Notes on the "Social Agenda" of Food.

I'm new to food blogging. Scratch that. This is not a food blog. I just happen to write a lot about the food I prepare (or have delivered) because, well, I have to eat. And when you think about it, so much of who we are as people is tied to food and what we do to get it and eat it.

Yes, I had intended to write a bit more about my actual life, the small tools I use to navigate it, and my daily passions. For some reason, however, I keep coming back to food. This really isn't that surprising given that our whole lives are basically shaped around our need to eat every few hours to live. By extension, our whole society is shaped around this basic need as well. We (or our proxies) have to find it, cultivate it, grow it, buy it, hunt it, transport it, and save it until we eat it. Once the food is in our homes we have to clean it, chop it, cook it and serve it. None of this can be done without the participation of others with whom we have to socially interact and all of it takes place in a social ecosystem that developed around our need to eat. Food, in fact, is the medium for all of our social relationships. Food is how we create community.

So in light of this it is only natural to see the social aspect of our lives when we talk about food. Or share recipes. I haven't been very good at it but I can see now that my favorite food bloggers are those that share more of their personal selves and personalities. In light of this I was rather surprised to read of criticism aimed at one of my favorite food bloggers, Greg at Sippity Sup. Seems Greg was accused of inserting his "social agenda" into his yummy blog postings! (He is so good humored that he even had a little fun with the criticism on Braised Potato day. If I read between the lines correctly he is a bit more restrained than I would have been!) Now, to my way of thinking, a food blog post without color or some sort of personal anecdote is just boring and "setting the stage" before sharing a recipe is the specialty of Sippity Sup so I certainly hope he doesn't heed the advice of the wingnuts.

So back to food. Reading between the lines of Greg's post and thinking about how important food is made me think about this blog and what I hope to say through it. Guess what? I still don't know! But I do know that going forward I will try to inject more of MY "social agenda" whether or not I am talking about food because I definitely have one. Inevitably however, that means I will be be talking about food a lot because, like I said, I have to eat. And I prefer to eat with people. And I prefer to cook for people. And I work so I can buy food to eat. And when I'm celebrating, I eat. Etc.

So if it is just recipes you want devoid of any of its social agenda, move along and go to Epicurious.

Blog Exchange!

One of the nicest things about the blogosphere is being able to connect and share with other people. Sometimes even a random comment on someone's blog leads to a nice surprise. I commented on a post at SippitySup.com and next thing I knew I received a custom recipe for artichoke pasta! Well, it happened again when a random comment on Kate's The Sunnyside Blog netted me this jar of Rhubarb Chutney in the mail! I sent her a jar of the Pomegranate Jelly I made from the recipe Cindy posted on her blog. See how this works? (Kate blogs about her end of the exchange here.)

I adore rhubarb and Kate grows her own! Now Kate, in case you are reading this, I'm not allowed to open the chutney just quite yet. The rule in our house is that I have to finish one of the existing jars in the fridge first. This will, however, give me the time to figure out the best way to enjoy this. Sunday night is roast night so I might just sneak this in. . .

No Need for a Skeptical Look.

(Note: This blog entry was originally posted at One Box A Week back in July 2009. This was my opening post after signing up for the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) project. I'm posting it to he front of this blog as I think it reveals a bit of my skeptical thinking pattern -- something I haven't talked a lot on this blog about yet but intend to -- and also how it reveals how economics became a bit more important to me this year. When I started the CSA, I didn't care so much about the money. In October, I did.)

Those that know me outside of the office know that I am a skeptic. I don't really take many claims at face value and that is especially true when so-called authorities in the 'wellness biz' make them. Like most skeptics I feel that "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" so when wellness practitioners suggest that I do something or another, or buy something or another and everything will be wonderful , I will be healthy, or I will save money, I tend to take it all with a grain of salt. Enter Farmer Donna of Morning Song Farm.

