tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18890461604514859822024-03-12T22:27:40.435-04:00THE CRISPY COOKCooking Gluten-Free with the Garden and SeasonsRachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.comBlogger508125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-43837935318230398152022-07-03T10:05:00.004-04:002022-07-03T10:05:39.627-04:00Dan's Artisanal Bread Recipe<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Dan’s Artisan Bread recipe:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">This is a finely honed gluten-free bread recipe. It makes excellent toast and amazing grilled cheese sandwiches. Dan cools his loaf, then freezes slices for easy and quick thawing. The bread heels are great for chopping up and using as bread crumbs or croutons. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Dan sometimes makes sandwich buns with the same recipe. We bought some round egg rings from a restaurant supply store and use them to keep the soft dough from spreading out in the oven. They form a nice high-rising bun shape. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here are the ingredients: </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 1/4 cups tapioca starch</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">1 cup potato starch </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">1/2 cup sorghum flour (this can be variable, I am now using 1/4 cup white rice flour + 1/4 cup corn flour - these just need to be flour not starch. Can also use buckwheat flour, brown rice flour, etc. ) </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">1/4 cup corn starch </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">1 Tablespoon yeast (any kind) </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">2 Tablespoons sugar (1T is added to flour mix...1T goes in with yeast and water) </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">1 1/2 teaspoon salt </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">3 or 4 large egg whites (Should equal about a ½ cup)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">1/4 cup canola oil (approximately)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">7/8 cup water </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 392px; overflow: hidden; width: 463px;"><img height="392" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/fi1xCNLUVJwI658XhQiYHXtxpOPs0riOPVldTFKyZy-3GxxRW9OyK48-6dQqrLiJT_4DTG2eWULFivMG3fqJGDYBjn9FkKSJ3aUtXYa0vPI51TuWebnH4NVHo3HHsnnFprM8COeHS7tIQoSdTQ" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="463" /></span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 299px; overflow: hidden; width: 480px;"><img height="299" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-hoYQdWuOtiGkE-V9mAL1-3Vlosk9VkyRgYwckpPuY3hQOxAg380NBP0G8FbMOB57eihxiOPZrELShSfAwSdxgX6J8R_0BCGS4Sa-HsUDDosBi2pux44HShC615XUnXkP-peORsSUIQ_4E8wXQ" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="480" /></span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">1) Mix together in a large bowl the starches, flours, 1T sugar, salt, xanthan gum and whatever spices you like. (Dan likes 2 teaspoons italian herb mix + 1 teaspoon onion powder + ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese) </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">2) Put the yeast and 1 Tablespoon of sugar into a bowl or glass. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">3) Put egg whites, oil and vinegar into another bowl or glass. The egg whites here can vary in volume so just add enough oil (+ or - the ¼ cup) so that the egg whites and oil together equal ¾ cup, then add the vinegar. Egg whites and liquids at room temp work best.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">4) Water in another bowl or glass. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I use heavy pint beer glasses for steps 2, 3, and 4. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Prepare bakeware. Line whatever you are using with parchment paper. Trim paper away from the top edge of your baking bowl if necessary as this will burn and smoke at 425. Bowl or baguette pan is lined with paper, rings for rolls are put on a parchment lined baking tray. Spray lightly with cooking spray just before pouring in the dough. I like to use olive oil spray. This dough makes 1 loaf, 2 baguettes and 8 or 9 nine rolls depending on how thick you want them.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Heat water to about 110 degrees. I put pint glass in the microwave for 40 seconds. An instant read thermometer could also be used. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pour water into yeast/sugar mix and let bloom for about 5 minutes. That is about how long it takes to rise up to the top of the pint glass. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 265px; overflow: hidden; width: 436px;"><img height="265" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/Pd4t7CATdRezhcyE7bFmpPKgMcwdjt3swnT-JdG_SLphVF91yzsky1FbEb_ctVOb0ixdZ075Y7PZYL8RxP_DaE7MzSrifpeQu2aqQ3u8LMWbhGb3YBDr21KWVnI86Y5tioFkfJ2yeppCc7ZGNA" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="436" /></span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Pour egg/oil/vin mix & bloomed water/yeast/sugar mix into the bowl of starches and dry stuff and stir by hand to blend for about 5 minutes. The dough should look like a very thick pancake batter and be pretty well lump free. I pour the dough into the oiled pan or rings and then sprinkle on some Montreal steak seasoning.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 438px; overflow: hidden; width: 346px;"><img height="438" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/ZEETSen25K561055Uno32qWnyvW1Ftz92aDCyU_5XfJwc7T3b8O5eOQSBHbrPXI2AsMHXfqV4Tc_JTkyJo3vHeWFBBO8iAQPUt6Lhk6jwj8WY5ArVeZ8CbpfDwLRzXRjwKng6vpP7tgW27Boxw" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="346" /></span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The next step is letting the dough rise and proof in a warm moist spot. This takes 45 min to 1 hour. Just before combining ingredients I soak a large dish towel in water then wring it out and heat it in the microwave for the 5 minutes I am stirring the dough. If I am using a round bread pan I can put it and the warm towel back into the microwave and let it rise in there. My baguette pan and the tray of rings for rolls are too big to fit in our microwave so I use a plastic tub and lid. You could use a cooler or tub or anything that works just so long as it seals well. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 514px; overflow: hidden; width: 467px;"><img height="514" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/FJ5N-9LTclybZjvELtAGzUxsYtKxZpVAY-KcOH03LRb-fdkuQO3fzbnPRKTDAVFfel-oErKKfd-IZVBAekXhe5dIHuWKjv4-3jFcLYYQcfbRat7OEgwR1T1FZrDgNuP-Lc5DT5NJecqcRUKm2A" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="467" /></span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">When bread or rolls have finished proofing, heat the oven to 425.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 307px; overflow: hidden; width: 505px;"><img height="307" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/6GZDlcy30Kc1nKAsRgT77ozEQBZ_smlK52C9G4VYX-g8-4ujZ8fUSoe0RGaQfhvebpf-lxkgreDzDlgx3rV1ed1Lc6uWhLrfOU2QYix9foBh-ACbqwSRPvYOUeJfgdnSgNLr8u7RQIoOlUfYqw" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="505" /></span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 363px; overflow: hidden; width: 477px;"><img height="363" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/9bcqBD86eex9nhleQzsIkUCaV6k7v1_t9eC3sSF_CCFAOtXcozmITBt3FjyUvC1tGtgC8yMY356JaCHhd-Bth8FArImYr5RAx6aQo3OqKIrjtaHNZm3OEoPknUkEfMowitSa_leisXVGIqIxFw" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="477" /></span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Bake loaf for about 1 hour. Rolls take about 30 to 40 minutes, baguettes go 45 to 50 minutes. Halfway through cover loosely with foil to keep from over browning and remove the foil for the last 5 minutes.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 330px; overflow: hidden; width: 417px;"><img height="330" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/2IQMpzw3JZCNHrkyjIxy2UoLqlZvpmF4rAf_zvHOhUUQ5WDrfi8QlSQ4SlxcV6J64gBsmifRo_83NCCeRBhVQ97b7fEhFCTVGX2DDveJ9j-OMUytzTb6Nh2eVmbDZKp25FHEHZ9NYoS59wUw9w" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="417" /></span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Cool bread on a wire rack. Bread is much easier to slice after totally cool. Without any preservatives this bread can go stale fast so I freeze it after slicing. </span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 368px; overflow: hidden; width: 253px;"><img height="368" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/PhG_tplm4gEkoAaF0kvUeiXe3sA7u5PYN3wtyKwSrUTQfSenkgm0yW_k6A-UjPmp0w5JppMnq8W3M5a6ZPaI0Kgq0f3e9dqcZvBna-cWZ7Qqqz01eJXNe3GKB0Anuy_AW9aAYiWL6l1mFLxdAg" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="253" /></span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The loaf slices thaw best in a toaster oven, the rolls and baguettes I wrap in wax paper and thaw in the microwave.</span></p><p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-46963125928688208992015-09-22T16:07:00.001-04:002021-07-02T10:14:38.770-04:00Grilled Whole Chicken in a Jacket of Flavors<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I picked Marcus Samuelsson's "Yes, Chef"<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;"> to be the August/September selection for <a href="http://cookthebooksclub.blogspot.com/2015/08/join-us-for-our-augustseptember-book.html">Cook the Books</a>, the online foodie book club that I and a bunch of my best food blogger pals host every other month to share our favorite foodie books and inspired dishes. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">I found this to be an interesting book on several levels. First, my curiosity was piqued about this Ethiopian-Swedish-American chef I kept reading about and its a riveting and tragic story of how his severely ill mother walked 75 miles carrying 3 year old Marcus (then Kasshun) and toting his older sister along from their rural Ethiopian village to a hospital in the capital city of Addis Ababa. His mom succumbed to tuberculosis, and not knowing the siblings had any other relatives, a sympathetic nurse contacted aid workers who arranged for the pair to be adopted by a family in faraway Sweden. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The book is quite a coming of age story; Marcus has a circuitous journey from youth to manhood, and it takes a lot of nudging from his adoptive parents and from his own maturation to look outside of his narrow focus on his career ambitions. He is very open in the book about his youthful immaturity, especially about how he initially rejected acknowledging the daughter he sired in his twenties. For someone who is still relatively young, he's had so many interesting cultural experiences and I liked the peek into Swedish rural culture and winced at the brutality behind the scenes of the haute cuisine hotel and restaurant kitchens in which he toiled.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">I also found the author's description of schoolboy bullying and other incidents of racial discrimination very moving. His term "race wounds" to describe the effects of these acts on people of color was something I have kept thinking about. I grew up in an interracial household and while I experienced incidents of prejudice, it was as a white person; someone who could shrug it off later when I was back in the safety of my family and later when I returned to majority status at school and in the wider American society. But "race wounds" is a powerful term and a good way of thinking how those of us with brown and black skins must armor ourselves to go out in the majority (for now) white public.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Marcus' adoptive mother was definitely not his culinary muse. She viewed cooking as a daily chores, so her meals were routine and geared for convenience and short cooking times."She made pasta as not even a prisoner would tolerate it, with tinny tomato sauce and mushy frozen peas. She served roast pork from imaginary Polynesian shores, with canned pineapple rings and homemade curry whipped cream." !!!!