Feasting

6 women, 3 open bottles, and another hiding behind the flowers on the sideboard...

Marilyn, Diane, Sarah, Me and Lea (Meg is taking the photo)

My book group met last week and ate and discussed David Maine's Fallen. If you want to hear what I thought of the book when I first read it, head back over to this entry.

We had a really interesting discussion of the parallels between Cain's and Eve's characters and thoughts and doubts. A few folks didn't like the reverse storytelling (which I love). They felt like each chapter ended with them wanting more and wanting to move ahead in time rather than backwards. I completely relate to this feeling, but I also think that it makes me a more active reader; I have to fill in more and work harder to synthesize the events since they aren't being laid out for me.

Of course, to accompany our discussion there was good food and wine. Sarah started us out with a terrific, and easy, feta appetizer (recipe below):
Then we moved on to the rest of the good stuff:
From top right: Kebabs, buttery rice, pita, Salad with beets/red peppers/cucumber, noodle kugel and chickpea bulgar salad.

After dinner, we celebrated the apple (even though we noticed that the fruit of the tree of knowledge sounds a lot more like a grapefruit in the book) with a Tarte Tatin I made.
It was decent (because how can anything that has that much butter and sugar not be at least ok?), but suffered from being made in the early afternoon. The puff pastry was a little soggy by the time dessert rolled around.

The next book we read is Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

Sarah's Excellent and Easy Feta Appetizer

1. Get a block of good feta--in the Middle Eastern stores around here you can pick from domestic (pass on it), Bulgarian (very good and tangy) and usually one more variety (sometimes made with sheep's milk, also excellent).
2. Put the feta in a wide shallow bowl, pour a copious quantity of good green extra virgin olive oil over it. Mash with a fork. Grind lots of black pepper over the top and serve with toasted or warmed pita triangles, and mixed olives.

Coming to a preschool auction near you...

I finally finished finishing the two baby sweaters for my daughter's preschool auction. Here we have two sized 12-18 month old baby sweaters:
I found some cute sunshine buttons for the sheep sweater:
but I had the dickens of a time finding buttons that looked good with the lavender sweater. Purple is devilishly hard to match. I bought some pretty abalone shell flower buttons, but they sat too flush with the surface of the sweater and I could tell they would end up being cursed at by the parent of the eventual wearer because they would be tricky to button and would probably spontaneously unbutton themselves. I finally settled on these pearly white hearts. I'm not so fond of the material (plastic) but the seem to do a good job holding the cardigan together and they look decent enough.
Now I just have to wait until November 8th and see how much they go for!

Cerealism

I didn't make up the cute title of this post--it is the name of a series of photos by Ernie Button. He constructs landscapes made of cereal and then photographs them and they are strangely beautiful.

Cheerios pyramids
Shredded wheat bales and other cerealism photos
Grape Nuts dune

Attempting to be Lea

My challenge last week was to emulate a friend of mine, Lea, and to try and make some of the recipes that she has raved about. I managed to complete three, Daube Provencal, Mushroom Lasagne and Magic Brownies. Unfortunately I was unable to create these dishes while maintaining my composure, the way Lea always seems to do. But the food was pretty good!

The Daube Provencal (from Cook's Illustrated)was a high falutin' beef stew. I liked it--very rich with olives, wine and anchovies boosting up the flavor of the sauce.
But I don't think I'm that much of a beef stew kinda person. Nothing wrong with it, but Brian and I didn't gobble up the leftovers and, sadly, the kids wouldn't eat the stew at all.

A few days later, I made the Zingerman's Magic Brownies (recipe below). Lea found the recipe in a copy of Midwest Living, a magazine she decided to subscribe to shortly after moving here from California. (The magazine also included helpful information for transplants like the definition of Vernors). I don't think the rest of the magazine impressed her much, but we figure the entire year's subscription was worth it for this recipe.
These are awesome brownies. I've been making a pretty decent brownie recipe from one of the NY Times Minimalist columns, but these beauties are fudgier, deeper and darker. With 6.5 oz of unsweetened chocolate and 13 T of butter in the recipe, they damn well should be richer!

The Mushroom Lasagne was fantastic (recipe below).

Question: How much lasagne (in a 9 x 13 inch pan) can two people eat at one sitting?