Our company is blessed with a corporate culture that promotes wellness. We are also blessed with a HR team that is passionate about the environment. This often results in various speakers coming to the office who cause me to run to the research in order to investigate their claims. (For those in the office reading this and wondering about the score: Green Tea, YES; the Master Cleanse, NO.) So you would think that I would be skeptical when I when I showed up to Farmer Donna's seminar on organic farming. Not really. I had been exposed to organic foods since I was a teenager (a funny story for another blog post) so I didn'tneed convincing that organic was preferable wherever possible and affordable. It was the whole CSA part that threw me. I had never heard of it before.
Only moments after Farmer Donna's spiel began was I to feel my skeptic hat firmly in place. Turns out she was not just an educator that day but also a salesman! Anyone who has ever been approached by someone selling water purifiers, motivational tapes, weight loss shakes, vitamins, magnets that relieve pain, (you get the drift), knows that salesmen who are also 'educators' can be a dangerous proposition. And, in fact, Farmer Donna's spiel did contain a few of the classic fear statements salesmen use to kick us into immediate action. While prior speakers at work have told us that our water supply is slowly poisoning us, Donna's version had more to do with vegetable seeds going extinct and the harrowing prospect of worldwide famine should anything happen to the loss of heirloom seed inventory.


That said, the pleasant surprise for me here was that there are plenty of good reasons to sign up for a CSA program that had nothing to do with responding to fear statements. Similarly, you didn't even need to consider the "dollar saved" proposition (again, another good future blog topic):

• Doesn't it make sense to know the person growing your food?


• Exposure to knew vegetables and fruits you wouldn't ordinarly try.


• A chance to visit the farm.


• Produce picked one day prior.


• Higher degree of credibility regarding the "organic" label.


• Just doing your part to sustain local farming, keep money local, and support a distribution system that doesn't burn a lot of fuel shipping things cross country.

So, no extensive research needed. I'm in!

Saturday Haiku: Saturday at the Office

Too much work to do.
Busy times with 'distractions'.
So I work today...

There is Magic Inside! My Favorite Xmas Gift!

Take a look at my favorite Christmas present!

I'd wanted one for a long time. Something magic takes place inside it. I used it for the onion soup but you don't really need one of these for soup. Last week, with the help of this French Oven I took this:and this: and made this:

I used it recently for the onion soup but you don't really need one of these for soup. Slow cooked chicken or stews, however, there is nothing better. And all the leftovers get used for lunches and dinners during the week.


Get the recipe here.

Default Pasta w/Artichokes (and chicken)

Greg at SippitySup wrote a blog entry recently on what he calls "Default Pasta Night". The rest of us call it "find some stuff in the refridgerator and make a pasta with whatever you have on hand" night. Only Greg puts a lot more thought into than I do. So much thought, in fact, that he give us 5 rules to follow as we assemble our "default pastas"! But you know what? He is right on all of them. His blog is pretty fantastic and full of inspiration. And if you need a little push after reading his blog posts you can always do what I did and leave a comment. He answers everyone. I mentioned I had some frozen artichokes to consume and within minutes he had answered with a plan for using them as the basis for his default pasta. He even followed his own rules! (Be sure to read them!) To show my appreciation I'm showing him the outcome here:


The recipe is in his blog comments. I used whole wheat pasta and added some roasted chicken breast to make it a bit more "Zone". Thanks Greg!!

French Onion Soup Day!

Happiness is a day that starts with this!

And ends with this!

I have to admit that I have had a few turns in the kitchen since starting my diet. There is, after all, another person in my household who must eat and as long as there is someone hungry in our home, I will be cooking. Likewise, just because I am dieting doesn't mean we don't still welcome friends and family when they wish to visit. So was the case recently when my nephew-in-law and brother-in-law dropped by for an afternoon of cards and sports on the tv. (Don't ask.) As luck would have it, the only thing on my agenda for the day was to make chicken stock from the various frozen chicken carcasses I had been saving up from earlier meals. Onion soup was the natural extention of my afternoon plans. (I'm not much for sports on tv if you haven't caught on to that already.)

