Turn to Chocolate

I love it when the food theme lends itself perfectly to a musical theme. Today's theme happens to be Turn to Chocolate. Because truly, that's what I did. It was only about 80 degrees outside but I HAD TO BAKE BROWNIES. It was a bit of an obsession because I've had this bar of Green & Black's organic dark baking chocolate just waiting, sitting on the counter taunting me. Each night I would look at that bar of chocolate and want it to magically become a plate of brownies, but each night I found myself too exhausted to do anything about it.

But then there was today, a day when I went into work before dawn and finished my day shortly after lunch time, and I knew that today was the day to transform that bar of deliriously dark chocolate into something even more sublime....something I could sink my teeth into. So that when tonight rolled around, all I'd have to do was eat it, piles be damned. Tonight I needed a little comfort of the chocolate variety, and let me tell you, these brownies did the trick.




But wait! Turn to Chocolate happens to also be the name of an album by one of my favorite local bands, She Mob. And how lucky am I that I actually get to KNOW this band, and sometimes sing with them? This is a band that I like to listen to LOUD, a band that delivers catchy, heavy, funny, rocking songs. A band that I like to listen to sometimes when I'm not feeling quite right and I don't know what I need - their music just comes rushing in to comfort me in some strange way - kind of like chocolate can do.



And so, I turned to chocolate because like I said, I couldn't resist that bar of dark baking chocolate any longer, and I was happy to spend some time in the kitchen, my favorite room in the house.

I'm particularly happy about these brownies because I used more or less my own recipe, albeit one that is based upon several other recipes I've seen. I did quite a bit of adapting in order to utilize my entire bar of dark chocolate, no more, no less. It irks me that some recipes call for amounts of chocolate that don't happen to coincide with the amounts that are in the packages that I buy. For instance, this bar of chocolate was 5.3 ounces. I found various recipes that called for 8 ounces, or 3.5 ounces, but I wanted to use only the 5.3 ounces that I had on hand. So I did some adapting and this is what I came up with. Also I should caution you that these aren't the sweetest brownies you ever tasted - they are intensely chocolate-y though, and that's exactly how I like it. Most recipes that I found called for as much as 2/3 to a whole cup MORE sugar than my recipe. If crazy amounts of sugar float your boat, then go ahead and increase the sugar.

Put the oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan and if you like, line the pan with parchment paper.

Set a heatproof bowl over a small pot of barely simmering water, and into the bowl, add 2 sticks unsalted butter plus 5 ounces (or 5.3 ounces as the case may be) dark baking chocolate (don't use unsweetened!). Stir occasionally until it's all melted and smooth.

In a small bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder.

In another bowl, whisk together 4 large eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Then whisk into this mixture 1 1/3 cup sugar.

Now pour the liquid chocolate mixture into the egg and sugar mixture, and when it's well mixed, slowly add the flour mixture, and then finally, add 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about 40-45 minutes. At this point, the brownies will be gooey in the middle, and cakey on the outside. You can bake them for a little longer if you want them to have a more cake-like texture.




Cool the brownies completely (if you can wait that long!) on a wire rack. Cut them up and try not to eat too many before bed, unless you really don't want to sleep!

Citrus-scented Yogurt

Sorry for the lack of postings as of late. The process of battling the piles continues to consume me, so I haven't spent as much time in the kitchen recently as I would like. But the good news is, the piles are shrinking, even if they aren't shrinking as quickly as I'd like.

Not only have I been battling piles, but I've been battling the anal-retentive control freak in me (did I mention she's impatient too?) that wants EVERYTHING PERFECT NOW. Ha - good luck with that! Anyway I came across this recipe for citrus-scented yogurt and thought someone out there might appreciate it. It makes a great topping for fruit or granola or french toast or pancakes, and it's quick and easy to make, a bonus for impatient types like me! Obviously you can double or triple the recipe as you see fit.

Add to 1 cup plain yogurt:

1 teaspoon grated orange or lemon zest, or a combination of the two

A drizzle or two of honey or maple syrup

A very light sprinkling of cinnamon and/or fresh ground nutmeg

Stir it up, and now you're ready to serve it.

