So Much Soup, Not So Much Song

Tonight I made the most delicious soup, so delicious it thrilled me a little bit. Said soup was the Tom Yum (hot and sour lemongrass) soup from the cookbook Bhudda's Table by Chat Mingkwan, whose subtitle is "Thai Feasting Vegetarian Style". This soup will cure what ails you. It's nicely spicy thanks to the wickedly hot thai chiles, but more than that, it's just perfectly balanced thanks to the combination of fresh lemongrass, shallots, galangal, lime juice and chili paste. I dare say it tasted *almost* as good as a soup you'd get in a real Thai restaurant. I've been feeling pretty good these days but if I should succumb to the winter cold or flu, I know exactly what soup I'll be eating to warm the bones and clear out the sinuses!

I can't even count the number of pots of soup I've made recently. A favorite one that I've made again and again is this Japanese Hot Pot recipe by Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat, featuring the completely addictive combination of kabocha squash, taro root, and both dried and fresh mushrooms, just for starters.

Yes, soup has been coming out of my ears. Soup has been constantly flowing in my kitchen. But what about the song??? I just wish that I could write songs the way I can make soup. I mean, yes, I can follow a recipe, oh boy can I. And much of the time, I can improvise a pot of soup based upon whatever I happen to have sitting around in the fridge. Like last week, I had some cooked blackeyed peas, which I combined with sweet potatoes and yams, coconut milk and spinach and kelp noodles, and it was a bona fide hit. The idea for that soup was inspired by a friend who is recovering from surgery, whom I had signed up to make soup for during her recovery. I was pretty sure that this combination of flavors would appeal to her, and it turns out she loved it. And so did I!

But where songwriting is concerned, it seems that I have found myself in a bona fide SLUMP! I used to write a lot. A lot of it was crap but it turned out that some of it was good. But in the past year especially, I've hardly written any music at all. And it has left me seriously questioning my life as a songwriter and also, feeling pretty out of sorts about it all. And so last weekend I finally pulled my head out of my ass and decided to do something about it. Last weekend I participated, once again, in my lodge's version of the Immersion Composition Society. The short description is that we pick a day, and on that day, we each write AND record as many songs as possible in that given day. And then we meet up that night to play for our cohorts the fruits of our labors from the day. And each time I've done it, even though it has been frustrating and scary and maddening, it's never failed to help me find inspiration I never even dreamed of previously. And more often than not, I've usually ended up with a song or two that was a keeper.

Well last weekend, I had a crisis. I spent a good 8 hours writing and strumming and doing my best to create songs out of thin air. But about halfway through the day, I was seriously distraught. I wasn't coming up with anything that wasn't completely ridiculous or self-indulgent. Or whiny. Or Just.Plain.Lame. I thought to myself that perhaps my life as a songwriter has come to an end. And I wrote page after page of blather. I tried to be kind to myself and tell myself that I just needed to get unstuck and that maybe after being stuck for so long, that it might take awhile to get unstuck. And I alternated those kinds of sentiments with other kinds of sentiments, sentiments that aren't nearly so kind or forgiving. You know... the kinds of sentiments that say forget it, you suck, you'll never utter another interesting word again, and you should maybe just give it up and spend the rest of your days in the kitchen making soup. Because you KNOW how to do that. And honestly, if I spent the rest of my days making soup and not song, life wouldn't be so bad. But the truth is, I'm just not ready to give up the SONG part of me yet. So I'm trying to listen to the kinder parts of myself and making some effort to ignore the not so kind parts, for now anyway.

I am not yet unstuck, but maybe I'm not still completely stuck. Maybe it's a fine, fine line. And so I'm just going to keep chipping away and see where it leads me. It might just lead me straight back into the kitchen, soothing myself with soup or copious amounts of alcohol, who knows? But that thrill that I had when I slurped the first spoonful of tonight's soup... I'd love to have that kind of thrill again after having finished a song, a song that feels good. A song that might make other people feel good, too. Wish me luck, cause I feel like I really need it.

Hello, February!

Drum roll please. I made it through January, and it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. In fact, I came out on the other side of it feeling pretty dang good!

In addition to abstaining from alcohol, I decided to go on a diet. And in order to help with that effort, I managed to engage in some form of exercise for 30 out of 31 days. I did a lot of walking and a lot of yoga. At first I thought the yoga was going to be something I'd have to push myself to do, but it turns out that I'm loving it. I'm loving it so much that now I can't imagine letting a week go by without practicing it at least several days out of the week. Same with the walking, which I've always enjoyed. And since I'm once again walking in the Arizona Breast Cancer 3-Day this year, there's no time like the present to get started with the training, and it feels good!

Of course, it hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows. Some days I couldn't stop dreaming of chocolate cake, even though I've never been a huge fan of such things previously. And even with all of this walking and breathing and stretching, I still have a ton of aches and pains in my back and neck and legs, although it's a lot less than than my usual amount, so for that, I'm happy.

As the month passed, I found that most of the time, I wasn't missing alcohol very much. There were moments when I REALLY wanted a glass of red wine, but those moments passed. Of course, I didn't go out a whole lot last month. I did a lot of staying home and hunkering down, and it felt good.