Now in the past, French Onion Soup meant Julia Child's recipe. This is the recipe of my childhood and, in fact, to this day onion soup means "Christmas Eve" to me. This was our family's traditional Christmas Eve meal. Our main holiday meal was on Christmas day, when the larger family group would arrive. Mom realized that Julia's recipe would be perfect for Christmas Eve because it could be made well in advance, it was quick to get to the table, and it was filling without completely destroying anyone's appetite for the next day's feast. Mom would make this a day or two before Christmas Eve which actually works best -- this soup gets better if it is allowed to 'rest' before serving for a day or two in the refrigerator.

Julia's recipe, as most French Onion Soup recipes, calls for beef broth. Now it is not written in stone that French Onion Soup must be made with beef broth but most of them are. I was flush with freshly made chicken stock, however. Luckily, I recalled the recipe in my Balthazar cookbook that calls for chicken stock. (I also recalled the bowl I had the last time I was lucky enough to be eating there! Mmm.....)

When making this be sure leave yourself enough time so you don't rush the onions. You aren't required to cook them down until chocolate brown (like Julia's) but you cannot rush them on their way to being golden brown or you will not do the soup justice. The recipe says 30 minutes but it took mine almost an hour to get to the desired golden shade. This is just going to be a function of the onions you select with the sweeter onion varieties taking less time. If you get impatient, add 1/2 teaspoon sugar (but I wish you wouldn't).

(Adapted from:)
BALTHAZAR'S ONION SOUP GRATINEE

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
4 medium yellow onions, peeled, halved through the stem end, and sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 garlic clove, peeled and thinly sliced
4 sprigs of thyme
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
3/4 cup dry white wine
1 TBS AP white flour
2 quarts Chicken Stock
1/2 cup port
6 slices of country bread, about 1 inch thick, toasted
2 cups Gruyere cheese, coarsely grated

In a 5-quart Dutch oven or other large, heavy pot, heat the olive oil over a medium flame. Add the onions and, stirring frequently to prevent burning, saute until they reach a golden color, approximately 30 minutes. Add the butter, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, salt, and pepper and cook for 10 minutes. Raise the heat to high, add the white wine, bring to a boil, and reduce the wine by half, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add 1 TBS flour and mix well. I added this as it makes for a richer soup - a technique borrowed from Julia's version.

Add the Chicken Stock and simmer for 45 minutes.

Preheat the broiler. Remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaf, and swirl the port into the finished soup. Ladle the soup into 6 ovenproof bowls. Fit the toasted bread into the bowls on top of the liquid, and sprinkle 1/3 cup of Gruyère onto each slice.

Place under the broiler for 3 minutes, or until the cheese melts to a crispy golden brown. Allow the soup to cool slightly, about 3 minutes, before serving. Garnish with chopped flat leaf parsley.

Why I Can't Have Nice Things.

I break them. That's why. Well, I don't always break them. Sometimes its my husband or, unfortunately one of my dinner guests, but mostly its me. Given that I do that I have a tendency to break them you would think I would decide collecting nice ones wouldn't be a good thing for me to do. Nope. I have nice bar and tableware. I've been collecting it since was in high school which I know is odd but one can't help what one likes. Usually I break wine glasses while I'm trying to clean them and put them away. I have so many that the cabinets are crowded and that is part of the problem. I had the glasses out after New Years. In fact, I blogged about the fantastic meal I made to serve with the great champagne we had a bottle of but I left off the tragic ending to the story: Sina broke a glass the next morning during clean up. (I use the word tragic despite realizing that a broken champagne glass is far from real tragedy. I'm just dramatic sometimes when it comes to stemware.)

So I went to the cupboard to count my Ralph Lauren Edward tall fluted champagne glasses and saw that I only have seven left! I used to have 12! Even thought they have long been discontinued I've managed to replace several casualties along the way by finding them at replacements.com or on ebay. In case you haven't heard of Replacements Ltd. they are an outfit that specializes in buying up discontinued china, crystal and flatware. Their buyers around the country find lots of the stuff so that when you break something of grandma's you can replace it. Often when you can find them there, however, they are very expensive depending on the demand for your pattern or item but I usually splurge to buy what I need as the security of having a complete set is at stake. I feel like a hostage to my discontinued stemware! Well, no more. I'm done. I give up!