If by chance you find yourself feeling a little bit patient, you can first drain the yogurt in a layer or two of cheesecloth over a fine mesh strainer for 30 minutes before adding the goodies. This will create a thicker, creamier consistency.

Everything Will Be Just Fine, as Long as We Stay in the Kitchen

Yeah, I'm moving. Leaving the Fruitvale Mansion (as I like to call it) behind. I'm going to miss the place, and I'm especially going to miss the kitchen. But the thing is, in recent months, the kitchen became totally infested with mice. Stubborn, ever-present mice. Mice that wouldn't leave despite my best efforts to humanely show them the door. I couldn't bring myself to kill them, and so I just left.

Ok, that's not entirely true. I left because the time has come to share a home with the one I love, and I'm mostly ecstatic about that. It's just that when you reach a certain age and you have two people attempting to combine their two homes into one home, suddenly, said home seems tinier than you ever imagined, and you find yourself wondering how on earth you're going to make this thing work. So if you're like me, you just make sure that the kitchen is the first thing you unpack, so at least you can still eat very well despite the chaos that is all around you.

But, I digress. I was planning to move anyway, just perhaps not as soon as this. But it's no fun living with mice, never mind cleaning up after the little vermin. It kind of takes the joy out of being in the kitchen. So I haven't cooked anything in the old kitchen for months. I started living in the new place awhile ago; I just didn't get around to moving all the rest of my stuff until this weekend.

What I should have been doing tonight was unpacking and organizing, but how can a person unpack and organize without the sustenance of a delicious meal? So instead of dealing with this....

...I tried out a recipe that has long been lingering in my recipe binder for a Mediterranean fish stew, courtesy of none other than Emeril Lagasse. I adapted it slightly by adding potatoes when none were called for, and using lemon zest instead of orange zest, and all I have to say is, screw the piles in the living room. This stew was absolutely reason enough to blow off the piles, and the recipe made enough to sustain us through the next several days while we're attempting to shrink the piles before they swallow us up. 

I'd much rather enjoy this beautiful and lively combination of saffron, crushed red pepper, fish stock, white wine, tomatoes, fennel, halibut and shrimp than try to figure out how and where things should go.  The piles will still be there tomorrow, but tonight I really needed to enjoy myself in the kitchen.


You might call this denial, but what did you say?  I couldn't hear you over the stereo and all my chopping and slicing and dicing, and besides, I'm intoxicated by the aroma of the stew, so intoxicated that I keep switching tenses in my writing.  Oh wait, maybe it's the wine that made me that way.  Who cares?  Just make this stew some time.  It'll make you the hit of the party or it'll make you forget the chaos that lies in waiting merely one room away. 

Here's how to do it:

In a large soup pot, saute over medium-low heat for about 6-8 minutes: 1 onion, thinly sliced, 2 celery ribs, sliced thin on the diagonal, and 8 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed. When the onions are soft, add 1/3 cup white wine, 3 pinches saffron, 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, the juice of 1 orange, a couple of thin strips of orange or lemon zest, 3 tablespoons tomato paste, and 8 cups fish stock. Bring to a simmer, and cook, uncovered, for about 45 minutes or until the stock is reduced by about one third.

At this point, add 1 bulb of fennel, cored and sliced thin, plus about 6-8 small red potatoes, quartered, and 1 cup of diced, peeled and seeded tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper, and cook about another 20 minutes or until the fennel and potatoes are tender.

Take about a pound of halibut and season with salt and pepper, and dice it into chunks that are about an inch or so. Peel and devein about a half pound shrimp. Add all of this to the pot, along with a small handful of chopped parsley, and cook just until the fish is done, which should take about 5 minutes.

Bon Appetit!