</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Luckily, Marcus had a Swedish Mormor (grandmother) with her "own little food factory", who pickled, preserved, jammed, butchered and preserved food for her well-stocked larder. I relished his stories about racing home from Saturday soccer practices to help Mormor Helga prepare the family dinner.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Another aspect about the book that appealed to me was the chef's cooking advice. He was always experimenting in the kitchen and trying to break out of haute cuisine strictures to "chase flavors', layering on different tastes and textures to create masterful dishes. It is this layering of flavors and textures and breaking out of accepted flavor palettes that inspired me after reading this delicious book. I decided to amp up the Grilled Whole Chicken that Dan and I have been savoring on our gas grill this summer. We love roast chicken, but often find that the breast meat dries out, some of the skin does not crisp up and the wings (my favorite part!) burn when we attempt a grilled bird. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our remedies? Grilling the chicken upright on one of those vertical cookers helps crisp up all the skin. Covering the wings with foil protects the wings from carbonization. And perching the bird atop a tin can (many people use beer cans, but we find a sturdier black olive can does not tip over as much) full of boiling marinade circulates a moist perfume inside and outside the fowl so that the white meat stays deliciously juicy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">While I normally marinate grilled chicken in a mixture of olive oil, white wine and fresh minced herbs and garlic, I decided to layer on some more flavors: smoky (smoked paprika), earthy (ground cumin), spicy (hot pepper sauce) and umami (sauteed sliced mushrooms to accompany the sliced chicken). I think Marcus Samuelsson is onto something. This just elevated our simple grilled chicken to another level. </span></div>
<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>You can check out what other <a href="http://cookthebooksclub.blogspot.com/">Cook the Books </a>participants thought of the book and cooked up from its pages after the Sept. 30 deadline, when I will post a roundup of all the posts. And please do join us in reading and cooking from our next book selection, "The Hundred-Foot Journey" by Richard C. Morais, due Dec. 2nd. </div>
Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-65138836842456479312015-05-28T17:22:00.005-04:002015-05-28T17:22:56.412-04:00Cooking with Dried Cherries inspired by Robin Mather's The Feast NearbyThe current selection for the online foodie book club, <a href="http://cookthebooksclub.blogspot.com/2015/04/what-if-you-lost-your-job-saw-your.html">Cook the Books</a>, is<br />
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<b>The Feast Nearby: How I Lost my Job, Buried a Marriage, and Found My Way
by Keeping Chickens, Foraging, Preserving, Bartering, and Eating
Locally (All on Forty Dollars a Week)</b>, by Robin Mather, Berkeley, CA:
Ten Speed Press, 2011.<br />
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Cook the Book host Debra of <a href="http://eliotseats.com/">Eliot's Eats</a> selected this collection of essays which relates how the author kept calm and carried on -beautifully- after an earthquake shift in her life. In one week her longtime husband announced that he wanted a divorce and she was laid off by the newspaper where she was a veteran food journalist. <br />
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The book is stuffed with good information on raising chickens,
bartering (she swapped homegrown vegetables from her neighbor for a snug, handknit hat), grocery shopping
locally, preserving and canning, roasting and grinding your own coffee. I learned a lot and enjoyed her down-to-earth writing and recipes. There's a lot of richness in living and eating cheaply, seasonally and well.<br />
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Each essay has a recipe finale. There are great frugal recipes featuring lots of variations of rice and beans. Some are simple standards, but others are unusual and tempting, like Mujadara
(rice and lentils perfumed with cumin and parsley), Oxtail Stew,
and Fassoulia (green beans stewed with lamb shanks and tomatoes).<br />
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Mather is a Michigander and relates one chapter about using the local bounty of cherries. I had never experimented with dried cherries before and they were really tasty. They are a bit expensive, like most dried fruit other than raisins, and I had to hide them away from the old man (and myself) after too much errant grazing so I would have enough for Mather's recipe for Peppery Cherry Spoon Bread. You can find a copy of that recipe at <a href="http://www.domenicacooks.com/2011/06/q-a-with-robin-mather-author-of-the-feast-nearby/">this link</a>, which also contains an interview with Mather.<br />
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I am not a huge fan of Spoon Bread, as I find it a bit too moist and this version was sort of the same as my past experience, so I think next time I would just make up the recipe as a cheesy, dried cherry-studded polenta and forget the final step of mixing in the beaten eggs and baking it.<br />
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But this side dish was very happy on our dinner plate snuggling up next to some sauteed mixed veggies, baked fish and some yellow rice.<br />
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Next up for our book club is this sweet read: Sarah-Kate Lynch's <b>"The Wedding Bees"</b>. Submissions are due August 3, 2015. Anyone can join in the fun. All you need to do is read the book, cook up something inspired by your reading and blog it up.Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-33125258406116582802015-03-25T13:54:00.001-04:002015-03-25T13:54:19.613-04:00Comfort Me with CarrotsDeb of <a href="http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/">Kahakai Kitchen</a> is the current host of <a href="http://cookthebooksclub.blogspot.com/">Cook the Books</a>, the bimonthly foodie book club where we read, comment on and cook from the same book. This time round is Ruth Reichl's second memoir <i>Comfort Me with Apples</i> (<i>Tender at the Bone</i> was her first and chronicled her youth as the daughter of legendary book designer Ernst Reichl, although
perhaps more ink devoted to her troubled relationship with her difficult
mother).<br />
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In this volume, the author relates her years in California as she segued from cooking in a hippie restaurant to starting her career as a restaurant critic. Reichl writes very vividly and very honestly. There seems to be no holds barred about dishing about her extra-marital affairs or the exquisite
anguish over having to hand over her adopted infant daughter back to the
birth parents.<br /><br />American food seems to have come of age just at the same time Reichl was making her mark in food journalism. She describes her meetings and friendships with so many influential people that shaped modern American cuisine, including
Colman Andrews, Wolfgang Puck, MFK Fisher, Alice Waters, and Bruce Aidells,
among others. Such an interesting memoir.<br />
<br />None of the recipes peppering the book
particularly grabbed me, but I thought most about how Ruth and her
artist husband Doug lived communally at Channing Way in People's
Republic of Berkeley in late 70s. Bushy bearded apartment patriarch Nick
castigates her new gig as restaurant critic for New West magazine:
"You're going to spend your life telling spoiled, rich people where to
eat too much obscene food?" You can almost smell the patchouli and alfalfa sprouts.<br />
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I was inspired to make a salad that might have appeared on the Channing Way dinner. Carrots are cheap and plentiful all year and would certainly have been available at the local food coop and grocery stores back then. And Nick would probably not have dismissed this dish as being "obscene".<b></b><br />
<b><br />Carrot Salad a la Channing Way</b><br /><br />2 lbs. carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch batons<br />3 Tbsp. snipped chives<br />2 Tbsp. finely chopped parsley<br />1/4 c. rice vinegar (cider vinegar works here too)<br />1/3 c. vegetable oil<br />1/2 tsp. salt<br />1 tsp. Dijon mustard<br />1/4 tsp. black pepper<br />1 clove garlic, peeled and run through garlic press<br /><br />Cut
carrots into batons of equal size for even cooking. The skinnier part of the carrot will
be cut into fourths, while the thicker, root end will be cut
into sixths or more.<br /><br />Bring a pot of salted water to a vigorous boil. Add
carrots and bring to a boil again. Cook carrots until they are
crisp-tender, about 4-5 minutes. Not a minute longer! (they will get
mushy). Drain in colander and rinse with cold water. Shake to remove
excess water.<br /><br />While carrots are cooking, mix remaining
ingredients. Pour this vinaigrette over the carrots. Cover and let
marinate for several hours before serving.<br />
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Makes 6-8 servings. <br /><br />This is a very
versatile recipe. You could swap out the parsley for dill or cilantro or
ground cumin. Chives and garlic can be substituted for small amounts of
chopped red onions or shallots. A teaspoon of fresh grated ginger is
also nice.<br /><br />I brought a version of this Carrot Salad to a
Superbowl Party and everyone seemed to appreciate this refreshing break
from the rich, heavy snacks at the buffet. I usually think of fresh
grated or shredded carrots for a vegetable salad, but cooking the
carrots first is a nice change and the carrots get a sweeter, mellower
taste.<br />
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Deb will have a roundup of all the <i>Comfort Me with Apples</i> posts after the March 30 deadline, so do drop by <a href="http://cookthebooksclub.blogspot.com/">Cook the Books</a> to check it out then. And feel free to join us in reading our next book, Robin Mather's <i>The Feast Nearby: How I Lost my Job, Buried a Marriage, and Found My Way by Keeping
Chickens, Foraging, Preserving, Bartering, and Eating Locally (All on
Forty Dollars a Week). </i> Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-50720919226349157412015-01-05T15:37:00.000-05:002015-01-05T15:37:03.799-05:00Sustenance and Desire and HEAT for Cook the Books<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The New Year brings another turn at hosting the bimonthly <a href="http://cookthebooksclub.blogspot.com/">Cook the Books</a> foodie book club, and for my book pick I turned to "Sustenance and Desire: A Food Lover's Anthology of Sensuality and Humor" edited by author/artist Bascove (Boston: David R. Godine, 2004). I have long admired Bascove's book jacket illustrations for Ellis Peters' splendid Brother Cadfael medieval mystery series (her jackets resemble stained glass windows) and the novels of the late Robertson Davies, and when I discovered that she also had literary talents, I sought out this volume.<br />
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The anthology contains 77 poems, prose excerpts and short pieces from a variety of authors, from Vladimir Nabokov remembering mushroom picking with his Russian mother to sassy poetry by Langston Hughes to an essay ruminating on cannibalism by Margaret Visser. Interspersed with all these literary gems are some sparkling paintings by Bascove.<br />
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For my Cook the Books inspiration, I chose the poem "Hot", by Craig Arnold, whom I sadly found out disappeared while hiking around a Japanese volcano in 2009 and is presumed dead. You can read a full version of Arnold's poem <a href="http://avoision.com/2006/01/18/hot.php">here</a> (or in our chosen book), but in summary, it's a long conversation between two friends who haven't seen each other in a while and had originally bonded over a love of spicy food. When the narrator arrives at his friend's house, he finds that his passion for peppers and food with heat has consumed him. He has parched lips, a haunted look and a fridge full of condiments. Here's the final stanzas:<br />