What a lot of people don't know is that in addition to selling all this stuff to you Replacements will buy it from you too. Of course, not at their retail price but its a good place to sell your stuff if you, like me, have thrown in the towel. So, since I'm on a mission to simplify my life and reduce my life's 'clutter' I called them up and made arrangements to pack 'em up and ship 'em to Replacements for cash. I didn't stop with these glasses either but decided to stop fighting on my other set of discontinued crystal from Ralph Lauren (Bedford) as well. It served me well (and many others!) but its just too difficult when one gets broken.

I was surprised at how much money I'm getting for this stuff! Replacements only takes mint condition pieces but if they have a waiting list on what you have you will get close to top dollar without the hassle of ebaying it a few pieces at a time.

Now I'm going shopping for a good set of wine glasses that aren't discontinued. Any ideas?

Saturday Haiku: Prop 8 Redux

Chance to educate.
Public should hear arguments.
No TV in court?

They have lies to tell.
Don't want world to see their hate.
Anti-Gay Cowards.



(Please feel free to post yours in the comments. Last Saturday's Prop 8 haiku's here.)

The Champagne Gods and Mac and Cheese.

All week between Christmas and New Year's Eve my DH and I were arguing over whether or not we should drink the expensive champagne given to us by some friends a few months back. He was of a mind to give it to someone else in the same manner as we received it but prudence woon the day (I was cooking dinner after all!) and we toasted both our New Year and the Champagne Gods. It was quite good! Well, look what the Champagne Gods sent our way as a "thank you" via some friends. (The Champagne Gods were actually Mark and Chuck who brought this to Sina as a token of appreciation.)


Yup. Another vintage Dom Perignon! This was a 2000 so this champagne is just older than our relationship. Of course, this bottle is Sina's to give away if he wants to but I'm going to lobby hard to keep it for ourselves. To my mind, champagne is the perfect beverage. A chilled bottle of champagne can turn any gathering into a celebration. My grandmother once told me that a bachelor should always have a bottle of champagne ready to go in the refrigerator. Of course this is true, but looking back, I wonder where she learned this?

If you are going to follow my grandmother's advice (which is good advice for everybody -- not just bachelors --you are going to have to spring for the good stuff. And yes, people can taste the difference. And even if they can't, their tastebuds are influenced by the label if they know its good that way. One of my favorite "keep in the refrigerator" champagnes is Veuve Clicquot with its iconic orange label. My friends and I have really polished off a lot of these during impromptu "sessions" or "lunches out on the town". Its quite reasonable these days with the best deal on it usually at Costco. No so reasonable at restaurants when your friends keep ordering another bottle.

Offer champagne at a cocktail party and you will be surprised at how many takers you get. Even the most mundane of meals can be exciting when paired with a good champagne. Not many wines can truly be said to go with everything but it is definitely true of champagne. I once served take out burgers on fine china with an expensive champagne and it made quite an impression. Nowadays I would have no problem serving champagne with a fancy homemade burger, even for a dinner party.

More recently, on a day off following New Years, I made a simple lunch for Sina and I and enhanced it with a bottle of champagne. It wasn't that special a lunch but adding champagne to it reminded me of the type of bistro lunch I might be having if I were visiting my dear friends in New York. (I miss you guys!) Recently I've been on something of a french bistro kick most likely as a result of watching Julie and Julia and digging out my worn copy of The Book . When my brother gave me a Le Creuset dutch oven for Christmas it was french food city around here before the bell tolled and my diet began.

Nonetheless, try this for a great lunch either by itself or as a side with roasted chicken. The recipe makes a lot so even if you are making a side dish casserole you can still freeze some in one or two small gratin dishes for a handly lunch for two later. If serving it for lunch, accompany it with a simple arugula salad (and champagne!)