Maniacally Unhinged, Supremely Talented

Here's a cool article on the front page of this week's East Bay Express, and it's all about the Immersion Composition Society. I've been participating in ICS since 2002, and it has truly transformed my creative process in regards to songwriting. The Express article goes into great detail about what ICS is and how it works, but in a nutshell, a bunch of songwriters choose a day, get up in the morning and write and record as many songs as possible, and then meet up that very same evening to listen to the fruits of each person's labors. It's nutty, it's fun, it's sometimes terrifying, and completely liberating. No more waiting for inspiration to strike! No more excuses! You get up, you get to work, and somehow although you have no idea what it is you're supposed to be creating, the most fantastic things manage to spill out of your subconscious. Granted, a lot of crud leaks out too, but the theory goes that in the midst of quantity, eventually there's gotta be some quality too. And one of the cool things about ICS is that the participants aren't there to judge or critique. It's a very supportive environment.

Although my ICS sessions have been very few and far between over the last couple years, at a certain point in time I was doing it so frequently that I managed to write over 250 songs in a period of a couple years (granted, not all of them were good, or even listenable, but hell, I got more good songs written in those years than I would have otherwise!). God, I miss those days. I'm just about ready to kick myself in the butt and start doing ICS sessions again so I can write some new material. But in the meantime, I'll play a very small handful of those 250 songs as one of the many performers at Friday night's show at the Uptown, featuring a whole slew of ICS participants. The concert is presented by the Budget Cinema Suicide Mission, and is a benefit for local filmmaker Annmarie Piette, who's doing a documentary about creativity and the brain, featuring a segment about ICS. If you can't make it to the show, do check out the Express article - it's a very worthy read. I love the author's reference to ICS participants as "maniacally unhinged, supremely talented"! It turns out I am lucky to know quite a few people who fit that description.

Garlic Toast w/ Goat Cheese and Tomatoes

There's no special story to go along with this recipe, and in fact it's not so much a recipe as it is a guide, but no matter what you call it, the end result makes for a delightful appetizer in the summer, all the more attractive and tasty when you use heirloom tomatoes. And it goes something like this:

First, make the garlic toast. Slice a baguette or some italian bread, and brush with olive oil. Take a fat clove of garlic and peel it and smash it with your knife, and rub the garlic onto each slice of bread. Now turn the slices over and do the same thing to the other side. Toast the bread slices in the toaster oven or in your plain old oven on a cookie sheet, but be careful not to toast or bake for too long, or you'll end up with extra toasty toasts, like I did! They're still good that way cause they're extra crunchy, but some might aim to make them a little more on the perfectly golden brown side.

While the bread is toasting, slice up a few tomatoes. You can use heirloom tomatoes, romas, or even super sweet cherry tomatoes, in which case, you'd just cut them in half. Put the tomatoes on a plate, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil, and top with slivers of fresh basil.



Once the garlic toast comes out of the oven, smear each slice with a dab of goat cheese. I'm fond of Redwood Hill fresh chevre, but you could also use fresh mozzarella, or thin shavings of parmesan, or whatever suits your fancy.


Next, top each slice of cheesy toast with a tomato slice, or a half a tomato slice, as the case may be.





Eat, enjoy, repeat. Try to save room for dinner, which could prove to be difficult.

The Art of Simple Food and Camping

I want to be one of those really sturdy types of people who simply THRIVES in the outdoors, but the truth is, I find it a little challenging. All that dirt! All those crazy yahoos camping way too close to our camp site as they knock back cheap beer after cheap beer, followed by the sound of a sorority girl puking not too far from our tent - kind of a buzzkill! And then there was the constant soundtrack of classic rock blaring from the neighboring campers...I mean, whatever happened to campfire songs under the stars? HOW ON EARTH IS ONE SUPPOSED TO FOCUS ON THEIR SCRABBLE GAME STRATEGIZING WITH THE NEIGHBORING CAMPERS SITTING ON THEIR DAMN WHOOPEE CUSHION REPEATEDLY???




If we wanted dirt and noise pollution, we could've stayed in Oakland and camped in the back yard! But what can you do but make the best of it? We played a lot of Scrabble under the light of the moon, we splashed in the Russian River with two dogs, and we made ravioli with cherry tomatoes and fresh basil using our brand new camping stove. And we figured out how to set up the tent! And we didn't burn anything down!