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"He stops, expressing heat from every pore
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of his full face, unable to give vent<br /> to any more, and sits, silent, </div>
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a whole minute.—<i>You understand?</i><br />Of course, I tell him. As he takes my hand</div>
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I can’t help but notice the strength his grip<br /> has lost, as he lifts it to his lip, </div>
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presses it for a second, the torn flesh<br /> as soft, as tenuous, as ash,</div>
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not in the least harsh or rough,<br />wreck of a mouth, that couldn’t say <i>enough</i>."</div>
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Dan and I are aficionados of spicy food and we dearly love growing and cooking with hot peppers. We like to grow poblanos and Thai bird chiles and have even had good luck with jalapenos in our Zone 4 garden. But I do not aspire to become a fearsome chili-head that must eat heat with every meal. </div>
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I pored over one of my newest cookbook additions, "Fire and Spice: 200 Hot and Spicy Recipes from the Far East", by Jacki Passmore (NY: Macmillan, 1996) and selected a recipe to try: Indonesian Sweet Corn and Chili Fritters. I had to tweak Passmore's recipe to make it gluten free, substituting buckwheat flour for the all-purpose flour specified in the recipe. The first batch of fritters were hard to flip, though they had a lighter and crispier texture. I added in some coconut flour to thicken things up and the rest of the fritters were easier to handle, but they did get thicker and more pancake-y. Those are the buckwheat-only fritters on the left. </div>
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They were not all that spicy, despite having a fresh red chili pepper in the batter. I did serve them along with a batch of Dan's chunky roasted red pepper and hot spicy pepper relish that he likes to keep on hand in our many shelves of fridgey condiments (maybe we have more in common with the poem's subject than I thought) to up the Scoville units. </div>
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Dan's recipe for his Chunky Pepper Relish is simple, involves a blow torch, and is something that he finds very relaxing. He starts with a couple of red bell peppers, which he prefers to roast with a blow torch while sitting at the kitchen table, listening to tunes. (I prefer to cut them in half, seed them and roast in the oven, but he likes the torch method. Perhaps because it amuses our daughters so endlessly). Then he chops it up, adds in a couple of teaspoons of fresh hot peppers, chopped, 2 cloves garlic, chopped, and a few teaspoons each of olive oil and apple cider vinegar. This gets stored in a glass canning jar and we use it for weeks afterwards. </div>
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There's still time to join in this round of Cook the Books. The deadline for reading our selected book, cooking up something inspired from your reading and then blogging it all up is Feb. 2, 2015, Groundhog Day. Not that a groundhog needs to be part of your recipe....</div>
Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-50294630480273629392014-12-08T11:43:00.000-05:002014-12-08T11:43:31.221-05:00My Grandma's Lemon Chiffon Pie, Gluten-Free Version My maternal grandmother came of age in the 1930s, when ice-boxes were the norm in the kitchen, before refrigeration. She was always interested in cooking while growing up, and as the eldest child, was responsible for many domestic chores at the family home. I have many fond memories of cooking along with her during the annual summer vacations I would spend with her. We'd spend a day cooking and then bring picnic lunches along during our walks along the Hudson River Aqueduct, picking wildflower bouquets, stopping at the little library for our books, collecting shells and stones along the shores of the Hudson River and window shopping along the downtown of her historic village, Dobbs Ferry, New York.<br />
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One of the treats she taught me how to make was Lemon Chiffon Pie in a graham cracker crust. The vogue for gelatin desserts seems to have reached its crescendo during my grandma's youth, but we both loved its sweet and sour taste and light texture, which seemed just right for muggy summer days. My grandma's original recipe called for a graham cracker crust, which I needed to adjust for our gluten-free kitchen. We also used to use a whisk to beat the egg whites and heavy cream into submission, which required quite a bit of bicep strength. Thank goodness for my electric mixer!<br />
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I recently had a hankering for this pie and for savoring the memory of my delightful grandmother, so this recipe was trotted out and fiddled with to make a gluten-free version for my family's Thanksgiving feast. My kids were disappointed that this showed up in place of the traditional pumpkin pie, so I suppose I'll have to produce some when they are home visiting (ransacking) my house for Christmas. However, husband Dan and I loved this elegant dessert.<br />
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<b>Grandma's Lemon Chiffon Pie (makes two 9 inch pies)</b><br />
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Crust:<br />
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1 (8 oz.) pkg. gluten-free graham crackers, crushed into crumbs (I used Kinnikinnick's S'moreables, which are gluten-free but a bit grittier than wheaty graham crackers)<br />
1/3 cup sugar<br />
4 Tbsp. softened butter<br />
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Filling:<br />
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1 Tbsp. unflavored gelatin<br />
1/2 cup cold water<br />
4 eggs, separated into yolks and whites<br />
1 cup sugar, divided <br />
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (two large lemons)<br />
1/2 tsp. salt<br />
Grated rind of one lemon<br />
1 pint heavy cream<br />
1 tsp. vanilla<br />
Extra sugar for sweetening whipped cream<br />
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Make the crust first by crushing graham crackers into crumbs. You can use a paper bag and a rolling pin like grandma and I used to do or whizz them up in a food processor like I do now. Add 1/3 cup sugar and softened butter and mix well. Press into two glass 9 inch pie pans and bake in preheated 375 degree F oven for 8-10 minutes. Let cool.<br />
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Dissolve gelatin in cold water and let soften 5 minutes.<br />
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Beat egg yolks well and add in 1/2 cup sugar, lemon juice and salt. Beat until foamy. Place in top of a double boiler and cook, stirring constantly, until they are thickened, about 5 minutes. Don't let the mixture go and return to have scrambled eggs instead. Vigilance is the key here. Let cool.<br />
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Add lemon rind and gelatin mixture to thickened egg yolks.<br />
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Beat reserved egg whites with remaining 1/2 cup sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold into yolk mixture, taking care not to do so too vigorously so as to destroy fluffy egg white texture. When thoroughly mixed, fold into graham cracker crusts, cover with plastic wrap and let chill until set, about 2 hours.<br />
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Beat heavy cream with vanilla and extra sugar to taste. Serve each slice of pie with a generous dollop of whipped cream, or alternatively, spread whipped cream over each pie and chill another hour before serving.<br />
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Makes two pies.<br />
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As a final serving, I leave you with a vintage poem for this vintage dessert by Edgar Guest:<br />
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<b>Lemon Pie</b><br /><br />The world is full of gladness,<br /> There are joys of many kinds,<br />There's a cure for every sadness,<br /> That each troubled mortal finds.<br />And my little cares grow lighter<br /> And I cease to fret and sigh,<br />And my eyes with joy grow brighter<br /> When she makes a lemon pie.<br /><br />When the bronze is on the filling<br /> That's one mass of shining gold,<br />And its molten joy is spilling<br /> On the plate, my heart grows bold<br />And the kids and I in chorus<br /> Raise one glad exultant cry<br />And we cheer the treat before us<br /> Which is mother's lemon pie.<br /><br />Then the little troubles vanish,<br /> And the sorrows disappear,<br />Then we find the grit to banish<br /> All the cares that hovered near,<br />And we smack our lips in pleasure<br /> O'er a joy no coin can buy,<br />And we down the golden treasure<br /> Which is known as lemon pie.<br /><br />Edgar A. Guest, Just Folks (Chicago: Reilly and Lee Co., 1917)<br />
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I am sharing this post with <a href="http://www.bethfishreads.com/2014/12/weekend-cooking-pumpkin-pie.html">Weekend Cooking</a>, a weekly blog event hosted by <a href="http://www.bethfishreads.com/">Beth Fish Reads</a>, where cooks gather to swap food-related -sometimes food-book-related- posts. Please stop by to see what others have written about this week. Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-38465636693916617582014-09-30T14:58:00.001-04:002014-09-30T14:58:33.528-04:00"It's the Sicilian version of Ratatouille; trust me, it's good."Our newest<a href="http://cookthebooksclub.blogspot.com/"> Cook the Books Club </a>hostess, Debra of<a href="http://eliotseats.com/"> Eliot's Eats</a>, picked a very sensual book for us to read, Marlena de Blasi's "A Thousand Days in Venice". It's a lushly written memoir about the American author's visit to Venice during which her future husband, Fernando, (aka The Venetian, the Man with the Blueberry Eyes, the Stranger, the Technicolor Anchovy, among other endearments) pronounces that she is the love that he has been waiting for his whole life. There are some language and cultural barriers to hurdle over, but Marlena accepts her fate and moves to Venice to become his bride, after first selling her share of her St. Louis, Missouri cafe and her opulently appointed new house.<br />
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I enjoyed this tale very much. Marlena seems a larger-than-life character and has a bit of bravado, after suffering a tortuous first marriage and a "grim childhood, scattered here and there with the hideous". As a fellow romantic, I rooted for her to make things work with Fernando and sighed with pleasure when they did. It was not a shudderingly violent sort of love affair, but one that was quiet and sure: "Now all the doors are open, and there is a warm yellow light behind them." Ah.<br />
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At Cook the Books, I and my fellow readers not only read and comment on our bimonthly foodie book selections, but we cook up a dish (sometimes a whole feast) that embodies our literary selection. While de Blasi's book provided some great recipes (Fresh Pasta with Roasted Walnut Sauce, Traditional Tuscan Tomato Porridge, Lemon Gelato with Vodka and Sparkling Wine, among others), I went to my late summer garden to gather up ingredients for a Caponata, that great eggplant concoction from Southern Italy. My harvest of tender white eggplants, parsley, tomatoes, garlic, onions, and basil just needed a few pantry ingredients to come together for a party dish to share with some friends.<br />
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My host had not ever tried caponata and I tried to describe the recipe to him to his ever-furrowing brow. Finally, I just said "It's the Sicilian version of Ratatouille; trust me, it's good." and that did the trick. I took my bowl back home in a scraped-clean state.<br />