I learned SO much about calories! Probably more than I'd ever care to know, because now that I know what I know, I can't help but change the way I eat. I'm kind of mourning the former me that had a good run, for something like 38 years or so, of being able to eat and drink any old thing that she wanted in any kind of quantity, and never gain a pound. Yeah, those were some good days! It kind of blew my mind to discover last night, for instance, after making a huge batch of my homemade granola and then analyzing the calories, that one mere cup contains somewhere near 570 calories!!! I guess I won't be inhaling it like I used to.

I also spent a lot of time thinking about my eating habits in general, and came to the conclusion that if I had to choose between eating certain foods and drinking alcohol, as much as I LOVE wine, I'd have to choose the food over the drink. But rather than being restrictive, what I'm hoping I'll take away from all this is the ability to just be moderate and make healthy choices, because in the end, it's all about feeling good. Ok I can't deny that sometimes, stuffing myself like a pig and knocking back half a bottle of wine feels GREAT - in the moment, that is. But this is a different kind of feeling good that I'm experiencing now - sleeping better, more strength in my body, clearer skin, and oh - being able to fit into my pants! I do rather like that benefit.

Of course, moderation has NEVER been my strong point. I've usually tended towards being an all or nothing kinda gal. But I'm going to give this my best shot. And in order to help myself along, my plan for February is that I won't drink alcohol at home (unless I'm having a dinner party). I'll happily have a drink if I'm out to dinner or at a bar (and I hardly ever go to bars unless I'm playing in them so there shouldn't be overwhelming temptation there!). But for today, it turns out I AM going to a bar! And it's a bar that serves pizza so not only do I get to enjoy my first glass of wine of the year, but my first slice of pizza too! It will all happen in about another thirty minutes or so, but who's counting??

Oven Roasted Broccoli

If you've been reading this blog for longer than a year, you may recall that I abstain from alcohol every January. This is my third year, inspired by my honey who's been doing it every January for many years. I haven't found it very hard to do this time around because frankly, I waaaaaay over-indulged in December and by the time the holidays had passed, I was more than ready for a break. This year however, we threw another challenge into the mix. We are dieting!!! I have never successfully dieted in my life. Truth be told, I never needed to until I found myself in my late thirties with pants that mysteriously started shrinking!!! So I tried the Fat Flush Diet for about a week, and found myself feeling constantly bloated and grossed out from eating like five servings of meat per day. I got discouraged and gave up and bought bigger pants. And what's worse, I had stomach problems for a long time to come after that.

Fast-forward a couple of years to the end of this last December, and let's just say that by this point, it wasn't just my ill-fitting pants. I just felt icky. So not only was I ready to stop chugging the wine, I found myself ready to go on a diet.

And here we are, a little over two weeks later, and it's been challenging, but I'm starting to feel pretty good! I'll admit I've been fighting the occasional craving for a gigantic bowl of chocolate ice cream, but in general, I'm not feeling terribly deprived. I'm not really following a diet plan per se, just not eating anything fried or cheesy, and eating tons of vegetables, small amounts of lean protein, and a small amount of carbs. And I'm walking every day and have just started doing yoga twice a week. My obsessive tendencies are working to my advantage, for now at least, but of course the real challenge will be to keep up the healthy habits once January is over!

All of this is a long way of getting to the point of telling you about my new favorite food: Oven Roasted Broccoli!! It's perfect diet food, and just plain healthy - but more than that, it is UTTERLY DELICIOUS!!! It does use a small amount of olive oil so if you're looking for fat-free, I can't help you. But if you want another way to love broccoli, read on. Hell, if you don't even LIKE broccoli, you might try this, because it just might make a believer out of you.

I didn't come up with this idea - I'm sure it exists in some cookbook out there, and that you can find recipes for it on several different blogs, but here is my take on it.

Pre-heat the oven to 425. Take one large head of broccoli. Clean it and use a vegetable peeler to peel off the harder outer part of the stems. Chop it all into bite-sized pieces, and dry it well. Put it into a bowl and toss with a little salt, a light coating of olive oil, a sprinkle of crushed red pepper, about a half a teaspoon of smoked paprika, and several cloves of minced garlic. Spread the broccoli onto a baking sheet and place into the oven and roast for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the broccoli is starting to brown and caramelize. Remove from the oven and stir a little lemon zest into it. The end result will be part tender, a little crisp, both savory and a little sweet, and entirely delicious.

I'm sure that as I keep making it, I'll be playing with the spices. In fact I think it'd even be good with no spices at all. And once the dieting days are over, I'll look forward to topping it with parmesan. But for now, I'm perfectly happy to inhale a whole tray of this stuff just like this. Whatever gets you through the diet, eh??

Habanero Hot Sauce to Warm You in the Winter

This recipe might seem a little out of season, but believe it or not, our wild jungle of a garden is still producing oodles of habanero peppers, and even a few kind of sad looking, but still tasty tomatoes. What's a person to do then, but make habanero sauce? That person would be my honey, and this is his recipe, which is really only for those of you who go gaga over insanely hot heat. Me, I'm not quite that brave, but I do like a little drop of this stuff from time to time and can attest that it is indeed delicious, insanely hot, smoky, and even a little sweet.