Answer: A whole lot.

Brian and I were in Happy Tummy land on Friday. There are three different types of mushrooms in this lasagne: roasted portobellos, minced button mushrooms and dried porcinis. One of the best features was the final touch--after the lasagne comes out of the oven you sprinkle on top a small amount of a mixture of lemon zest, raw garlic, parsley and basil. These fresh flavors balance the richness of the lasagne base and give it that final burst of bright flavor.

This stuff even re-heated well, which was surprising as it has a bechemel (not tomato) base which can often become greasy and separated when reheated.

After my week of trying to be Lea (and me with only two regularly-rude kids to her three well-behaved ones) I'm a little tired; God only knows how she does it--sorcery? a build up of good karma from past lives?

We'll be having re-heated frozen Ikea meatballs with ligonberry sauce for dinner tonight.

Zingerman's Magic Brownies
from Midwest Living

13 T butter
6.5 oz unsweetened chocolate
1.5 C cake or all purpose flour
3/4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
4 eggs
2 C sugar
1.25 t vanilla
1 C coarse chopped walnuts, toasted

1. Grease a 13x9x2 inch baking pan. Preheat oven to 325.

2. In a heavy small saucepan, heat the butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring, till chocolate is melted and smooth; set aside to cool.

3. In a small bowl sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

4. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar with an electric mixer on high speed for 5 minutes or till light yellow and fluffy, scraping side of the bowl occasionally.

5. Add cooled chocolate mixture and vanilla. Beat on low speed until combined. Add flour mixture; beat on low speed until combined, scraping sides of bowl. Stir in walnuts.

6. Spread batter in pan. Bake 30 minutes or until brownies appear set. Cool in pan on wire rack; cut into bars.


Mushroom Lasagne
adapted from Cook's Illustrated

1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms
1 C water
2 lbs Portobello mushroom caps, cleaned and cut into 1/4" x 2" pieces
4 T olive oil
2 large red onions, chopped
8 oz button mushrooms, cleaned, stems trimmed
4 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 1 T plus 1 t)
1/2 C dry vermouth, or dry white wine (I used 1/4 C of each)
3 T unsalted butter
3 T unbleached flour
3.5 C milk (I used 2%)
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 C minced fresh parsley, plus an additional T
1/4 C minced fresh basil, plus an additional T
8 oz fontina, shredded
3/4 C grated parmesan
12 no-boil lasagne noodles
zest from 1 lemon
salt and pepper

1. Cover porcinis with water in small microwave-safe bowl; cover with plastic wrap, cut several steam vents in plastic with paring knife, and microwave on high power for 30 seconds. Let stand until mushrooms soften, about 5 minutes. Lift mushrooms from liquid with fork and roughly chop (you should have about 3 tablespoons). Strain liquid through fine-mesh strainer lined with paper towel into medium bowl. Set mushrooms and liquid aside.

2. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spread portobello mushrooms in even layer on rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil, tossing to coat mushrooms evenly; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and toss again. Roast mushrooms until shriveled and all liquid released from mushrooms has evaporated, about 30 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking time. Set mushrooms aside to cool.

3. While portobellos roast, heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onions, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are browned around edges, about 10 minutes. Transfer onions to large bowl and set aside.

4. Meanwhile, process button mushrooms in food processor until uniformly coarsely chopped, stopping to scrape down bowl as needed. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in now-empty skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add chopped button mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and all moisture has evaporated, 6 to 8 minutes.

5. Reduce heat to medium and stir in porcini mushrooms, 1 tablespoon garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add vermouth and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes.

6. Add butter and cook until melted. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, about 1 minute. Slowly add reserved porcini soaking liquid, scraping pan bottom to loosen browned bits. Add milk and nutmeg. Increase heat to medium-high and bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until sauce has thickened and reached consistency of heavy cream, 10 to 15 minutes (you should have about 4 cups). Remove from heat and stir in 2 tablespoons parsley and 1/4 cup basil.

7. Combine fontina and Parmesan in medium bowl. Toss cooled portobello mushrooms with onions in large bowl. Place noodles in 13 by 9-inch ovensafe baking dish and cover with hot tap water; let soak 5 minutes, agitating noodles occasionally to prevent sticking. Remove noodles from water and place in single layer on kitchen towel. Wipe baking dish dry and coat with butter.