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Here's my contribution to this month's Cook the Book Feast:<br />
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<b>Caponata</b><br />
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2-3 small, tender eggplants, chopped (if they are small and fresh-picked, you do not need to peel them or salt and drain them in a colander first)<br />
1 onion, peeled and chopped<br />
1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes (can use canned, but drain first)<br />
3 stalks celery, chopped<br />
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced <br />
1/2 cup olive oil<br />
1/4 cup red wine vinegar<br />
2 tsp. sugar<br />
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted<br />
Handful each of fresh Italian parsley and basil, chopped<br />
1/4 cup raisins<br />
Salt and pepper to taste<br />
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Give all of the vegetables a rough, but uniform chop.<br />
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Heat olive oil in large frying pan. Add onions and garlic first and lightly cook 1-2 minutes. Add eggplant and celery and cook, stirring often, another 10 minutes, until soft. Remove vegetables from pan and reserve.<br />
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In same pan, add tomatoes, vinegar and sugar and cook down about 10 minutes. Add olives and raisins and cook another 5 minutes. Add in reserved cooked vegetables and cook until everything is heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.<br />
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Add parsley and basil and remove from heat.<br />
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Let cool to room temperature before serving.<br />
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Caponata is great served at room temperature or chilled. It is wonderful on crackers or served in small endive or bell pepper "cups".<br />
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Please join us in the next week back at <a href="http://cookthebooksclub.blogspot.com/">Cook the Book</a>s for the complete roundup of all the posts and recipes celebrating A Thousand Days in Venice. Our next book selection is "That Old Ace in the Hole" by Annie Proulx, and new participants are always welcome. The deadline for the next round of Cook the Books is December 2, 2014, so there is plenty of time to buy or borrow Proulx's book and read and cook along with us. <br />
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Ciao!<br />
<br />Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-2621009311769437782014-08-18T10:57:00.001-04:002014-08-18T10:57:10.901-04:00Gluten Free in Denver and Colorado Springs and Giveaway Winner Announcement<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I just returned from a short trip to Colorado, visiting the cities of Denver and Colorado Springs. My vacation was filled with lashings of green chile, that wonderful sauce/stew that is a
Colorado/New Mexico food specialty made from roasted green chiles cooked
down with onions, garlic, tomatillos, tomatoes, and a pork bone. I just
wanted a bowl of that mildly spicy awesomeness for every meal, but sadly, it is considered a
condiment and not a main course.<br />
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Green chile adorned two of my breakfasts, a ginormous breakfast burrito that my Denver hotel offered, and then Chilaquiles (pronounced chill-uh-killez), eggs scrambled up with broken corn tortillas, beans, tomatoes, peppers and whatever other appropriate leftovers you might have handy. That's my over-exposed photo of Chilaquiles (and some avocado Eggs Benedict) from <a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/17/1457696/restaurant/North-Denver/Cozy-Cottage-Denver">Cozy Cottage</a>, 4263 Tennyson Street in Denver, which is a terrific breakfast restaurant. Lots of gluten-free options available, including pancakes. <br />
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I also had a Green Chili Burger for dinner at <a href="http://www.meadststation.com/">Mead Street Station</a>, 3625 West 32nd Avenue, Denver, which was amazingly good. The restaurant also had gluten-free bread upon request for its menu items and carries GF New Planet beer, so they get double points for that.<br />
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I spent much of the week eating cafeteria food while attending the <a href="http://www.bookseminars.com/">Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar</a>, (where they had some green chile available for breakfast one morning!), so I only had a few outside dining opportunities. In general, I found Denver and Colorado Springs to be very gluten-free friendly eating cities. And I am now obsessed with green chile. Somebody send me or point me to a great green chile recipe so I can recreate here in upstate New York.<br />
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I did want to also mention the <a href="http://www.everestnepalrestaurant.com/index.php">Everest Nepal Restaurant,</a> 28 E. Bijou Street, in Colorado Springs, where a large party of Book Seminarians descended quite late at night after book hunting at two used bookstores. The owners were quite kind to agree to serve us at such a late hour and both carnivores and vegans found lots of great fare. I tried out some yak (tastes like beef) dumplings, not gluten-free, but a first for me. There were many other items on the menu which would be naturally GF, as is the case with many other Indian-Nepali-Tibetan restaurants, but it would be wise to discuss this with the server in detail before ordering.</div>
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And now to announce the winner of the recent Vegetti giveaway here at the Crispy Cook. </div>
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I had <a href="http://wheat-free-meat-free.blogspot.com/2014/07/a-review-of-remarkable-veggetti-and.html">previously reviewed the Vegetti</a>, a handy little gadget that takes zucchini, cucumbers, carrots, squash and other vegetables, and spins them into thin strands that are perfect for fresh salads and to be cooked as vegetable pasta. The randomly generated winner of the Vegetti Gift Package Giveaway, which includes a Vegetti and $25 gift card from Ontel, is Amanda. Congratulations Amanda, and thank you to all who entered. </div>
Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-36963837790565956032014-08-01T05:01:00.004-04:002014-08-01T05:01:58.749-04:00Some New Vegetables in the 2014 Crispy Summer GardenWe've got a few new varieties we've been trying out in the garden this year.<br />
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I couldn't resist buying a packet of seeds at the hardware store for a watermelon radish. It's a beautiful vegetable inside and out with pale green skin and a sunburst of magenta and white inside. Just a gorgeous little root vegetable, easy to grow like all radishes and perfectly lovely for an appetizer with a little bit of kosher salt on the side and a nice glass of cold beer.<br />
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Friends of ours have had lots of success growing okra in their garden. It's a strikingly ornamental plant with big yellow and brown blossoms. I've not had a lot of experience eating okra after a slimy experience in my youth, but picked fresh from the garden, dusted in rice flour and fried they are good.<br />
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Those lovely yellow tomatoes are another first timer in our gardens. The Taxi variety is very early, so we are enjoying them in our July salads and tucked into all kinds of other meals. Still awaiting my meaty Brandywines and Cherokee Purples to ripen up.<br />
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;">To keep company with our lone zucchini and yellow crookneck squash plants (I've learned something about gardening over the last twenty years) we picked up a couple of Pattypan and Spaghetti Squash plants. Both have been prolific producers, and we're enjoying the Pattypan very much. It's got a tender skin and sliced up and sauteed with tomatoes, basil and topped with some fresh mozzarella slices, it's a real treat. </span><br />
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Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-26690619080247928282014-07-24T14:02:00.000-04:002014-07-24T14:02:23.095-04:00Jacques Pepin's Venison RevengeOur June/July book pick at <a href="http://cookthebooksclub.blogspot.com/">Cook the Books</a> has been Jacques Pepin's memoir "The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen". While I was familiar with Chef Pepin's smiling face, easygoing manner and uncomplicated, but awesomely tasty, recipes from his many appearances on public television cooking shows, I was not familiar with his personal story. "The Apprentice" tells his remarkable tale, from his childhood in France during the darkest days of World War II, his years of apprenticeships at various hotels and restaurants, his emigration to America and various experiences at fancy restaurants, and his remarkable friendships with Craig Claiborne, Julia Child, Pierre Franey, Howard Johnson, Barbara Kafka and James Beard. <br />
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Through it all, his down-to-earth style and personal warmth shines through. I have always thought Pepin was an admirable TV chef because he never cops an haute cuisine attitude about cooking, but instead deconstructs recipes and techniques so that his audience can replicate the dishes he makes on screen. After reading his autobiography, I am even more impressed and endeared by his manner. Despite being a foodie superstar he always stresses the importance of cooking good food for your family and friends in order to share time and love with them, not show off.<br />
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I am looking forward to trying Pepin's recipe for Smoked Trout a la Gloria, named after Madame Pepin, an expert angler who brings home fish for her husband to smoke in a roasting pan on the stove. Sounds delicious and while I am not the fisherman in the family, I am willing to smoke up the trout that Dan loves to catch.<br />
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For my Cook the Books Pepin-inspired dish, I looked over the two dozen recipes that stud each chapter of this memoir. They were tempting, but I decided to create something with venison, in reference to the most harrowing incident related in the book: Pepin's nighttime car accident with a deer that left him with a broken back, two broken hips, a broken leg, cracked pelvis and a left arm that was so badly fractured that his surgeon considered amputating it. What an ordeal! But Pepin doesn't dwell on that incident, and segues into his subsequent experiences in teaching cooking classes, working with corporate clients and writing cookbooks. But I feel Jacques should have his revenge against that kamikaze deer with a venison dish, so I pulled some venison stew meat that we had in the freezer care of Dan's hunting cousin and put together a delicately seasoned venison stew.<br />
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Jacques' Venison Revenge Ragout<br />
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1 lb. venison, cut into 1/2 inch cubes<br />
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil <br />
3 stalks celery, medium dice<br />
3 carrots, peeled and medium dice<br />
2 cloves roasted garlic<br />
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes<br />
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley<br />
1 tsp. chopped fresh sage<br />
1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary<br />
1 tsp. salt<br />
1/2 tsp. pepper<br />
3 Tbsp. sorghum flour<br />
1/2 cup dry white wine <br />
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Pat venison dry with a paper towel. Mix flour with salt and pepper and dredge venison in this mixture.<br />
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Heat 2 Tbsp. of oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Brown venison in batches over medium-high heat until browned on all sides and a nice crust forms. Remove and set aside.<br />