The recipe requires that you oven-roast some of your tomatoes first, and you can do that by halving them, laying them out on a baking sheet, drizzling with olive oil and sprinkling with salt, and then roasting at low heat (like 250 degrees) for about an hour or longer, until they are wrinkly and starting to starting to brown. Depending on the size of your tomatoes, this could take more or less than an hour. While you're at it, go ahead and roast some garlic cloves, whole and unpeeled, at the same time, because you'll need for some of the garlic in this recipe to be roasted.

You'll also need to fire-roast your habaneros, which is easily done by putting the peppers on a skewer and holding them over an open flame until they start to blacken and blister. WARNING: THIS STEP WILL FILL YOUR KITCHEN WITH HOT PEPPER FUMES! So you see, you've gotta REALLY love the heat to wanna make this sauce! That, and you might wish to cover your mouth & nose while doing this step, and of course it goes without saying that you'll want to have a lot of ventilation.



Once your roasting is complete, it's time to make the sauce!

Habanero Hot Sauce

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 medium carrots, chopped
12 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
12 roasted cherry tomatoes
Quarter of one white onion, cut into strips
8 fire-roasted habenero peppers, cut in half
3 cloves of roasted garlic, cut in half
2 cloves of raw garlic, peeled and cut in half
Juice of one lime
2 tablespoons white vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Procedure
1. Heat the oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add the carrots and let them cook for about five minutes. Then add to the skillet the onion, tomatoes, habaneros and garlic cloves and cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.




2. Transfer skillet contents to a blender and add lime juice, vinegar and pulse (can add a bit of water, a tablespoon at a time if it’s too thick).



3. Salt and pepper to taste, and make sure you have a glass of water on hand!!

Sliding into 2010

Good Lord, where has the time gone?

I wish I was one of those people who just lives to write, who's every fiber of their being is wired to express themselves creatively. Alas, that's just not me. I love to create, and sometimes I feel I'm even kind of good at it. But sometimes, I'm just lazy. Sometimes, I'm too busy being in the moments to write about the moments, for better or for worse.

And so, months pass. The air grows colder, nights grow longer, and many pots of stew and soup are conjured and warmed up and consumed, and some of them are even worthy of writing about, but nothing is written about them.

Hard life experiences come up, the kind that no one or nothing can really prepare you for. You dig in and push forward one moment at a time and one step at a time, even when you can't see the road in front of you, let alone the final destination. You push forward one moment at a time, one prayer at a time, one miracle at a time. Sometimes you feel like you're pushing forward one battle at a time and one heart wrenching sacrifice at a time. But you try to focus more on the moments that feel miraculous, because those are the only moments that can carry you through to wherever that final destination is supposed to be. You try to keep your eyes on the road, even when you can't see the road.

And then, a white Christmas happens, even if it happens a day or two late. No one seems to mind because you are all just happy and thankful to have this time to be together, snow or no snow.

Pizzelles get baked, all three Godfather movies get watched, the wine and beer are flowing and diets get planned. And before you know it, you're slip sliding into a new year and nearly a new decade (for the new decade really begins in 2011, right?).

That about sums up these last months for me. One moment it was the end of the summer, the next it was Halloween and suddenly and startlingly, the new year is close enough to touch. But I must say I'm looking forward to whatever said new year may hold, ready to let go of this last year and all that it has held, for better or for worse.

So happy new year to you and yours from me and mine, and here's wishing all of us a fruitful and delicious and healthy and inspiring 2010 and beyond.

A Tale of Two Harissas

My latest food obsession is harissa, otherwise known as North African chili paste. In case you are the type who would run screaming after hearing the word "chili", let me assure you that it isn't terribly spicy, unless of course, you want to make it that way. It's more like a little sweet, a little smokey, a little spicy, a little salty, and bursting w/ tantalizing tastes thanks to the spice blend which features coriander, cumin, caraway, mint and lemon. There is a LOT of flavor packed into a teeny dollop, and every molecule of it is heavenly. (I strongly recommend clicking on the "harissa" link above and reading the article "Harissa, mon amour" from the L.A. Times, which describes harissa much more beautifully than I can!)

I recently bought a small jar of the Alili brand harissa, and it was supremely delicious. My honey and I polished off the jar over the span of a mere few days. A spoonful here, a dollop there, and it quickly disappeared. It was so good that I decided this would now be a must-have staple in our kitchen, but at $7.99 a jar, I'd darn well better learn how to make my own! And so today, I did, with a little help from my friends.

I'd been eyeing the harissa recipe in (what else?) Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. But I also sent a request out to my food-obsessed friends on Facebook asking who had an exquisite recipe, and the lovely and multi-talented Jenya sent me a link to this Saveur recipe. I spent the better part of this afternoon making the two recipes side by side, and no offense to Deborah Madison or anyone else, but the Saveur recipe turned out to be the champion.