It was fun while it lasted, but I could hardly wait to get home and cook something fresh (not to mention, take a shower and sleep in comfort again!). Since I've been enjoying the Alice Waters book The Art of Simple Food so much recently, I decided to enjoy it a little more. Dinner on Sunday night was a frittata with chard and onions, and green beans with almonds, garlic and lemon juice. Another delicious meal.





Simple food really is an art, and I've yet to find anyone who explains this art better than Ms. Waters, so I strongly suggest you add this cookbook to your own collection. I think you'll be glad you did, whether you are a beginning cook or a seasoned pro. I wish I had some suggestions about how to make your next camping experience more idyllic, but I guess I'm not the expert on that matter yet. But I'm determined to keep trying, oh yes I am....

Eat, Drink, Camp

Stumbled upon a couple of interesting articles today, about a couple of my favorite things - food and drink!

I've mentioned Mark Bittman here before; his writing and his recipes have been a great source of inspiration to me and have greatly influenced my food choices as of late. Here is a link to a talk he gave called "What's wrong with what we eat". Good food for thought, as it were.

Boy do I love a good margarita, and oh how I hate a margarita that is slushy, watered down, too sweet, or made with cheap tequila. What can I say, I'm a bit of a snob that way! Here's a good article in today's SF Chronicle entitled Mastering the Margarita, suggesting that there just might be as many opinions about a good margarita as there are brands of tequila. I tend towards the "premium tequila, Cointreau, lime juice and salt" variety, but this article features some recipes that seem worth trying.

And with that, I'm off for a weekend of camping near the Russian River. There won't be fancy food and there won't be margaritas, but with any luck there should be abundant sunshine, bright stars, and the company of a few of my favorite beings. That's my idea of a perfect weekend.

Stuffed Squash with Quinoa Pilaf

Well I'm no Tartine Gourmande, but Bea's recent post inspired me to try out this recipe, and oh, it was delicious. (Note - the recipe I linked to above is actually from 2006, but she referenced it in a posting from last week that included several recipes for stuffed squash.) I made a few modifications, and the recipe lends itself very nicely to using whatever you have on hand. The original recipe called for prosciutto, but I omitted that and added breadcrumbs. I also used a quinoa pilaf instead of the rice that the original recipe called for. I think toasted walnuts or pine nuts would be a good addition to this as well. As always, I say use your imagination and creativity, and use what you have on hand.

Pre-heat the oven to 350.

For the quinoa pilaf, first, dice half an onion and slowly saute it over medium heat in a small bit of butter. If you like, add a teeny sprinkling of brown sugar to help the caramelization process along. When the onions are golden brown, add about 3/4 cup of quinoa and stir it all together for a few minutes. Add a little salt, a little dried thyme, and then add enough stock or water to cover it by about an inch. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, put a lid on it and let the quinoa cook for about 15-20 minutes until the broth is absorbed and the quinoa is tender. Now, stir in about 1/4 to 1/3 cup chic peas.

For the squash: Scoop out the flesh, set it aside and dice it. Cut the kernels off one ear of corn and set aside. Dice one big fat clove of garlic. Heat a splash of olive oil in a medium skillet. Add the garlic and along with it, a small pinch of dried coriander and dried cumin (I like to toast the spices whole and then grind them). Now add the squash and cook for about 5 minutes, and then add the corn and cook for another 3 minutes, and finally, stir in about 1/2 cup sungold cherry tomatoes, cut in half. Remove from heat, stir in 2 or 3 tablespoons breadcrumbs (I used Panko in this case), a light sprinkling of parmesan and a smattering of chopped fresh parsley. Now, combine this mixture with the pilaf, and wow, it's good enough to eat just like this, but trust me, it gets better!

Spoon this delicious stuffing into the squash, place them into a baking pan and drizzle with olive oil. Pour about a half an inch of broth or water into the bottom of the pan. If you find you have extra stuffing left over, place it in a separate baking dish. Top everything with salt and pepper and a little more breadcrumbs and parmesan, and bake for about an hour.

This dish would be especially satisfying in the winter, but here in the Bay area, sometimes summer feels like winter, so this dish was perfect for a day like today, when the sun barely managed to squeeze through the clouds.