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Add remaining 1 Tbsp. oil to pan along with celery and carrots. Cook five minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in potatoes and cook another five minutes.<br />
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Add wine and bring to a boil. Return venison to pan. Cover and simmer until vegetables and venison are tender, about 30-35 minutes. Add herbs during the last two minutes of cooking.<br />
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Serves 4-6.<br />
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This is a very delicate, aromatic venison stew. A couple of turnips or parsnips would be nice additions in here too.<br />
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Please join us after the July 31 deadline for <a href="http://cookthebooksclub.blogspot.com/">Cook the Books</a> to see the roundup of dishes inspired by our reading. <br />
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I am also linking this post to <a href="http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/2009/01/souper-sundays-details-and-guidelines.html">Souper Sundays</a>, a weekly celebration of soups, stews and sandwiches at <a href="http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/">Kahakai Kitchen. </a><br />
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The next book selection at Cook the Books will be Marlena de Blasi's "1000 Days in Venice". Deb of <a href="http://eliotseats.com/">Eliot Eats</a> is hosting and notes that the book is one of her favorites. Submissions due September 30, 2014. <br />
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<br />Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-8478470484122299632014-06-12T14:56:00.002-04:002014-06-12T14:56:32.726-04:00A Great New Mystery Series with Wonderful Characters, an Exotic Setting and Terrific FoodI have been enjoying Tarquin Hall's wonderful mystery series featuring Vish Puri, a portly but vain, bombastic but decent-hearted, Punjabi detective in modern Delhi. (His mother, Mummy-ji, also knows a thing or two about sleuthing, but is careful not to let her hidebound son know about her own investigations until they are all neatly sewn up.) Vish pampers his containers of blisteringly hot pepper plants, surreptitiously avoids his doctor's advice to avoid rich foods and is the head of a crack team of undercover associates which all have Vish-supplied nicknames: Tubelight (a morning-averse safecracker and car thief), Face Cream (a beautiful female mistress of disguise), Door Stop (the extremely lazy office boy), Handbrake (Vish's chauffeur), and Flush (an electronics and computer whiz who was the first to have a flush toilet in his village).<br />
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The books have humorous dialogue and Hall helpfully supplies glossaries at the end of each novel to explain all the unfamiliar words. I found that it was easy to tune my reading "ear" to the rhythm of Delhi-speak, or Dilli. Tarquin's plots offer a great introduction to the history and culture of modern Delhi and each book delves into a mystery that explains one or more social issues, from the caste system to the lingering effects of Partition on Indian-Pakistani relations.<br />
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The series is now up to four wonderful books, and <a href="http://tarquinhall.com/the-case-of-the-deadly-butter-chicken/">Tarquin Hall </a>will hopefully continue to entertain me and many other readers with the foibles of our flawed detective with future installments. My favorite book so far is the the third novel, <b>The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken</b>. While the titular dish is something I do plan to try, I was actually intrigued by Chicken Frankies, a street food dish that Puri scarfs down throughout the series. I originally thought he was just inhaling chicken frankfurters, but after reading about them over and over in the books, a quick Internet search revealed that a Chicken Frankie is a roti slathered with spicy chicken bits, chopped tomatoes, onions, cilantro and hot peppers and then rolled up to be eaten out of hand.<br />
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Chicken Frankies are marvelously flavorful things, but they are not the most caloric food item in the world, so I do wonder why he is badgered by his wife Rumpi about eating them. He is on the rotund side, and he does seem to deserve her nickname for him, Chubby, gauging by his Alfred Hitchcock-like profile on each of the hardcover dust jackets. <br />
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Here's our version in a gluten-free roti. Dan makes these handmade rotis in a variation of <a href="http://askgeorgie.com/stovetop-pizza-crust/">this stove-top pizza crust recipe</a> using 1/4 cup chickpea flour (besan) and 1/2 cup white rice flour for the Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Mix called for in the original recipe. I actually prefer my Chicken Frankies roti-less, with the filling ingredients served over over basmati rice, but Dan must have Vish's favorite snack in the traditional manner.<br />
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There are many Chicken Frankie recipes out there, but the variation I like the best is to cut up some chicken breast into small cubes and slow cook it in tomatoes that have been simmered with browned garlic, fresh ginger, coriander, cumin, chili powder and garam masala. You then lay your spiced chicken along one side of the roti, add some diced fresh onions, hot peppers, parsley, cilantro and other seasonings (I threw in some very un-Indian sour cream in there, which Vish would find horrendous, being a good Hindu). Then roll up and eat. Don't forget the napkins!<br />
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I am linking this post to <a href="http://www.pulcetta.com/2014/05/annuncio-announcement-novel-food-21.html">Novel Food</a>, a blog event at Briciole, which rounds up posts about food inspired by participants' reading selections. Please consider adding your own entry to this round of Novel Food, which ends June 23rd. <br />
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<br />Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-56509770500858231572014-06-07T09:42:00.000-04:002014-06-07T09:42:24.813-04:00Sharing our Family Recipe for Grandma Nellie's ChickenWhen I married my husband Dan, I not only joined a warm and loving family, but I became privy to the heritage that he and his relatives shared. I got earfuls of family lore and albums of photographs of long dead ancestors posing with their town baseball teams, classmates and in one case, a taxidermied ostrich! (that was some strange photography studio where that shot was taken). I inherited cool cousins that were of my same vintage to go to softball games with and carouse. <br />
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And then there were the wonderful new-to-me things that my new extended clan ate: New England-y classics like scalloped oysters and baked beans, fresh garden peas (they are a different species than the canned and frozen peas my family was used to), manly delights that Dan's father made in his newfound gourmet phase of his retirement like Veal and Peppers and fork-tender barbecued chicken slathered with his famous, long-simmered barbecue sauce.<br />
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One of the family classics was Grandma Nellie's Chicken, a favorite handed down from the Irish side of the family. It's a simply seasoned baked chicken casserole covered over with sliced potatoes, celery and green peppers and is always a hit with our family and friends.The chicken gets tender and moist in its olive oil and butter basting and the vegetables roast down to make a fantastically tasty "gravy". All you need is a salad on the side and some rice to soak up the luscious chicken and vegetable juices and your meal is complete. <br />
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I usually add in fresh herbs (dill and thyme are good) when I make this dish, and sometimes I add in sliced mushrooms if they are threatening to turn brown from too much time in the fridge, but I don't tweak this dish too much because I imagine its creator shaking her rolling pin down at me from On High and muttering about the cheekiness of the interloper that is trying to change up a classic recipe that doesn't need any gussying up. <br />
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Here then, is a great chicken recipe from the Crispy Cook heirloom recipe vault:<br />
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<b>Grandma Nellie's Chicken</b><br />
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4 chicken breast halves, cut in half across the muscle (leave skin on)<br />
5 potatoes, peeled and thick sliced<br />
3 onions, sliced<br />
4-5 sliced red and green peppers<br />
5 stalks celery, sliced<br />
1/4 cup olive oil<br />
Salt and Pepper<br />
Paprika<br />
2 Tbsp. soft butter<br />
<br />
Grease a 9x13 glass baking dish. Place chicken inside, skin side up. Layer potatoes, onions, peppers and celery in a mound over chicken. Dab on softened butter and drizzle with olive oil.<br />
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Season with salt, pepper and paprika to taste.<br />
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Bake 1-1/2 hours at 400 degrees F., stirring at least twice to get the chicken pieces evenly browned and to keep vegetables from sticking.<br />
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Serves 6-8. <br />
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This recipe also works well with chicken thighs or a cut up whole chicken, but be sure to keep checking the chicken pieces for doneness and adjust cooking times accordingly.<br />
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I am sending this recipe over to <a href="http://www.bethfishreads.com/2014/06/weekend-cooking-corked-by-kathryn-borel.html">Weekend Cooking</a>, a weekly roundup of food blog posts at <a href="http://www.bethfishreads.com/">Beth Fish Reads</a>. You'll find lots of other recipes, cookbook reviews, and other delicious posts by the other contributors at this weekly blog event. <br />
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<br />Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-88799528048899469042014-05-15T14:54:00.000-04:002014-05-15T14:54:06.872-04:00Dipping my Culinary Toe into Persian Waters with Funny in Farsi<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-70b354dc-ff9e-27d0-8f26-5e7b93144f59" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Firoozeh Dumas’ first memoir, Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America (NY: Random House, 2003), is a collection of lighthearted essays that illuminates her childhood experiences growing up as an Iranian transplant in Southern California. She and her family arrived before the Iranian hostage crisis and Revolution, and she clearly shows how she and her family were treated before and after this great divide.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">There were two reasons that I picked this book for the April/May selection for the online foodie book club, <a href="http://cookthebooksclub.blogspot.com/">Cook the Books</a>, that I and my wonderful blogger buddies, <a href="http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/">Deb</a>, <a href="http://briciole.typepad.com/">Simona</a> and <a href="http://eliotseats.com/">Debra</a>, organize. First, this book offered me an excuse to explore the beautiful, fragrant Persian cuisine that Dumas describes in her book. Lucky Californians that get to dine out in numerous Persian restaurants started by Iranian-American immigrants! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Second, I picked this title because I feel like too often Iranians (and Iraqis, Aghanis, Pakistanis and now, Russians - yet again) get demonized in the press because of the actions of their political leaders. As Dumas so expertly shows in her anecdotes about her goofy relatives, her own culture clashes at school and as a young teen, there are universally human traits that we all share around the world, no matter our ethnicity, religion, etc., and I wanted to have others read about her experiences. A little extending of the olive branch, or rather, a bowl of olives, out into the world, if you will.