Both recipes feature dried guajillo and New Mexico chiles, plus garlic, coriander, cumin, caraway seeds, salt and olive oil. But the Saveur recipe also features mint and lemon, and, perhaps more importantly, calls for smaller amounts of all the spices. And somehow, using smaller amounts makes the flavor work better as a whole. Less is more! It's like the difference between a bunch of musicians playing too many notes and stepping all over each other's toes, and, a symphony. Yes, I do believe the Saveur recipe is that good.



I made a couple of slight modifications to the recipe because I didn't have quite enough New Mexico chiles; instead of the eight that it called for, I used four of those plus four California chiles. I must admit, they looked very similar when dried, and I have no idea how it may have altered the taste, but it sure tasted good! Additionally, while the chiles were soaking, I dropped the garlic cloves in to soak as well, in order to take off a bit of that raw garlic edge, for as much as I may love the raw garlic, it doesn't love me back *quite* so much.

Enough blathering - onto the recipe! Long may you enjoy it - I know I'm going to!

8 dried New Mexico chiles, seeded and stemmed
8 dried Guajillo chiles, seeded and stemmed
1/2 t. caraway seeds
1/4 t. coriander seeds
1 t. dried mint leaves
3 T. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
1 1/2 t. kosher salt
5 cloves garlic
Juice of 1 lemon

1. Put the chiles into a bowl and cover with boiling water, letting sit for about 30 minutes or until softened. After about 5-10 minutes of soaking, drop the garlic cloves into the bowl and let them soak along w/ the chiles. If you don't mind your garlic raw, then wait to add the garlic to the food processor later.

2. In a dry skillet, toast the caraway, coriander & cumin over medium heat, shaking the pan constantly, until fragrant. Let cool a bit and transfer to a spice grinder. Add the mint and grind it all to a fine powder. Set aside.

3. Drain the chiles & garlic and transfer to a food processor. Add the ground spices, olive oil, salt, garlic and lemon juice. If you desire more heat, now's the time to add a little cayenne. Puree, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. When smooth, transfer to a clean jar, topping off with more olive oil after each use.

Now that you've got it, what are you gonna do with it?! Here are just a few suggestions - stir it into rice or lentils or chic peas or soup to add another dimension of flavor, or spread it onto bread or crackers. Use it as a rub on whatever kind of meat or fish you like. Add a little plop as the secret ingredient in your chili! You get the idea and I bet you've got a few ideas of your own so if so, please send 'em my way!

Peas by Deborah Madison

Lately I can't stop thinking about soup, and I've been making quite a lot of it. This blog DOES have soup in the name, after all.

So far, I can't take an ounce of credit for any of the recipes, except perhaps, in being able to spot a good one when I see it. And time and time again, I find that Deborah Madison never fails me.

Last night I made her recipe for Yellow Split Pea and Coconut Milk Soup w/ Spinach, Rice and Spiced Yogurt, which you can find on this fine blog. I followed the recipe almost to the letter, except that I used only half a can of coconut milk instead of the full amount, and it was divine. The blend of spices includes ground cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, turmeric, and crushed red pepper in the soup, and paprika, cumin, turmeric and black pepper in the spiced yogurt. The end result is warm, tangy, and so completely comforting. I think this might be my new favorite.

If yellow split peas aren't your thing, Deborah has you covered. You can't go wrong with her recipe for classic Split Pea Soup in her cookbook Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. Here again, a little paprika is used to add a hint of smokiness to the soup, and it works beautifully. That particular recipe uses a nice variety of dried and fresh herbs too. I know I'll be making this one again as the weather grows chillier.

I also stocked up on black-eyed peas recently, and, at the risk of sounding like some kind of deranged chef stalker, once again, Deborah Madison's recipe for Southern Black-Eyed peas, in the same cookbook referenced above, is a keeper. That woman knows how to create spice combinations, and how. This recipe uses ground allspice and chipotle powder. It's dynamite. I can't recommend Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone highly enough.

I'm sure that one day I'll find myself inspired to create my own recipes again, but for now, I'm thoroughly enjoying the recipes that have been created and tested by the pros.

A Radish is Born

Sigh.

Days, weeks, months pass. I keep thinking I should write something. Not just thinking I should, but really wanting to. And yet, summer has turned to fall and soon enough it will be winter, but again and again I find myself staring at the blank page, thinking about things, but not really moved to write.

The cooking has ebbed and flowed. Some nights it's been tacos to go, other nights it's been home baked bread, black eyed peas and slow-cooked greens. It's all been perfect in its own way, but I haven't felt inspired to write about any of it.

There has been a crazy amount of zucchini and gorgeous tomatoes from the garden. One of the coolest things I have experienced in a long time has been growing my own food, and doing it with the one I love. It seems like a simple thing but it feels pretty monumental. The simple and yet monumental experience of growing food and enjoying it and sharing it is what has been getting me through all the things that I don't feel like writing about.

A couple of nights ago, these radishes that were climbing out of the soil felt like salvation.

I don't know what tomorrow will hold or when I will kick my own ass into movement again, and I hate how whiny I sound, but there it is. Fortunately, the garden still grows no matter how uninspired I feel, because I haven't gotten so out of touch that I fail to pay attention to it. The radishes are still growing and so is the chard and the beets and the carrots, and for now, that's enough for me.