My Week in Pictures...

... and a few words. It's been non-stop action for about the last ten days or so. I saw, heard and played tons of music, from improv to country, and I ate a lot too. Oh, did I eat. I even cooked a little.  Too much to write about in great detail, but here are a few highlights:

Finally got to dine at Pizzaiola, courtesy of my fabulous employer.  Oh, that pizza.   Maybe you oughta try it for yourself since words seem to be failing me tonight.

This pasta was so good I had to enjoy it twice.  My friend Adam  made it for me one night, inspiring me to make it later in the week for my sweetie and the lovely Sabine, who adorned our table with this beautiful flower arrangement.

The pasta recipe came from The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters, a book that I've had for awhile but not used nearly enough yet.  The pasta was a very flavorful, earthy combination featuring summer squash, walnuts, buttered cabbage and fresh parsley. 

Adam added toasted breadcrumbs to his version so of course I had to do the same, and fortunately I made a huge batch of it so I get to enjoy it again for lunch tomorrow, which will be here too soon... which is why I can't even stop to tell you about my recording session with Edith Frost... or the amazing set that Joe Rut played tonight at the Bazaar Cafe.... there is more, more, more, but my brain is too tired for many more words tonight, and the land of dreams is beckoning, so off I go until next time. 

A Few Good Blogs

I love reading food blogs as much as I love writing my own (sometimes even more!). Here are a couple that have inspired me recently, and if you're obsessed with food like I am, I bet you'll enjoy them:

First, there's the Gluten Free Girl - you don't have to be gluten free to love this blog. Shauna James Ahern has a way with food and a way with words that flows as beautifully as the photographs she takes. With each posting, you get the feeling you're being invited into her kitchen to share a little slice of her life, and what an inspiring life it is.

Cafe Fernando is a blog I've discovered only recently, and I'm especially fond of the current posting featuring David Lebovitz's recipe for Vietnamese coffee ice cream. Cenk Sonmezsoy resides in, and is a native of Turkey, and his blog features recipes highlighting the cuisine of his homeland, and much, much more. Many lovely photographs and great recipes for delectable baked goods.

Fresh Approach Cooking always features tasty recipes that seem to be simple enough to allow the flavor of the food to shine brightly. And Rachel's writing is funny and unpretentious. I'd love to meet that woman and share a meal knock back a few cocktails.

La Tartine Gourmande is just pure joy. Here again, the recipes are simple enough to highlight the star of the show - the food! But wow, what creative approaches Béa Peltre takes in seemingly all that she does. I love her writing, and good lord, the photographs! The photographs are so stunning. How can you not be in love with food when you look at those gorgeous photographs?

So my friends, next time you find yourself aimlessly surfing the internet or looking for some culinary inspiration, do visit these blogs. I think you'll be glad you did!

Armenian Cucumbers

Armenian cucumbers are in season, and, like so many simple things in life, this makes me very happy.   I'm not even going to post a recipe because my favorite way to enjoy them is to simply eat them whole, one perfect bite at a time.   They are so crisp and refreshing and cool in the heat of summer, and they don't need peeling.   Perfect for those long, hot, lazy summer days...

Summer Fruit Tart

It had been so long since I'd done anything inspiring in the kitchen, that I needed to make up for lost time.   So why not spend half a day and a little too much money making this incredible fruit tart?

I'm not much of a baker, and not all that into things like pies and cakes, but when a co-worker brought this tart into work, I was blown away by the fact that it somehow managed to taste and feel light, which is a perfect thing in the heat of summer.  And of course, I had a new tart pan waiting to be used, so this tart seemed like the perfect thing for a 4th of July barbeque. 

You'll definitely need some patience and some fine, fine music to keep you company in the kitchen when you make this.  My soundtrack of the day was James Brown, and it was a perfect way to pass several hours in my kitchen.  Not to mention that the tart was a huge hit at the barbeque!  Even my highly skeptical french friend, an experienced pastry baker, gave it a thumbs up.

This recipe came from my co-worker's partner, and I think she got it from a magazine called Cuisine at Home.  She suggested using much more lemon juice than the original recipe called for, and I heartily concur.