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The best parts of Dumas’ book were her descriptions of her father, Kazem. He is such an interesting mixture of intellect and childish enthusiasm. He was a petroleum engineer back in Abadan, Iran, and later earned a Fulbright Scholarship to continue his graduate education in the U.S. It was during his American sojourn that one of his professors took him on a road trip to Princeton where he met (and flummoxed) Albert Einstein. After launching into a endless monologue of his American experiences, Einstein was rendered somewhat speechless. Or perhaps he took a mental vacation to hone his Theory of Relativity during Kazem’s "year's allotment of conversation". </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I didn't have any cookbooks at the bookshop, or in my home library about Persian cooking. The local library's few volumes were out on loan, and I ordered a copy of "Cuisines of the Axis of Evil and Other Irritating States: A Dinner Party Approach to International Relations" by Chris Fair (NY: Globe Pequot Press, 2008) but it arrived after I'd made the meal I was planning for this post. Fair's book is so wonderfully witty, educational and droolworthy all at the same time, so I'll be featuring something out of its pages here sometime soon. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I was rescued in my quest for Persian culinary education by the wonderful Persian food bloggers out there. I spent a few rhapsodic hours perusing their recipes and food memories until I finally settled on the meal I would make for my family. Since we are Persian food newbies I didn’t want to make anything too wild or for which I would need to purchase endless amounts of exotic ingredients. I was struck by how fragrant -or perfumed might be a more descriptive word- the Persian food palette is; there's a heavy emphasis of great bunches of herbs and complex combinations of spices, and rosewater enters the scene too. It also seems like presentation is very important. As is copious amounts of available cooking time, for as Dumas explains in Funny in Farsi, ingredients are seasonal and require special attention: </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Summer meant eggplant or okra stew fresh tomatoes, and tiny cucumbers that I would peel and salt. Winter meant celery or rhubarb stew, cilantro, parsley, fenugreek, and my favorite fruit, sweet lemon, which is a thin-skinned, aromatic citrus not found in America. There was no such thing as canned, frozen, or fast food. Everything, except for bread, which was purchased daily, was made from scratch. <b>Eating meant having to wait for hours for all the ingredients to blend together just right.</b>" (p. 25)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I finally settled on meatballs spiced with sumac (already had it in the spice cabinet) and a dried rose petal-less advieh, that Persian spice mixture that contains cardamom, cumin, and coriander, all of which I did have on hand). I got the recipe for the <a href="http://www.silkroaddiary.com/advieh-spiced-persian-meatballs/">fragrant meatballs at Silk Road Diary,</a> and then made up a pot of rice seasoned with sauteed garlic and cumin seeds which I shaped into the traditional Persian dome shape and decorated with radish roses and curling parsley springs. Our Iranian feast was rounded off with pitcher of cold mint tea, a chilled cucumber, tomato and herb salad and some fresh fruit. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You can still join us at <a href="http://cookthebooksclub.blogspot.com/">Cook the Books</a> by reading and blogging about this wonderful book by the June 1, 2014 deadline. I will have a roundup of posts up a few days later so that we can all enjoy our various takes on the book and partake of our virtual Persian feast. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Our next Cook the Books selection will b<b>e The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen, </b>by Jacques Pepin. Deb of Kahakai Kitchen will be our CTB host and deadlines for posts are due July 31, 2014. Come join us in reading, blogging and cooking up this great book!</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"></span></div>
Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-53968388101122815162014-04-10T12:53:00.000-04:002014-04-10T12:53:19.032-04:00Chicken Riggies: An Upstate New York SpecialtyI thought I knew all about the local food specialties in my corner of the world, but then I had a peek at<a href="http://alloveralbany.com/archive/2012/02/05/the-search-for-the-quintessential-capital-region-f"> this blog post at All Over Albany.</a> I can't say that I have every had -or desired- mozzarella sticks with raspberry sauce, or know why mini hot dogs made the list, and I lived in Albany for over ten years. As a Saratoga Springs resident for two decades, I can attest that potato chips were allegedly invented at Moon's Lake House in Saratoga Springs and for the last twenty years a local candymaker has been putting out a purportedly traditional Victorian holiday treat, the Peppermint Pig (complete with miniature hammer for smashing it to bits for consumption).<br />
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A map of New York state foods subsequently was posted on All Over Albany, which I reproduce below:<br />
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<img alt="food regions new york state shannon glazer" height="489" src="http://alloveralbany.com/images/food_regions_new_york_state_shannon_glazer.png" width="640" /><br />
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I have had the delectable spiedies of the Binghamton area, those marinated grilled chicken sandwiches, and of course Buffalo chicken wings are the best. And I must say no one really eats bark in the Adirondacks, except for the wildlife.<br />
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But I had no idea about Utica's Chicken Riggies. It seems that the Italian-American community there love a very saucy, spicy chicken with rigatoni (the "riggies" part) so I had to try that. The secret ingredient is chopped up hot cherry peppers, so do yourself a favor and buy some fresh or at least buy the biggest jar of pickled cherry peppers you can find and keep it on hand to make this great recipe.<br />
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I found this recipe at <a href="http://thebrooklynragazza.blogspot.com/2012/04/utica-chicken-riggies-original-chef-joe.html">The Brooklyn Ragazza blog </a>which claims to be the original recipe as created by chef Joe Morelli (one of Stephanie Plum's love interests in Janet Evanovich's comic mystery series is named Joe Morelli, so that was another propitious sign inspiring me to make this dish). <br />
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I cut down on the hot peppers called for in the recipe and had a slightly more judicious hand with the meat, and dairy products, and served up our Chicken Riggies over gluten-free corn rigatoni.<br />
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It<br />
Was<br />
Awesome.<br />
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And husband and child number 2 tell me it must now be part of our regular menu rotation.<br />
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Here's my version of Chicken Riggies, made Gluten-Free and a bit lighter on the old stomach.<br />
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<b>Chicken Riggies</b> (adapted from The Brooklyn Ragazza)<br />
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1 pound of Rigatoni<br />
1 lbs. of boneless chicken breast, cut up into 1/2 inch cubes<br />
2 large roasted red peppers, medium chopped ( I used jarred roasted peppers)<br />
4 hot cherry peppers, roughly chopped (fresh is traditional, but pickled peppers worked great too)<br />
1 (28 oz.) can of whole plum tomatoes, broken up into chunks (your hands work well for this- just get in and get squishy)<br />
5 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped (divided)<br />
1/2 c. of grated Pecorino Romano cheese (plus more for topping)<br />
1/2 c. dry Sherry wine<br />
4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil (divided- half for sauté, half for sauce)<br />
2 Tbsp. butter<br />
¼ c. heavy cream<br />
½ tsp. dried basil<br />
1/2 tsp. salt<br />
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In a large pot heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil on low heat with 4 of the garlic cloves. Be careful that the garlic doesn’t get brown or burnt. Cook, stirring, 2 minutes.<br />
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Add tomatoes and Sherry. Simmer for a few minutes. Add the butter, dried basil and the sea salt. Allow to simmer on very low heat. <br />
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Meanwhile, in a skillet, saute the chicken in remaining 2 Tbsp. olive oil. When chicken is almost browned, stir in the roasted red peppers, cherry peppers, and remaining garlic and sauté for a couple of minute so the flavors marry. <br />
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Stir tomatoes and Romano cheese together and add to chicken. Simmer for 10 minutes.<br />
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Cook rigatoni until al dente and toss with sauce mixture. Serve with additional grated cheese.<br />
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Serves 4-6.<br />
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I'm sending over a plate of this Utica, New York signature dish to the Pasta Please Challenge, hosted by <a href="http://www.tinnedtomatoes.com/">Tinned Tomatoes</a> and guest hosted this month by <a href="http://sliceoffme.wordpress.com/2014/04/01/pasta-please-challenge-april-2014/">Slice of Me</a>.<br />
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<br />Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-34149545908944537502014-03-28T17:26:00.001-04:002014-03-29T08:02:15.935-04:00Of Possums, Oysters and Mark TwainMy <a href="http://cookthebooksclub.blogspot.com/2014/02/our-februarymarch-boo-pick-twains-feast.html">Cook the Books</a> Cohost Simona (the cheese-, pasta- and bread-making force behind <a href="http://briciole.typepad.com/">Briciole</a>) picked a wonderful title for our online foodie book club to savor: Andrew Beahrs' <i>Twain's Feast: Searching for America's Lost Foods in the Footsteps of Samuel Clemens</i>. The book examines some regional foods that Twain pined for, both in terms of their historical importance and as they appear in contemporary America, interspersed with some snippets about Twain's interesting life. It's a great gumbo of a book full of food history, ecology and literary biography and a good introduction to the life and words of this multi-faceted American genius without having to snap one's wrists wielding his autobiography (Vols. 1 and 2 of an anticpated three volume set recently released on the centenary of his death and weighing in at 4 lbs. each so far).<br />
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<i>Twain's Feast</i> is a book that both Dan and I thoroughly enjoyed and which we kept reading out loud to each other during each of our turns flipping through it. Beahrs' starts with a list of American dishes that the homesick and hotel food-weary Twain dreams of tasting upon his return from the European tour described in his hilarious 1880 travel memoir <i>A Tramp Abroad</i>:<br />
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<span style="background-color: #faebd0; text-align: justify; text-indent: 16px;">"It has now been many months, at the present writing, since I have had a nourishing meal, but I shall soon have one—a modest, private affair, all to myself. I have selected a few dishes, and made out a little bill of fare, which will go home in the steamer that precedes me, and be hot when I arrive—as follows:</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Radishes. Baked apples, with cream, </span><br /><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Fried oysters; stewed oysters. Frogs.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">American coffee, with real cream.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">American butter.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Fried chicken, Southern style.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Porter-house steak.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Saratoga potatoes.</span> <span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Broiled chicken, American style.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Hot biscuits, Southern style.</span></blockquote>