Big Food vs. Big Insurance

This Op-Ed piece from a recent edition of the New York Times pretty much sums it up, much more eloquently than I could ever hope to do. Thank you, Michael Pollan for such a well articulated and thought provoking article.

Heaven = Big Sur

Live from Big Sur. This place is so beautiful that it practically restores my faith in the human race and this gorgeous planet that we live on. Somehow mankind hasn't managed to ruin all of it just yet, and I feel very lucky indeed to have finally, finally made it here. How did it take me so long? I'm not sure. But I know that now that I've found this place, I'll be needing to come back again and again and again. Heaven on earth turns out to be a mere three hours from my home in Oakland.

The place that we're staying is like a treehouse in the redwoods. It's so beautiful in an of itself that you could just check in and not even bother to venture out to check out the scenery down below. But oh, you'd be missing out on something amazing if you didn't drive along the coastline and take in the bluest waters, the whitest waves, the clearest skies. It's been a long time since I found myself having my breath taken away like this at every turn, and I have been drinking it in.

Tonight we could have gone out to any number of restaurants with delicious (albeit VERY expensive) menu items to choose from, but we wanted to maximize our time in the treehouse. So we bought some pasta and an onion and some garlic, and used it, along w/ the goat cheese & aged gouda we'd brought from home, and the passel of ripe, juicy tomatoes from our garden, to make a perfectly delicious dinner to enjoy on a hot, hot summer night in a treehouse way up in Palo Colorado National Forest above Big Sur. And it knocked our socks off.

If it seems like goat cheese and aged gouda are a weird combination, just have faith. Think of the aged gouda as if it were parmesan, which you could certainly use if you so desired. But we just used this cause we had it, and it worked beautifully.

This is more of a guide than a recipe.

First, dice half an onion. Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Pour some olive oil into a skillet and slowly saute' the onion with a little salt. Keep it over low heat and stir it occasionally while you're chopping the tomatoes. I used about a dozen cherry tomatoes cut in half, plus three whole tomatoes diced into bite-sized pieces. Then I chopped four large cloves of garlic.

After a little while of cooking the onions, they started to slowly turn golden and soft. I splashed a little red wine into the skillet and kept stirring. I probably would have used balsamic vinegar, but didn't have any, so just used what I had on hand. Kept stirring occasionally over low heat.

Meanwhile, I tossed a small handful of the raw tomatoes into a big serving bowl along w/ a splash of olive oil and a little bit of goat cheese, the creamy kind.

Once the pasta was added to the boiling water, I added the garlic to the onions and kept stirring for a few minutes, then added the remaining tomatoes.

About ten minutes later, when the pasta was done, I added it to the bowl with the raw tomatoes & olive oil & goat cheese. Then I stirred in the skillet full of tomatoes, onions & garlic. And added salt & fresh ground pepper, a little more goat cheese, and a topping of the grated aged gouda. And it was heavenly. The perfectly heavenly meal while visiting heaven on earth. I can hardly think of anything better.

Story of an Artist by Daniel Johnston

Weeks, months fly by. I just got back from a week in Ohio hanging w/ my parents, soaking up the humidity, making pot after pot of soup, and cherishing every moment spent.

The video I'm posting here is apropos of nothing, but tonight, this song came up on my I-tunes and it just slayed me. Split my heart wide open. And I had to share.

Luckily, I've spent much of my life feeling very supported in my attempts to be an artist. But even despite that, I've had moments where I felt like this. I bet that more than a few of you out there can relate.

How My Garden Grows

I don't know how it's possible that it took me 40 years to become excited about gardening, but I am so thrilled to have finally arrived at this place. I know that to many people out there, having a garden is just second nature, and I've always admired those kinds of people, although I never thought I would be one. Some people who've known me for many years have been known to refer to me as "the black thumb", because I was too lame to keep even a basic houseplant alive. But I guess that lameness was something left behind in the dirty thirties, because now, I've got a garden, and it's growing and thriving!

I've never tasted a cucumber as good or as sweet and crispy and bursting with freshness as the ones I've been delightfully picking from the garden lately.

And the tomatoes are plumping up and growing redder by the day, and the zucchini have already become challenging to keep up with, but that is absolutely no problem in my book, because I never tire of zucchini!

The chard is recovering and the arugula is perfect for the picking. The lettuces overflow and the herbs have grown wildly, calling out to be made into herb butter and pesto and salsa verde.

The peppers are still tiny but seem to be making good progress.

And every day, I am so tickled to watch it all grow. And I'm very thankful to my honey for being motivated enough to get us to the gardening store a couple of months ago so we could get everything planted, and for showing me the steps needed to make things flourish and thrive... I mean, it seems so simple now - you just have to plant the seeds, provide water, expose to sunlight, pull the weeds, and pay a little attention. But for some reason, that process always felt like a mystery to me in the past. I'm glad to say that those mystery days are behind me, and am totally excited to discover what other treats I'll have the good fortune to grow as the seasons pass.  And I must say that the whole experience is very good medicine for me at this particular point in time, and for that, I am even more thankful.

Been a Long Time Since I Rock & Rolled...