For the crust, process in your food processor with the pastry attachment:

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (I used a combo of white and whole wheat)

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 t. salt

Minced zest of 1 lemon

Then, add and pulse:

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cubed

1 egg yolk (but be sure to save the white, because you'll use it later)

Pulse until the mixture resembles crumbs.  Don't worry about it holding together, because you're now going to press it into your tart pan.   Make sure to lightly butter the pan, and have the oven pre-heated to 400.   Bake the crust until golden, and cool completely.

Now for the filling, combine:

1 egg white

1/2 cup lemon curd (I used this brand - no preservatives and totally delicious!)

3 whole eggs

In a separate bowl, combine:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 T. cornstarch

pinch of salt

Now mix the flour mixture into the lemon curd mixture and set aside.

Over medium heat, combine:

2 cups milk

1/3 cup honey

Bring the mixture to a simmer, and then slowly mix it into the lemon curd mixture.  Now pour the whole mixture back into the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring almost constantly, until it's thick and bubbly.  This should take less than 5 minutes.

Remove the pot from the stove and:

2 T. butter, cubed

Juice of 1 to 2 lemons, or to taste (original recipe called for juice of 1/2 lemon)

Stir it all up until it's smooth, and pour it into the cooled crust.

Cover gently, making sure not to touch the custard with whatever you use to cover it, and refrigerate and let set for 4 hours. 

Now it's time to make the glaze.  Melt about 1/4 cup apricot jam and whisk in the juice of half a lemon.  Gently glaze the tart and then it will be time to gently scatter the berries over the top of the tart:

1/2 pint fresh blueberries

1/2 pint fresh raspberries

1/2 pint fresh blackberries

Dab the top of the berries with a little more glaze, garnish with sprigs of mint, and it's time to serve!  Do your best not to dig into the tart before it's time to go to the party.  This may be harder than you think!

Kitchen, Sweet Kitchen...

... I have missed you so!

It feels like I've been gone for days and weeks on end, so yesterday it was good to spend the whole afternoon and evening cooking and stuffing myself. I swear, life doesn't feel right if I'm not creating things in my kitchen. Fortunately, life is right again!

After years of carrying around a ragged folder bulging with recipes on scraps of paper of all shapes and sizes, I decided it was time to organize the recipes so that I wouldn't have to sort through several hundred pages in order to find the one damn thing I was looking for. Now, everything is neatly categorized. The "quiche and tarts" section only contains a select few recipes, but upon sorting through them, I remembered that I've always wanted to make this fresh tomato and mozzarella tart with a puff pastry crust. Long ago, I had a tiny sliver of this at my dear friend Ari's house, and the mere thought of it has had me salivating ever since.




You can read about the recipe here, but be forewarned that Cooks Illustrated will ask you to sign up for a free trial membership in order to view the entire recipe. 

And also, be forewarned that this tart is NOT a low-calorie item! So of course, I had to make vegan ice cream for dessert.  Pics and recipe coming soon.

The Taste of Tea

In my last post I mentioned Phil Gelb, a local chef whom I recently spent the day assisting.  While we were chopping and slicing and dicing the day away, Phil made some of the most incredible green tea.  It was soooo smooth, not bitter, just perfectly robust.  I drank cup after cup, which is not something I usually do.  The name of the company that sells it is Cha-no-Aji - The Taste of Tea.

As far as I know, this tea isn't available in stores, so I had to order my own batch immediately!  Well truth be told, I bought it for my sweetie but he's been kind enough to share.  We've been enjoying both the Genmaicha (green tea with brown rice), and the Night Blooming Jasmine.  This is seriously the most fragrant and exquisite jasmine tea I've ever tasted.  I think this tea might transform me from a person who  likes tea into a total tea junkie.

In other news, for the first time in months, I find myself with nothing on the calendar for the next five days except work, and that feels luxurious.  I will finally find myself with time to get back in the kitchen, and hopefully will have delicious things to report about as the week goes on.  For now, I've gotta get back to my tea.