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<blockquote>
<span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Hot wheat-bread, Southern style.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Hot buckwheat cakes.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">American toast. Clear maple syrup.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Virginia bacon, broiled.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Blue points, on the half shell.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Cherry-stone clams.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">San Francisco mussels, steamed.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Oyster soup. Clam Soup.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Philadelphia Terapin soup.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Oysters roasted in shell-Northern style.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Soft-shell crabs. Connecticut shad.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Baltimore perch.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Brook trout, from Sierra Nevadas.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Lake trout, from Tahoe.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Sheep-head and croakers, from New Orleans.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Black bass from the Mississippi.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">American roast beef.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Roast turkey, Thanksgiving style.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Cranberry sauce. Celery.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Roast wild turkey. Woodcock.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Canvas-back-duck, from Baltimore.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Prairie liens, from Illinois.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Missouri partridges, broiled.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">'Possum. Coon.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Boston bacon and beans.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Bacon and greens, Southern style.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Hominy. Boiled onions. Turnips.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Pumpkin. Squash. Asparagus.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Butter beans. Sweet potatoes.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Lettuce. Succotash. String beans.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Mashed potatoes. Catsup.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Boiled potatoes, in their skins.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">New potatoes, minus the skins.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Early rose potatoes, roasted in the ashes, Southern style, served hot.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Sliced tomatoes, with sugar or vinegar. Stewed tomatoes.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Green corn, cut from the ear and served with butter and pepper.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Green corn, on the ear.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Hot corn-pone, with chitlings, Southern style.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Hot hoe-cake, Southern style.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Hot egg-bread, Southern style.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Hot light-bread, Southern style.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Buttermilk. Iced sweet milk.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Apple dumplings, with real cream.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Apple pie. Apple fritters.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Apple puffs, Southern style.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Peach cobbler, Southern style</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Peach pie. American mince pie.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">Pumpkin pie. Squash pie.</span><span style="background-color: #faebd0; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.16468620300293px;">All sorts of American pastry."</span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
To cap off this "modest" repast, Twain also noted that he would like some fresh fruit and ice water on the table.<br />
<br />
It's quite a list. And one would think that a food blogger, namely me, would have an easy time selecting from this cornucopia of foods to produce a dish in homage of Messrs. Beahrs and Twain, but I was unsettled about what to make.<br />
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My first inclination was to make Saratoga Potatoes, being that I live in New York's Saratoga County and these CRISPY delights are the stuff of local food legend. Saratoga Potatoes are now more commonly known as potato chips -or crisps to you Brits- and were allegedly first whipped up in anger by George C. Crum, the chef at Moon's Lake House in Saratoga Springs, for a pesky customer who kept returning his potatoes back to the kitchen. I made a pilgrimage to Potato Chip Lane, near the famous Saratoga Race Track, but was left uninspired, though I plan to try my hand at chips in a future blog post.<br />
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Twain's list referenced two American mammals, the opposum and the raccoon, which are given a chapter's treatment by Beahrs' as he attends a southern Arkansas coon roast. I don't understand why the locals bother cooking up 600 POUNDS of coon meat, when the stench from the fat makes the meat nigh inedible until it is boiled and rinsed and sauced to death. Then it takes like sauce. Must be just the novelty or the tradition of the thing.<br />
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I almost took it as a divine portent when unbelievably, we had a day time visit from a young opposum two weeks ago during the one day it was sunny and above freezing this calendar year. This possum was a real cutie and stayed around our house for almost six hours snacking on wild cherries that had fallen (and no doubt fermented) on the ground. At dusk, it made its way painfully slowly across our well-trafficked road to resume hibernation in our neighbor's barn. (Don't tell her, she's not a marsupial fan).<br />
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I ended up inspired by Beahrs' chapter on oysters, once so plentiful in the U.S. that they were sold by the barrel. I usually make my late mother-in-law's Scalloped Oyster recipe at the holidays, though my last several versions have been soupier than desired since we now make a gluten-free version. Here I was almost ready to go back to the drawing board again, as every supermarket and fish market I tried did not have them in stock. Apparently oysters are now considered only a holiday item. I did end up with one container of shucked oysters from the Saratoga Springs Price Chopper (they weren't in stock the other two times I tried) which were cleverly hidden away in a refrigerated case next to the organic vegetable section, so clutching this in the crook of my arm throughout the rest of my shopping trip, I got it home and tinkered with the family recipe to make this rich and delectable side dish.<br />
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<b>Grandma Millie's Scalloped Oysters</b><br />
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1 cup gluten-free crackers, crumbled (I used Glutino original premium rounds – 4.4 oz. They are most like the saltines Millie used in the original recipe). <br />
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1 cup gluten-free bread crumbs (from 3-4 slices of GF bread, not those Sahara dry pre-packaged GF crumbs)<br />
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1 stick butter, softened<br />
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1 pt. oysters, liquid reserved<br />
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1/4 tsp. black pepper<br />
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milk or cream<br />
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½ tsp. salt<br />
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½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce (check to make sure GF)<br />
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Use 1-2 Tbsp. butter to grease a 1-1/2 qt. casserole dish. Melt remaining butter and mix with cracker and bread crumbs.<br />
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Roughly cut up oysters to break up large pieces (I used kitchen shears in the oyster container so I wouldn’t lose any of the precious oyster liquor).<br />
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Place 1/3 of the buttered crumbs on the bottom of the casserole dish. Spoon half of oysters over the crumbs. Repeat layers once, reserving last third of crumbs.<br />
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Add enough milk or cream to oyster liquor to make 1 cup. Add in salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Stir to mix well and then pour over oyster casserole. Top with remaining cracker crumbs.<br />
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Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, uncovered.<br />
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If you don't need to dine gluten-free, replace GF crackers and bread with an equal amount of saltine crackers, like Grandma Millie used to. This dish is lovely served with a green salad and roll on the side or as part of your New England holiday table.<br />
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Please join us after the March 31st deadline for this round of <a href="http://cookthebooksclub.blogspot.com/">Cook the Books</a> to see the other parts of Twain's Feast that my compadres have cooked up. And please also consider joining us in reading and cooking from our next Cook the Books selection, <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.559999465942383px;"><i>Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America</i></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.559999465942383px;"> by Firoozeh Dumas. Deadline for that next round of Cook the Books is June 1, 2014.</span><br />
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I am also sending a scoop of this rich and decadent oyster treat to <a href="http://www.bethfishreads.com/2009/10/introducing-weekend-cooking.html">Weekend Cooking</a> at <a href="http://www.bethfishreads.com/">Beth Fish Reads</a>, a weekly roundup of links to foodcentric posts across the blogosphere.<br />
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<br />Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-21673244920553300322014-03-19T19:06:00.001-04:002014-03-19T19:06:42.292-04:00Broccoli Salad with Sun Dried Tomatoes, A GF Product Review and GiveawayThrough this relentlessly cold and snowy (and recently icy) winter season, I have been diligently trying to empty my chest freezer of several seasons' worth of chopped, pureed and oven-roasted garden tomatoes. I have been so diligent that I have in fact, run out of my homegrown tomato "gold", so I was delighted when Mooney Farms sent me a sampler box of some of their <a href="https://bellasunluci.com/">Bella Sun Luci </a>sun-dried tomato products.<br />
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Mooney Farms is a family-owned company located in California, and has a wide variety of plain and seasoned sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil and resealable pouches of julienne-cut sun-dried tomatoes. Dan and I popped the lid off the Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto with Pine Nuts the same night we received our package and mixed it over our warm pasta. The sauce is nicely acidic and we made sure to mop up all sauciness with the heel of our accompanying bread. Delicioso!<br />