.... well actually, that's not true. But it feels like it's been awhile since I've rocked & rolled in the kitchen, but boy howdy, tonight I made up for lost time. And now I shall attempt to quickly fill you in on tonight's highlights.

1. My favorite new simple spicy cole slaw recipe - just in time for BBQ season!






2. Padron peppers, do you know them? Do you worship them like I do?!



3. A quick little recipe for roasted corn & cherry tomato relish, great as is, or as a topping for roasted fish.



Yeah I know that's a lot to cover, but like I said, I'm making up for lost time! And compensating for future laziness!

So first, let's talk cole slaw. I am addicted to this simple, fiery, bright & summery recipe, which owes a lot to an Alice Waters take on the same dish.

First, you thinly slice your cabbage. I like the plain old green variety. I also toss into the bowl some thinly sliced red onions, a generous amount of fresh chopped italian parsley (from the garden!!) and a couple of diced fire-roasted pickled jalapenos, especially pickled by my honey, the pickling master. You could also use the canned variety, or use fresh jalapenos. For the dressing, whisk together 1 part apple cider vinegar to 2 parts olive oil, with a sprinkling of salt. Toss the dressing w/ the cabbage mixture until it's well coated, and you're off to the bbq! This slaw also goes well w/ tacos, or just plain straight up.



On to the padron peppers. Our pals Steve & Patsy made these for us last year, and we could NOT STOP eating them, to the point of feeling embarrassed because we simply could NOT STEP AWAY from the plate. And if you make them, or are lucky enough to find them at a party, you won't be able to step away either. They are a type of small green pepper that look a little like a jalapeno, but they are mostly sweet, except for the occasional one that turns out to be very hot! You simply fry them in a little olive oil until the skin blisters a bit, and then drain and toss w/ coarse salt. And proceed to eat until you have nothing left but a plate of stems!



And lastly, here's a little relish I threw together tonight to accompany some fish that I attempted to pan-roast. The fish was so-so, but the relish was so damn good, who needs the fish, anyway? It's a good thing we didn't need the fish because half of it stuck to Grandma Esway's pan, nearly causing me to have a complete meltdown... but fortunately the pan survived! And like I said, the relish was splendid.



Take one ear of corn and remove the husk, and either pan roast or fire roast the corn so that it gets blackened here & there. Once it's cool, cut the kernels off the cob and scrape them into a small bowl. Toss in about a tablespoon of minced red onion, and a handful or two of ripe cherry tomatoes, cut in half. Add a sprinkling of salt, about a half teaspoon of lemon zest, about a teaspoon of olive oil, a tiny splash of vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar) and a couple of sprigs of basil (from the garden, preferably!) cut into slivers. Toss it all together and eat with a spoon! Or, use it to redeem that sad fish that was supposed to be so good but that almost ruined your grandmother's cast iron skillet. Any way you toss it, you'll love this stuff. It screams SUMMER!

And speaking of summer, I hope you're enjoying yours! I'm enjoying mine, even despite family illness, personal injury and an ailing, achey old dog. Perhaps I'm enjoying and appreciating it all a tad bit more, in light of all these things. Enjoying each bite, and each warm, lingering night, especially those rare ones (lately) where I find myself in the kitchen, chopping and slicing and dicing all my worries away.

Simple Summer Tomato Salad

Can't wait to make this with tomatoes from my garden, which are growing riper every moment. It was so exciting when the first one went from green to yellow, and then yellow to orange. And how exciting it will be when one by one, they go from yellow to orange to ruby red and perfectly ripe, ready to be plucked and sliced and diced and sauced and thoroughly enjoyed.

For now however, we had to settle for what we had on hand, which was a couple of organic red cluster tomatoes. Not homegrown, but not half bad.

It's such a simple salad that it barely requires a recipe, and before you know it, you're halfway to dinner. Just slice the tomatoes and place them on a plate. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and upon each tomato slice, smear a dab of creamy goat cheese, if you've got it. Drizzle a little olive oil, a little balsamic vinegar, and then, top each slice with a sprinkling of fresh basil slices, preferably from your garden!

Our basil is growing wildly so the basil part turned out to be no problem at all. In fact, I'm already feeling the pesto coming on, in anticipation of just how wildly it's going to continue to grow as the summer passes. I'm really digging this gardening thing, and still tickled pink that it's working, considering that for many years I couldn't even keep a houseplant alive. Stay tuned for more updates!

Not Just Any Cast Iron Skillet

Oh, so much to report. I don't know where to begin and I doubt I can cover it all, so I'll shoot for the most important points.

First, I just got back from five days in Ohio w/ my family, where we celebrated my parents' fiftieth wedding anniversary. That's right - fifty years! It was a joyous occasion for so many reasons, not the least of which is that my Dad is feeling good again, and that alone is reason to celebrate. On Sunday morning, he was up at five a.m. making homemade sauce, followed by an entire afternoon of making homemade pasta - ok, truth be told, he supervised the pasta making part with my brother-in-law Terry doing much of the work, and bless 'em both, for they sure did create a feast.