In the Mood for Food

Forgive the meager postings as of late. Besides a couple more attempts at making gnocchi (with some pretty good results, I might add!), I haven't been too creative in the kitchen lately. Since I've recently gone on the debt diet, I've been eating a lot more steamed vegetables, beans & rice. It's not so bad, in fact I'm still eating very, very well. But between being strapped for cash and short on time, there hasn't been a lot of room for fabulous dinner parties in recent months.

That being said, I did get to partake in someone else's fabulous dinner party recently. There was a memorial celebration dinner honoring the aforementioned Matthew Sperry, and I was fortunate to be able to assist the chef, Phil Gelb. Phil's personal chef business is called In the Mood for Food, and he makes the most delicious and beautifully presented vegetarian and vegan food, and it was my pleasure to spend the day with him chopping and slicing and dicing, helping to create a scrumptious, gorgeous meal for a small group of Matthew's family and friends.



The menu featured homemade fettuccine, and would you believe that I've never really made fresh pasta before (I can just hear my Dad scolding me from afar!!!)?

Well I didn't actually make it; I merely did my part to help it dry, but it sure was fun.

Some day, I'll get back to my Italian roots and get obsessed with making fresh pasta.  For now, I'm content to be the one who sprinkles the flour.

       

There was so much good food that night, including a salad of arugula and radicchio with roasted apricots, with a dressing of roasted apricot, basil and miso.
  

I could go on and on, but I have to head straight for dessert: a totally decadent, smooth as silk, dreamy chocolate ice cream - all vegan! I make a lot of ice cream myself and so far have had very limited success with the vegan varieties, but clearly I just hadn't met the right ice cream maker yet, and now I have. I'm still dreaming of this chocolate cupcake with chocolate ice cream and chocolate sauce, made with nary a dairy product in sight.

See, I told you I was still eating well!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, Phil's business name is inspired by the movie In the Mood for Love by Wong Kar Wai, which incidentally, I just saw over the weekend.  What a beautiful film - every set, every scene, just so perfectly perfectly presented and lovely to behold.  Definitely worth checking out.

Thanks for tuning in, folks.   More to come before too long.  I've been working on revising my Second Best Chili You Will Ever Taste to be both vegetarian and made in the pressure cooker, so I hope to be posting about that in the next month or so.   Until next time, cheers!

"The Mouse Went Squeak...

... and pooped in the potty. Poop poop, poopity poop!"

Oh, they just don't write lyrics like that anymore. Or wait, yes they do! Those particular lyrics were written by my friend Lily, who is just shy of three years old. They were written as part of the Treasure Mouth Children's Karaoke event on Saturday, in memory of Matthew Sperry. There was a live band improvising the music, and the kids improvised the lyrics, and I, along with my singing pals in Loretta Lynch, got to sing whatever the kids wrote. Some personal favorite lines, in addition to the brilliant musings on mouse poop, were:

"A: You're beautiful.
B: You're adorable.
C: You're a cup full of charm."

And sometimes, two words are all you need to make a song. In this case, the two words were "HOT BURP".

Also quite compelling was the line "I was born in this hole and I'll die in this hole".

Kids, gotta love 'em!

I never had the good fortune to meet Matthew Sperry personally, but he was and still is loved and dear to many people I know, and I'm sorry I never crossed paths with him. It was truly an honor to be a part of the memorial event honoring his life.

The Nicest Compliment I Ever Got...

So I was gone out of town and away from work for 3 days. Upon my return, my co-worker and friend said "I'm so glad you're back... when you're gone, this place goes to culinary hell!". Aw, thanks Berge!

I DO love that part of my job where I get to go to the grocery store every week and buy all manner of snacks and fresh fruit and beer and wine and strawberry shortcake and fancy cheese... for all of us to enjoy! And it's nice to know that my culinary obsessions do not go unappreciated :)

One of the Many reasons I Love living in California...

... yes, the real estate (even now as prices are dropping) is astronomical, gas is up to $4.25 a gallon, and we could fall into the ocean at any moment. But with beautiful organic heirloom tomatoes like these, I can hardly complain.

You Can't Buy Happiness, but...

... you can drink it!