Macaroni Gratin -- Balthazar

• One 16-ounce box elbow macaroni
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 ounces lightly smoked slab bacon, cut into 1/4-inch dice (I used pre-diced pancetta from Trader Joes.)
• 5 cups whole milk
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 cups grated Gruyère cheese
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
2. Cook the macaroni according to the directions on the box. Drain, toss with the olive oil, and set aside in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add the bacon to a small skillet and saute over medium heat until brown but not crisp, about 10 minutes. Drain on paper towels and add to the cooked macaroni.
4. In a medium saucepan, bring the milk just to a foamy boil, then reduce the heat to very low to keep warm.
5. In another saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. When the foam subsides, remove from the heat. Whisk in the flour and continue stirring until a smooth, pale roux has formed. Return the saucepan to medium heat and, while still whisking steadily, begin ladling the hot milk into the roux, 1 cup at a time, completely incorporating each cup before adding the next. After all the milk has been added, continue to whisk until the sauce thickens and bubbles gently, about 2 minutes. Add the Parmesan, 2 cups of the Gruyère, and the salt and pepper, and stir until the cheese has completely melted.
6. Pour the sauce over the macaroni, mix thoroughly, and pour into a buttered 10 X 14-inch gratin dish. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes. Remove, sprinkle the remaining cup of Gruyère over tire top, and continue baking for an additional 10 minutes, until the top is golden and crunchy.
And I still have one in the freezer for after the diet!

Saturday Haiku: Repeal DOMA please!

Married legally
Just want rights and protection
Fed says I'm single?

Please support the repeal of DOMA and the overthrow of the heartless Prop 8.

Barefoot for the New Year

After many years of going out to big parties for New Year's we decided to have a quiet evening at home by ourselves and enjoy the simple pleasure of waking up to watch the Tournament of Roses Parade instead of turning it on as we get ready for bed. I had to work New Year's Eve so dinner was intended to be something simple, easy, but elegant -- all attributes of my favorite TV chef: Ina Garten. The vintage Dom P. was provided by some friends who surprised us by bringing it as a host gift to a casual get together a couple month's back. The bottle practically begged us to stay put for New Year's!

I have been After enjoying some of Food Network shows of Ina's for her Paris book so several of her recipes where on my brain. I quickly settled on Steak au Poivre as m husband always orders the filet mignon if it is on the restaurant menu so I never make it at home. I generally feel the filet is the most tasteless of steaks (which is why the French usually serve it with such flavorable sauces such as gorganzola, etc.) I learned from my mother years ago how to make pan gravies and sauces for filet so, as Ina says, "What can be easier than that?" My intentions for a simple 'one pan' dinner flew out the window when I decided ante up on Ina for the night by adding shoestring potatoes and brussel sprout lardons for the full Paris bistro effect. I commemorated Ina's influence on our evening by talking like her all night. "Remember when we had steak au poivre at those fashionable French Bistros when we were first married?" "Sina and I are staying home for the first NYE in 10 years and I thought I would make a special meal to remind him of our trip to Paris...." (We've never been to Paris together...)

I'd never made the fries before so it was a good thing there was no pressure tonight. I've been saving a recipe for fries to try that I got in Cooks Illustrated but tonight it was Ina's recipe for matchsticks. Now that I've done it I'd definitely change up the procedures a bit as these aren't a great thing to be worrying about when you are finishing up a steak sauce at the same time. Also, note that the fries will continue to cook after taking them out of the oil if you put them in the oven to 'stay warm' according to Ina's instructions. This type of fry won't suffer if you make them FIRST, let them sit on a baking sheet and THEN gently warm them before serving.


These were great. I sub'd currants for the golden raisins but I think they could be left out altogether. This is another dish best made before the steaks and kept gently warm before serving.

How good is that?


I love the smell of the shallots going into the pan after the steaks are removed. Add stock, some demi-glace, cognac, butter, and a pinch of salt and you have a classic brown sauce. Some add cream but I prefer not to.

And check out the mess my simple dinner for two left behind! (See the burnt, non-useable fries left on my sheet pan?)