My Dad reminded me that I really ought to mind my Italian heritage and get with the pasta making program, or at least with the Italian food making program in general, and he's so right! I'm hoping this newly acquired cast iron skillet will inspire me. I grabbed it from my parents' basement, and Dad informed me that it's been in the family for at least one hundred years. I imagine that he, and his mother, and who knows how many others in the family, have cooked many a meatball in this skillet, and who knows what else? Polenta, quick sauce, fried peppers, sauteed greens, and probably, all manner of meat. I hope that somehow, a little bit of the family's culinary magic will live on in this pan, and that maybe a little bit of that Italian food magic in particular will rub off.

Dad and I talked about how so many of the family recipes are cooked with "a little of this, a little of that, and a little instinct", and how sometimes when I operate that way, it's a hit - and sometimes, it's a miss. I can work wonders with solid recipes, but am not always entirely confident improvising in the kitchen, and maybe that's why I haven't had major success in my Italian food cooking adventures. But like I said, this skillet is inspiring me to keep at it, and keep at it I will!

The other thing to report is that - gasp - I HAVE A GARDEN!!! AND FOOD IS GROWING IN IT! I know that for some people, this is no big deal, but I have never in my life successfully grown anything to eat, and I'm tickled pink!! I had salad for lunch AND dinner today, all with greens that we grew in half wine barrels. And I have to say it's the coolest thing ever to just walk out into the yard, pick some food, and eat it moments later.

Not everything is growing perfectly - the chard seems to be dying and the cucumber plant is getting eaten by critters - but the salad greens and herbs are thriving, and the tomato plants are doing quite nicely. And this makes me very, very happy.

Life is a Colander of Cherries

I am very happy to report that my dear Dad is on the mend. We still have a long and probably hard road ahead of us, but for now, he's healing and having good days, and this makes me so happy. And I get to visit him and my Mom again in a couple of weeks, and am looking forward to filling their freezer with more treats.

I've been spending a lot of time in the yard lately, and that makes me happy too. We planted another garden and this year I'm determined to keep it alive and make it thrive! We've got hot peppers, cucumbers, chard, lettuce, eggplant, zucchini, delicata squash, arugula and several kinds of tomatoes. I was so thrilled to discover the first little row of arugula sprouts, tiny as little bugs, sprouting out of the soil the other day.

The other thing that has been making me happy is summer fruit, like these gorgeous cherries, so pretty I just had to share, if only virtually.



I took these pics when I was working for Chef Phil Gelb, who was making a cherry vinaigrette to go over a salad that included roasted peaches, among other delicious things. It's always a treat to enjoy Phil's kitchen creations; I learn so much every time I work with him.

That's all I have to report for now. Until next time, here's hoping you and yours are enjoying your moments as they come.

Tomatillo Soup w/ Pinto Beans & Corn

Yep, sometimes the only thing you can do is to keep making soup. I wish more than anything that I could still be with my family, making soup for my dad every day, but I won't have the chance to do that again for another month. So in the meantime, I'm doing my best to take each moment as it comes, and that is no small task.

Luckily, yesterday I was fortunate to find myself with both some extra moments and some culinary motivation at the same time, so I grabbed my apron, knives & cutting board, and started roasting, peeling, chopping, dicing and slicing. Warning: this is the kind of recipe that takes a little time, but it is well worth every ounce of effort and time spent.

The original recipe was for Chicken-Tomatillo Soup - a friend from work turned me onto it - and was kind enough to pass along the recipe, which she got from the "Cafe Pasqual's Cookbook: Spirited Recipes from Santa Fe". I'd been wanting to adapt this recipe for vegetarians for quite some time. I wasn't quite sure how the recipe would fare using a mixture of water, vegetable stock and pinto beans in place of the chicken and chicken stock, but the results were pleasing - rich, bright, spicy, sweet and smokey. And exactly what I needed.

Making this soup in the morning with my kitchen full of sunlight was the perfect way to feed my soul, and I'm looking forward to having this soup feed my body all week long. I hope you'll enjoy it too.

Tomatillo Soup w/ Pinto Beans & Corn
(printable recipe)

2 T. olive oil

1 leek, finally chopped - you should have about 1 1/2 cups

3 ribs celery, finely diced - about 1 cup

6 cloves garlic, finely diced

3 dried red chiles - ancho or guajillo - soaked in warm water, rinsed, stemmed, seeded & diced

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 T. smoked paprika

6 cups water or vegetable stock

10 tomatillos, husked removed, rinsed, and diced into bite sized pieces

2 T. tomato paste

2 cups fresh corn kernels

1 t. sugar

1. t. salt, or more to taste

3 - 4 cups whole pinto beans, preferably cooked from scratch

About 1/2 pound fresh mild green chiles, roasted, stemmed, peeled and diced - should measure around 1/2 cup - you can use pasilla, serrano, or jalapeno, or a combo.