Ok ok I know that's bad, but honestly, that's on a billboard that I pass every day on my way to work. It shows the Nestle's Quick bunny swilling back the chocolate milk. Drunk with happiness.

Well I was a little drunk with happiness when I recently found myself in Arizona at the Barrio Cafe, sipping the best damn margaritas ever, in the company of my sweetie and one of my oldest, dearest friends, Anita. I mean, the food was quite incredible on its own, but those margaritas were something else. Strong, made with good tequila, and not too sickly sweet. Good stuff.

So much more to report - this is just the tip of the iceberg but alas, the rest will have to wait. I can hardly wait till Sunday, for I have three new gnocchi recipes to try out, so stay tuned for an update about that, and wish me luck!

When You Can't Make it to the Ocean...

... the next best thing is seaweed salad!

Well, some would argue this but it's my blog and I love seaweed salad. So I'm gonna tell you the quick and dirty way to make this beautiful, delicious, super cool and refreshing salad that is not only tasty, but high in nutritional value.

The quick and dirty way is to head over to your local natural foods store and get a package of Soken Sea Vegetable Salad. Open the bag, pour boiling water over it, let it sit for 15 minutes and then drain it.

While the seaweed is sitting there soaking up the water, open a bag of frozen edamame. Cook it in salted boiling water for a couple minutes, and then drain it (make sure you get the kind that's already out of its pod so you don't have to do that part!).

Once you've drained both the edamame and the seaweed, combine them in a bowl, and toss with a little tamari, a little sesame oil, a couple splashes of seasoned rice vinegar, and a few squeezes of lemon. For best results on a blazing hot day, chill the salad completely and serve on cold plates. Serving with cold sake might make it even better!

One Word that is Not Really a Word...

....... Mmmmmmmmmmm!!!


That's my zucchini ricotta tart made with homemade ricotta and a potato crust.  I think I'm gaining another couple of pounds just looking at the photo.  Decadent, yeah.  Delicious indeed.  I think you should just go on out and get Mark Bittman's cookbook and make it yourself. I'm feeling a little lazy and over-fed today, and I do believe this insane burst of hot weather here in Northern California has fried a few of my brain cells. Till next time, I'll just be laying around spritzing myself with cold water, and possibly knocking back a few margaritas to quench the thirst...

Homemade Ricotta

Homemade fresh cheese is so easy... who knew? Not me, but now I do! Thanks, Mark Bittman. Yes, Mr. Bittman is the author of the latest cookbook to cross the threshold of my kitchen: How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. He claims that making fresh cheese is not much harder than boiling milk, and I'm here to tell you, he's right. And I've got the tub of fresh ricotta to prove it.

All you need is some cheesecloth, a strainer, milk, buttermilk and salt. That and some inspiring music cranked on the stereo, wine optional!

First, you bring the milk to a boil in a big, sturdy pot. A half a gallon of organic whole milk is what I used.

Once the milk comes to a boil, add 2 cups of buttermilk and stir constantly. It will separate into curds & whey pretty rapidly (see how it's kind of lumpy looking?) and when it does, remove it from the heat and stir in a generous pinch of salt. Don't be shy with the salt - I was, and consequently although my finished product is delicious, it's not quite as salty as I would like. Next time, I'll up the salt for sure.

Now, place a medium sized strainer in the sink and line it with 3 layers of cheesecloth...

....and pour the milk mixture into the strainer. The liquid will strain out and you'll be left with the solids, and this, my friends, is your very own ricotta! Just leave it there in the sink for about 30 minutes or so, and then it will be done.

How easy is that?  And how good does that look?  Almost as good as it tastes!

Once the ricotta is done, spoon it into a container for safe keeping, but don't put the lid on yet because it will most likely still be warm. Wait to refrigerate until it's completely cool, because you don't want condensation.

And now, just think of all the ways to use your homemade ricotta. Tomorrow, I'm going to make a recipe from the aforementioned cookbook for a zucchini & ricotta tart made with a potato crust. I can hardly wait! With any luck, I'll be reporting back about that very soon.   For now, I think it's about time to collapse into the comfort of my bed.

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...