8. Using rubber spatula, evenly distribute 1 cup mushroom sauce in bottom of baking dish; position 3 noodles on top of sauce. Spread 3/4 cup sauce evenly over noodles followed by 2 cups mushroom-onion mixture and 3/4 cup cheese. Repeat layering of noodles, sauce, mushroom-onion mixture, and cheese two more times. Place 3 remaining noodles on top of last layer of cheese. Spread remaining sauce over noodles and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Lightly spray large sheet of foil with nonstick cooking spray and cover lasagna. Bake until bubbling, about 20 minutes.

9. While lasagna is baking, combine remaining tablespoon parsley, tablespoon basil, and 1 teaspoon garlic with lemon zest in small bowl. Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees, remove foil from lasagna, and continue to bake until cheese on top becomes spotty brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove lasagna from oven and immediately sprinkle evenly with herb mixture.

Beer Breath

Brian's birthday was this past Saturday and one of my gifts to him was an all-beer dinner for us and a few friends (due to our dinky dining room, we couldn't make it a huge gathering). Every course was made with beer and there were a load and a half of beers for sampling and tasting.

The menu consisted of:

Cheddar Ale Soup
Choucroute Garnie with Parsley Potatoes
Beer Braised Brussels Sprouts
Chocolate Porter Cake

By far my favorite was the soup:

There's nothing fancy about the soup--a base of leeks, carrots, celery and garlic get sauteed in butter, then flour is sprinkled over and cooked briefly to form a roux, then you add milk, broth and ale. I veered away from the recipe and pureed the soup and then set it aside until shortly before serving it, when I added the sharp cheddar cheese. Rather than top it with bacon, I sprinkled on some chives and it was all set--velvety, rich, but with a nice bite from the beer.

The choucroute was hearty and went well with lots of different beers. I took an excursion to Hamtramck to get good sausages--knockwurst, bratwurst and kielbasa--and sauerkraut.

The brussels sprouts were decent, but a little bit weird--braised in beer with whole cumin seeds and a handful of fresh basil...two flavors that don't really go together.
The basil was overpowered by the cumin and beer so it wasn't really noticeable. I wouldn't include it again.

The biggest disappointment looked promising,
but was pretty disgusting. Lesson: Keep beer out of your cake and out of your ganache.

We might have all been a little too buzzed to be dissuaded by the sour aftertaste and dry-as-sawdust texture. Most of us choked some of it down by focusing on the fresh raspberries between the layers and on top, the raspberry ice cream that was on the side and full glasses of Lindemans Framboise Lambic.

The food, other than dessert, was good, but most of our attention was focused on the myriad of different beers to taste. There were some old favorites: Oberon, Bass Ale, and a couple of the Dexter-based Jolly Pumpkin Ales and then there were all the new beers to sample. We put out a lot of small glasses, set some of the beers on a lazy susan and then started tasting.
I have a new favorite wheat beer, Wittekirke:
It has a honey aftertaste that manages to convey the essence of honey without the sweetness--very crisp.

When the party was over, Brian and I dumped the rest of the cake in the trash, packed up the left over sausages to freeze for a hearty dinner once the cold weather really kicks in and then gazed at the vast quantity of beer still sitting in our beer fridge...

The vegetable that Dr Seuss designed

Just have to share a photo of the two Brussel Sprouts trees that I brought home from the Farmer's Market:

Just lolling around here on my couch.

By God that's a strange and beautiful vegetable. And quite a steal too--only $2 per tree.

Sew it up

I've been knitting a fair amount lately, all of it for small people. It has been a while since I knitted a baby sweater and I'd forgotten how satisfying it is to finish a project in a relatively small amount of time. Now I have a significant amount of sewing and blocking to do.

My daughter's preschool is having a fundraising auction in November and I made this to be auctioned off:
It's the reverse colors from the sweater I made for Jonathan (more of a kelly green than the borderline-tealish color above).