Garnishes: squeeze of lime, chopped cilantro or italian parsley, crumbled cotija or feta cheese

In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil until quite hot. Add the leek, celery, garlic and dried chiles, and saute' for 5 minutes or so. Stir in the cumin and paprika. Add the water or stock, tomatillos, tomato paste, corn, sugar, salt and green chiles, followed by the pinto beans and the roasted green chiles. Bring to a boil and reduce to a mild simmer, and let it simmer and cook down for a good 45 minutes or so, until the tomatillos have cooked down a bit. By this point you should have a nice, rich broth that's good enough to slurp on its own, but with lots of chunky bites of peppers, tomatillos, beans and corn. I'm telling you, this is good stuff! Ladle it into a bowl, squeeze a bit of lime over it, add a handful of your herbs and a little sprinkling of cheese, and you'll be in heaven, and so will your friends. This will feed a crowd! It's good for about 8 servings, so go ahead & throw yourself a dinner party. Your friends will thank you!

You Are What You Eat

Here's a link to a really cool project that I stumbled upon, called You Are What You Eat.  It's a photo journal essay by Mark Menjivar that is a glimpse into people's lives via the inside of their refrigerators.  A picture really is worth a thousand words. 

When the going gets tough...

... it's time to make soup. I was going to write that when the going gets tough, "the tough make soup", but frankly, I'm not feeling tough at all right now. In fact I feel so fragile that I could just blow away at the first sign of a strong wind. But I'm carrying on, and I'm making soup, cause it seems like making soup is the only productive thing I can do right now.

I've made a lot of soup over the last couple of days - cream of broccoli for my mom, brother & I yesterday, pasta e fagioli for the whole family tonight, and tomorrow, it'll be chicken soup and potato leek soup for my dad, cause that's what he requested. I'll be filling the freezer with soup before I leave here over the weekend.

"Here" happens to be Canton, Ohio. It's where I was born, and where my parents grew up, and also, it's where they recently moved back to again after being away for more than thirty years.

No sooner did they get here, my Dad discovered that he is very sick, and it's turned everything upside down for our whole family. Thankfully, my brother and I were able to come out here, and Dad was able to come home from the hospital last night. I made him scrambled eggs this morning and he said it was the best thing he's eaten since this whole ordeal began. And I just felt so lucky to be able to be here to scramble those eggs, and to go to the grocery store and load up the cart w/ food for the family. Because in a way, that feels like the only way I can make a difference.

We have a difficult road ahead of us. It's amazing how an ordeal like this can completely shake your world to the core, but I do believe that we will all come out of it stronger. There are a lot of unknowns right now and maybe this is just a good reminder that everything is tenuous and temporary. In the words of my good friend Joe Rut, "I like now, now is enough ... now is the only time we have to love...". So, I'm doing what I can. I'm loving my family. I'm here, and I'm making soup. For right now, that is enough.

Black Bean & Sweet Potato Soup w/ Chipotle

As I write this, it's pouring down rain outside, and a perfect day for soup.  But actually, I made this soup a week ago and am just getting around to writing about it now.  Or I will, momentarily.

Today, I spent the afternoon preparing road trip food for Loretta Lynch's journey to Los Angeles tomorrow, which begins at 6 a.m.   We'll play three sets of music over the course of twenty four hours, and then high-tail it home.  Since our first set tomorrow begins the moment we spill ourselves and our gear out of the van, we wanted to be prepared with both breakfast *and* lunch without stopping, and without having to eat deep fried Highway 5 nastiness. Cause this is a band that likes to eat well!  So I happily spent the afternoon roasting peppers for sandwiches, and making a frittata w/ roasted mushrooms, shallots, thinly sliced potatoes & fresh dill, plus chipotle-roasted garlic hummus.  Hmmm... hope I can hold off on eating the stuff until tomorrow.  Better save some for the rest of the band!

The main reason for our trip is to play the grand opening of a new children's clothing resale store, Grow Kid Grow , owned by our incredibly talented pal Missy Gibson.  We'll also be performing a brunch set at the Redwood Bar & Grill on Sunday, sharing the stage w/ another fine & talented human, David Serby.  If you're in the L.A. area, or know people who are, send 'em along! 

For now, I'll leave you with this soup.  The perfect soup for a rainy day like today.  If only we had some right now....

Black Bean & Sweet Potato Soup w/ Chipotle
(printable recipe)

1 medium onion, diced

2 t. cumin

2 t. ground coriander

2 medium sweet potatoes, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups cooked black beans

3 cups water or stock of your choice

1 - 2 chipotles in adobo sauce

1/2 t. ancho chile powder

1/4 t. mustard powder

1/2 t. smoked paprika

salt to taste

Juice of 1/2 a lime, or to taste

Garnishes:  diced avocado & sour cream or yogurt

Saute' the onion in a splash or two of olive oil, until lightly brown.  Add the diced sweet potatoes, garlic, and cumin, coriander, ancho chile powder, mustard powder and smoked paprika.  Saute over medium heat for a few minutes, stirring frequently.  Add the three cups of water or stock, bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.  Let is gently simmer for about 15 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender.  Now add the black beans, chipotle chile, and salt.  Cook for another few minutes, until everything is well heated.   Turn off the heat and either blend it smooth with an immersion blender, or blend it in a blender or food processor.  Squeeze in the lime juice, taste it and adjust the seasonings.  You may desire more salt or spice, or it might be perfect just like that!  Serve it w/ a dollop of sour cream or yogurt and a sprinkling of diced avocado.   I bet it would be great w/ cornbread, so I might have to try my hand at that next time.