biscotti making session in my own sunny kitchen, led by yours truly, with a little help from a few friends and a steaming pot of mulled wine! My cup runneth over and I find myself unable to stop using exclamation points!

I love people who aren't afraid to get their hands all covered in chocolate, and who don't mind that I am geekily stopping to take pictures every five minutes.

And I really love a man who isn't afraid to get beet juice on his hands.

I love pretty aprons and lovely women adept at the fine art of glazing.

I love the way raw vegetables get transformed into something new and altogether different, not unlike the way two simple chords can be transformed into a classic song like Merle Haggard's The Bottle Let Me Down .

I love to experience the way flour and chocolate and nuts and fruit and eggs and sugar turn into this...

... then this...

... and finally this:

I love my happy kitchen, and all that comes to life in it.

But I also love my bed, and that's where I'm headed now, with a full belly and a grateful heart.

The End.

Restaurants Galore

Although my kitchen has been a bit on the quiet side as of late, it's been a great couple of weeks for eating out. In the span of two weeks, I got to eat at three different restaurants I've wanted to try for quite some time now: Colibri Mexican Bistro, Burma Superstar and Cafe Gratitude.

Each place is worthy of its own entry; I ate something at each place that completely delighted me but I'm feeling a little lazy this morning so I'm just going to quickly summarize:

My friend Erik gives Colibri the thumbs up. Erik is from Mexico City and he knows his Mexican cuisine. He's been telling me about this place for awhile and when we finally went there with a posse of people, I felt like a kid in a candy store. Since there were a bunch of us, I got to sample many fine dishes and it was just exquisite. Three words...ok wait, six words...no, ten words. Best carnitas EVER. Best guacamole EVER. Better than Dona Tomas. No shit!

Burma Superstar.... wow! I've been wanting to eat there since I first heard of it three and a half years ago. The Tea Leaf Salad is legendary, and it only took one bite to understand why. Coconut Rice? Oh yes, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. And I can't believe I had to wait 38 years to enjoy the refreshing combination of beer with ginger and lemon. Who knew? I didn't, but now I do.

And then there's Cafe Gratitude. I must say that the vibe of the place is far too crunchy for me, and I just can't say the names of the dishes without smirking... i.e. "I Am Extra Giving" (Asian kale-sea veggie salad), "I Am Divine" (Fiery Carrot Avocado Soup), "I Am Elated" (Special live Enchiladas)...BUT, the food really IS divine and dazzling (not unlike the company with whom it was shared!). We're talkin' fresh, mostly raw, organic, flavorful, healthy and beautifully presented.

So, my fridge is empty and I am a little on the broke side, but I am happy and well fed. No complaints here!

Welcome to December

I nearly made it to 50,000 words in November. I came so damn close that it's laughable that I didn't finish those last 300 words. But alas, it was a good experience. I think I may have purged some demons, and while it wasn't exactly fun, and it definitely was not a novel by any stretch of the imagination, it was a worthwhile experience.

But man, am I excited to get back to regular blogging, so don't give up on me, dear readers! There's so much to report - like the fact that I learned how to make beer recently... a dream come true! 'Tis the season for baking and roasting vegetables and making soup and hunkering down with the heat cranked with a big pot of mulled wine on the stove, oh yeah!

So truly, more is coming soon. In the meantime, won't you enjoy this little bit of shameless self-promotion? I promise I'll be back real soon with pics of the beer making process, and much, much more....

Quinoa Risotto on the Fly

Aw yeah, I love those kitchen gods and goddesses. Tonight was one of those “Shit-I’m-hungry-what-the-hell-could-I-possibly-throw-together-with-what-I-have-in-the-house?” kind of nights…the kind of night that also occurs in the midst of my frantically trying to complete my cranking out of 50,000 words this month (and happily I am up to 43,351 as of this very moment!).

So there I was, starving and in a hurry. And then this magical recipe happened. And while I am surely not the first to make quinoa risotto, I was darn pleased with the results, cause I don’t usually whip up things like this without lots of planning and grocery shopping.

Here is how I did it, and I have to give credit to my dear friends Steve Lucky and Miss Carmen Getit for recently bestowing me with a fat bag of dried porcini mushrooms – a key ingredient in this recipe!

First, I sautéed half a yellow onion in some olive oil with a little slab of butter. While that was sautéing, I dry-toasted the quinoa in a separate pan (don’t forget to rinse your quinoa well, boys and girls!).