I also made another baby sweater for the auction, but I can't decide whether to donate it or not. Here it is in pieces:
And all that seems relatively well and good. But I was a little spacey when I made this sweater and didn't notice that I was using lavender yarn from two different dye lots. Once I was done I looked at the front and saw this:
Can you see the color break in the bottom lavender row? It shifts from being a slightly bluer lavender to a slightly pinker lavender. I don't have any way of correcting the mistake since I ran out of both the bluer and the pinker yarn. And I just don't feel great about submitting something for auction that has a flaw smack dab in the front right side of the cardigan. I'm thinking maybe I should just gift it to a friend whose sister is having a baby girl in December and knit up something else for the school auction. But I really want to work on my red sweater; now that it is getting chilly again and the days have been so gloomy, I am eager to finish the big cozy, cheery thing.

So it comes down to selflessness vs. selfishness (again...). What would you do?

Before the season ends...

...head over to Makielski's Berry Farm and pick a quart of raspberries so you can make this:

The Best Ice Cream I Have Ever Tasted

Sarah brought some of this over two weeks ago and after tasting it, Brian and I were ready to turn our backs on our previous favorites (mint chip for him, lemon or chocolate peanut butter for me) and crown this the ultimate ice cream experience. On Tuesday, when the sun finally appeared from behind the rain clouds, Fiona and I went and picked a quart and promptly set about our attempt to reproduce Sarah's results.

Last night Brian and I enjoyed some (with Saunder's hot fudge sauce) and hallelujah it turned out great! This ice cream has the intensity of fruit flavor that both Sarah and I remember from our various gelato snarfing expeditions in Italy. Zingerman's fruit gelatos don't even come close--both their strawberry and raspberry are more like a vanilla ice cream with good jam swirled in. Not bad, but not the intense pure blast of fruit essence that this ice cream delivers.

Sarah's Incredible Raspberry Ice Cream
adapted from Emeril Lagasse

2 pints fresh raspberries, picked over
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 C milk (whole, 2% or evaporated)
4 egg yolks

In a saucepan, over medium heat, combine the raspberries, sugar, milk and cream. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat. Puree the mixture using a hand-held blender or food processor. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve (you may have to push and stir to get the good stuff away from the seeds). Place the mixture back in the saucepan.

In a separate small bowl, whisk the yolks until smooth. Add 1/2 cup of the warm cream mixture to the yolks and whisk well. Add the yolk mixture back to the cream and continue to cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain again through a fine mesh sieve. Cool until chilled, either in an ice bath, or press a piece of plastic wrap over the custard and refrigerate until cold. Freeze in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer's directions.

Excellent eaten on its own, but it can be truly mind blowing if you top a fresh sliced peach (there are still a few available at the farmer's market!) with a scoop of this stuff, or drizzle dark hot fudge sauce over the top.

What I've been doing...

I have things to say pear chutney and some recent books I've read, but this week my energy has been directed elsewhere because I've been preoccupied with the fact that my kid wasn't eating lunch. The first week of first grade, he ate some of his lunch; by week two he figured out that if he doesn't eat, then he can play outside at recess for the entire lunch period. One day he brought home his lunch box full, except for having taken one tiny bite of a corner of his sandwich. That was it.

Unfortunately he actually needs to eat and not eating has led to some rocky afternoons.

Have I mentioned before that my sin of gluttony is clearly being punished by having a kid who is so indifferent to food?

So this week, I went into food-as-entertainment over-drive.

I made mini pizzas (whole wheat English muffins, Muir Glen organic pizza sauce, non-rgbh Trader Joe's cheese, and totally toxic pepperoni) with flowers and smiley faces:
I cut salami sandwiches into smiley faces,
and made PB&J sandwiches shaped like flowers with little pieces of papaya or raisins as their centers. I sliced apples into hearts and used tiny pig-shaped cookie cutters to cut out a menagerie made of cheese.

I would foresee making the city of San Francisco out of Jello if I wasn't trying to keep food dyes out of his diet. (Really, you have to go click on the link. See the Transamerica building made of Jello. Then watch the video clip of the whole thing jiggling during an earthquake simulation.)

And today, the effort paid off and he brought home an empty lunch box. Not coincidentally, he also had a really good day.

Week 3

This is the third week of school for Ian and I still feel like I'm in the middle of a whirlwind. For anyone else who needs a little Monday morning levity, I send you to this informative explication of The History and Geopolitical Importance of Pie.

Many thanks to Brian Pinkelman for bringing this overlooked piece of scholarship to my attention.