While the two skillets were doing their respective thangs, I soaked a fat handful of said dried porcinis in hot water. Then after about 10 minutes, I took the porcinis out of the water (being careful to reserve the water!) and coarsely chopped them and added them to the onions, along with a couple splashes of Madeira wine. That sautéed for a few minutes and when the onions and mushrooms were golden brown, I added the toasted quinoa, plus the reserved mushroom water (about enough to cover the quinoa by an inch or so) and a fat splash of half & half. Topped it with a couple sprinklings of fresh grated nutmeg, and brought to a boil. Then I lowered the heat to a mild simmer, put a lid on it and ran back upstairs and typed another couple hundred words, because I heart multi-tasking and I am insane!

After about 10 minutes, the liquid had mostly been absorbed and the quinoa was close to being done. At this point I added a couple handfuls of frozen peas and a little more mushroom water. Then I chopped a little bit of aged gouda cheese and added it to the pot, along with a handful of parmesan cheese. Turned up the heat and gave it all a good stir so the cheese would melt. Added salt and pepper, scooped it into a bowl and devoured it as I wrote these very words you are reading.

I am really digging this because it’s rich tasting but not as heavy as risotto made with Arborio rice, and it’s exactly the kind of comfort food I was craving tonight. And it's high in protein, too. It’s nice when this sort of magic happens. Thank you, kitchen spirits.

And On That Note...

My recent obsession with Merle Haggard inspired a friend to buy the 4 CD Box set. This friend was kind enough to pass along this little quote from Merle:

"Probably the happiest moments of my life have been on stage, playing music. I can be living a life with all kinds of problems, but when I step on stage, everything is left behind. The stage is kind of a refuge for me, and it always has been. Over the years, I've climbed inside my music when things went wrong. I still do that. My music is where I really live."

Beautifully put, Merle. And yeah, I second that notion.

I can remember a time around two years ago when I was in the midst of every kind of pain. My body hurt and my emotions were raw and my will was slipping and I seriously did not know how I was going to find my way out of it. I had a gig that evening and I spent many hours that day crying, the kind of sobs that just take over your body. And it seemed the longer I cried, the more tears I found I needed to shed. I was utterly inconsolable. And the hours passed and my eyes grew more swollen and I felt like there was no fucking way I was going to be able to make it to this gig, to get on stage and act like a normal person.

But somehow, I managed to put ice packs on my eyes to get the swelling to go down, and with a little help from my friends, I was able to drag myself to the show. Cause the show must go on, after all!

And once I got there, I swear that I went from sitting at a table feeling wrecked with pain, to on stage singing and completely transformed. For that 40 minutes that I was up there singing, every bit of pain left me. It's like I became someone completely different than the person I had spent the whole day being. Very cool, and something that I've noticed happens to me almost every time I am on stage. Climbing inside the music, indeed. That Merle knows a thing or two about living.

Perfection is Two Chords, an Empty Bottle and a Broken Heart

This song has been floating around my consciousness for the longest time now, and I finally found the impetus to learn it, thanks to my friend Berge. The song is the classic hit by Merle Haggard "Tonight the Bottle Let me Down". Berge busted it out at our little friend Monique's first birthday party last week, along with Lucio, our friends Steve & Patsy (parents to the lovely Monique) and a few others.

Berge played this song and I thought "... my God, I've been wanting to learn that song FOREVER...", and I must have said as much. And Berge said (or rather, exclaimed in amazement) "...It's TWO CHORDS...!" which I had never actually considered. The song is a BONA FIDE CLASSIC HIT, one of the greatest country hits of all time in my opinion, and it is so very simple in both its sentiment and its structure. So simple and painful and funny and just cutting straight to the heart. It's everything I love in a song.

Tonight I learned how to play it and now that I have, I don't know how I can possibly leave it off my next album, which will be all covers. I can hardly wait to start recording it even though I'm not quite ready yet. But the holidays are coming and time seems to speed up right about now. So I'm sure the time to record will be here before I know it.

In the meantime, you'll probably find me hunched over in my chair with my guitar in my arms singin' this:

The Bottle Let Me Down
Merle Haggard


D
Each night I leave the barroom when it's over
A7
Not feeling any pain at closing time
A7
But tonight your memory found me much too sober
D
Couldn't drink enough to keep you off my mind

CHORUS:
D
Tonight the bottle let down
A7
and let your memory come around
A7
The one true friend I thought I'd found
D
Tonight the bottle let down

I've always had a bottle I could turn to
And lately I've been turning everyday
But the wine don't take effect the way it used to
And I'm hurting in an old familiar way

CHORUS

Tonight the bottle let me down...

Novel Writing, Chicken Roasting, and the To-Do List.

Note to self (and anyone else out there who may be reading this):

Blogging is fun. Writing songs is fun. Listening to music is fun. Playing music is fun. Roasting chicken is fun. Attempting to write a novel is not fun. Not even close.

Yeah so lest you may think that I've gotten swallowed up by this "novel" thing, I'm here to dispel some myths (and also procrastinate on actually attempting to up my word count). So far, I've written 15,364 words. I'm pretty sure that most of them are shit. It started out as a novel with a very, very vague theme that could not even be called a plot. And it morphed into some character sketches, and morphed again into not even a novel, not even fiction, just me blathering on and on and on about what a stupid idea this was in the first place.

My attention span is short. Songs are short. Blog entries are short. Novels are long and I am not one of the people who writes them. Do you follow me? I hope so cause I lost myself a couple of lines back. I was busy obsessing over roasting chickens and making a to-do list that looked something like this:

1. Learn how to roast chicken; investigate vertical roasting racks.
2. Clean and organize office.
3. Write 3,000 words today.

So tonight I logged on to write a few words about roasting chicken and my new vertical roasting contraption that kicks ASS (and of course, roasting chicken was the only thing on my to-do list that I came close to accomplishing today!).

And then I discovered this blog. And I perused it and I laughed and laughed and laughed as my chicken in pomegranate molasses roasted away in the oven. I made mental note to write more about that later. I made mental note to get back to the actual things on my to-do list.

I laughed and laughed as I looked around my office which is filled with piles and microphones and toy keyboards and amplifiers and sequined dresses and cowboy boots and speaker cables and scraps of paper with phone numbers, lyric bits, song arrangements, recipes, notes that say things like "taxes!", "pay attention!", "prescription" "swim" and "back up files!".

I laughed at all the lists that I have made only to discover them six months later under a pile of "things that I've been meaning to attend to". I remembered a book called "The Power of Focus" that my dear sister gave me a couple years ago, which I would frequently misplace and occasionally rediscover under one of those insidious piles.

So much for my focus. So much for my novel. I don't care. The chicken is just about ready to come out of the oven, the house is warm and smells intoxicating, and tonight, that's enough for me.

We Interrupt our Regular Programming to say...

... "pardon me, I'm writing a novel...!".

Did you know it's National Novel Writing Month? Well, it is, and, however badly, I am participating. So forgive the meager postings this month. I've just finished more than 9,000 words in 6 days. 9,000 words that so far, I'm not planning to share with a soul.

Don't ask me why I've felt compelled to write a novel. Or if you do, I'd tell you it has something to do with pushing myself beyond my comfort zone and trying out a different medium. I'd also tell you that so far, it's not all that satisfying to be writing the things I've been writing.

And, if pressed, I might also tell you that I'm going to continue in spite of this, and that once I reach the fifty-thousandth word, I'm going to print it and throw the pages one by one into my fireplace and watch them burn. And I am never going to look back.

Ha ha, I might tell you these things, or I might not. I might tell you that it's all fiction and that I have no idea how I've come to find this voice that I've found myself writing in. It's a strange and uncomfortable place to find myself, but this is where I am. And, like our old pal Forest Gump, "that's about all I have to say about that right now...".

Canned Enchilada Sauce? We Don't Need no stinking Canned Enchilada Sauce!

I recently made enchiladas for a client who is not big on enchiladas, and made a believer out of her!

The actual enchilada recipe is the wickedly good one from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, featuring a savory, slightly sweet, velvety mixture of goat cheese, toasted pine nuts, golden raisins and sweet corn.

The sauce however, is my own creation, and it got rave reviews so I thought I'd post it. It takes a bit of work but it's worth it. Bring your patience and your spice grinder, and of course, your appetite!

First, take about 6 fat cloves of garlic and don't peel them. Heat up a dry skillet.

Roast the garlic in the pan until it's blackened all over. Then let it cool and peel it. Throw it into the food processor or blender.

Now, roast these spices, one at a time, in the same hot skillet:

-about 1 1/2 t. cumin seeds
-about 1/4 t. black peppercorns
- about 1/4 t. whole cloves

Take the spices and grind them, one at a time, in a spice grinder (or very clean coffee grinder).

Now, pour the spicy goodness into the food processor where your garlic is waiting.

Now, add some ancho chile powder (as much or little as you like, depending on heat - I used about 1 teaspoon) and a pinch or two of dried oregano.

Now pour in a teeny bit of water or vegetable or chicken stock, just enough to wet it so it'll make a paste when you process it.

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a sauce pan and scrape the paste into the pan and stir constantly for a few minutes. Doesn't that smell good?!

Now you're ready to add a little more stock (maybe about a cup) and one 14 oz. can of tomato sauce (I like Muir Glenn organic).

Simmer for a little while to blend flavors, add salt to taste and if you like it more spicy, add more ancho chile powder.

It's a little time consuming, but very good! I advise making a double or triple batch and freezing what you don't use.

Enjoy!