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We also broke into a jar of Bruschetta and added a dollop to our omelets one morning. Very tasty once again.<br />
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A few days later, I added a couple of tablespoons of the julienne-cut sun-dried tomatoes with Italian herbs to a batch of Broccoli Salad, and it added just the right notes of brightness and zing to an already delightful mix of salty, sweet and fresh flavors. My friend Nancy brought a batch of this great vegetable salad to a summer party last year and I pestered her for the recipe. Here it is below, with the addition of these Bella Sun Luci additions:<br />
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<b>Nancy's Broccoli Salad</b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">1 large head </span><span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">broccoli, cut into small flowerets </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">(Nancy says: "I cut it very small and also the stems but skin them first or I buy a bag of</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">broccoli</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">slaw and just add the cut up</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">broccoli</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">crowns. I also steam the</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">broccoli</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">just a tad sometimes.")</span><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
1/2 to 1 lb of cooked crisp bacon- chop or break up into small pieces (I used 1/2 lb.)</div>
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Red onion rings, chopped or diced (about 1/2 red onion)</div>
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1 cup shredded cheese ( Nancy says "I use sharp Cheddar, use what you prefer.")</div>
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Handful of radishes- sliced (Nancy says ":I tend to cut them into little "sticks")</div>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
1/4 cup raisins</div>
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2 Tbsp. julienne cut Bella Sun Luci sun-dried tomatoes</div>
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*Nancy says you can also add in diced apple, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds - all optional</div>
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Dressing Ingredients: </div>
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1 cup mayonnaise</div>
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4 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar</div>
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1/3 cup sugar</div>
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Combine cider and sugar until dissolved, add mayonnaise and stir until smooth.</div>
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Mix with rest of the above ingredients a few hours ahead of serving to mix flavors thoroughly. (Nancy says: "I make the day before. It keeps well covered in fridge.")</div>
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Makes 8-10 servings. </div>
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You can check out a slew of other recipes using Bella Sun Luci's line of sun dried tomato products back at the Mooney Farms <a href="http://bellasunluci.com/blog/recipes/">website</a>, or create your own and enter to win a $2,500 cash prize in the company's recipe contest by July 1st.</div>
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Now for the giveaway part:</div>
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Mooney Farms has generously offered to provide a giveaway of some of their Bella Sun Luci sun dried tomato items to a Crispy Cook reader. To enter the giveaway, you must leave a comment below by the deadline of April 2, 2014. You can also earn an additional entry by liking the Crispy Cook on Facebook. If you have already liked the Crispy Cook, just note that in your comment below and your comment will count twice toward the random drawing for this giveaway. Giveaway limited to U.S. shipping addresses only. </div>
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Buon Apetito!</div>
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I am sending a virtual bowl of this toothsome Sun Dried Tomato Studded Broccoli Salad to Deb at <a href="http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/2009/01/souper-sundays-details-and-guidelines.html">Kahakai Kitchen </a>for her Souper Sundays event, where each week a sampling of soups, salads and sandwiches are rounded up from great home cooks around the world. </div>
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**Note: I received a box filled with 5 jars of Bella Sun Luci Sun Dried Tomatoes and 2 bags of julienne-cut Bella Sun Luci Sun Dried Tomatoes from Mooney Farms, but I was not compensated for this post or obligated to post a review. As always, my comments are completely my own. </div>
Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-26975107896277325382014-03-02T10:14:00.001-05:002014-03-02T10:14:19.629-05:00Old-Fashioned Date-Nut Bread Made Gluten-Free and Giveaway ReminderDuring the course of my holiday food shopping, I picked up a package of dates and meant to use them in something for the Christmas feast, but just didn't get to it. They've been stashed away in my kitchen cupboards since but after skimming a charming antique children's book, The Corner House Girls on a Tour, by Grace Brooks Hill, I was inspired to get cooking with them.<br />
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**As an aside, a used bookseller skims a lot of books-partly to figure out where to shelve them and partly, because we are magpie readers, visually attracted to all kinds of books that we want to place strategically around our bowers. I read 1-2 books a week but I estimate that I skim parts of at least 100 books a week.</div>
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Anyway, this picnic preparation passage from this 1917 volume caught my fancy: </div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"Ruth, the eldest and most sedate of the sisters, was filling sandwiches at the dresser—and such a variety as there was of them!</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Chicken, with mayonnaise and a lettuce leaf; pink ham cut thin and decorated with little golden dabs of mustard; peanut butter sandwiches; nut and cheese sandwiches, the filling nestling in a salad leaf, too; tuna fish, with narrow slices of red, red Spanish peppers decorating it; </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">and of course sardines, carefully split and laid between soda crackers. What picnic lunch would be complete without sardines?"</span></span></blockquote>
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It all sounded like such a delightfully old-fashioned repast, and made me have a hankering for a nut and cheese sandwich, most specifically a slice of date-nut bread spread thickly with cream cheese. </div>
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My trusty Betty Crocker Cookbook (1996 version) had a quick recipe for Date-Banana Bread, which I halved, switched around and made gluten-free into a tasty loaf that was moist and substantial. </div>
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Here's what I did:<br />
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<b>Gluten-Free Date-Nut Bread</b><br />
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1 Tbsp. vegetable shortening<br />
1/4 cup boiling water<br />
1/2 cup chopped dates<br />
2/3 cups sugar<br />
1/4 cup softened butter<br />
1 egg, beaten<br />
1 tsp. vanilla<br />
1 cup sorghum flour<br />
1/4 cup white rice flour<br />
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum<br />
1/2 tsp. baking soda<br />
1/2 tsp. salt<br />
1/2 cup chopped walnuts<br />
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Grease one loaf pan with shortening.<br />
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Pour boiling water over dates to soften. Meanwhile, mix sugar and butter in a large bowl. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.<br />
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Mix dry ingredients in another bowl and well blended and then toss in the nuts to coat them. Mix dry ingredients into the butter-sugar mixture. Stir in soaked dates and water and mix everything well.<br />
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Spoon batter into greased loaf pan and bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for one hour, checking with a toothpick to see that it comes out clean. If batter clings to the toothpick, keep checking at 5 minute intervals to test for doneness.<br />
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Makes 1 loaf. </div>
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I am sending a slice of this luscious tea loaf over to <a href="http://www.bethfishreads.com/">Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads,</a> a weekly roundup of food-related posts.<br />
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I also want to remind everyone of the giveaway that I have of two new gluten-free books <a href="http://wheat-free-meat-free.blogspot.com/2014/02/a-review-of-two-new-gluten-free-books.html">back at this post</a>. Deadline to enter the giveaway is March 5th. </div>
Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-20343471488822569562014-02-25T10:47:00.002-05:002014-02-25T10:48:03.847-05:00Cooking from Babette's Feast: A Movie Review and some Easy AioliEvery month the hosts at <a href="http://foodnflix.blogspot.com/">Food 'n Flix</a> pick a movie and participants then cook up something in its honor. This month the film is truly wonderful: Babette's Feast, an Oscar-winning 1987 Danish movie based on an Isak Dinesen short story. I won't give away any plot spoilers (a great synopsis and film commentary can be found <a href="http://press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/243230.html">here)</a>, but it is a fantastic film on so many levels. The acting is superb, the cinematography makes even the most desolate Nordic shoreline or humble kitchen scene seem fascinating and inviting, and the costumes and sets of the 19th century Danish estates and humble cottages are splendid. Babette, the French live-in servant to two elderly Puritan spinster sisters, has the most fabulous hooded cloak designed by Karl Lagerfeld, which shields her from raging seaside storms and adds a mysterious allure to even the most mundane of her household chores.<br />
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It is a period drama and yet full of humor. The Danish sisters Martine and Philippa that take in the French Civil War refugee Babette seem to subsist on reconstituted outdoor-dried flounder and a horrendous concoction, Ale Bread, that involves more reconstituting, this time of dried bread hunks, into a unappealing porridge. The household cuisine gradually takes on more flavor and variety when Babette enters the scene, a change which is most eagerly welcomed by the shut-ins that Martine and Philippa bring food to as one of their charitable good works. When Babette leaves for a short time at the end of the film, the look on one of the invalid's face when he sees Ale Bread back in his house is priceless.<br />
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And then there is the metaphor of food and feasting as a way of celebrating life and good friends and even honoring God, as the sisters and their fellow elderly congregants find out at the end of the transformative meal that is the centerpiece of the film. I loved the change in the diners' faces as they go from grumpy to positively ecstatic (certainly the multiple glasses of fine wine helped) by the end of the meal. One of them, a pink-cheeked, bright-eyed woman named Solveig, steals the scene in this regard, taking a sip of water to refresh her palate before knocking back another glass of burgundy, taking care to lick every drop from her lips.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tBLOUaC_t90/Uwytr67-XeI/AAAAAAAALqM/HxZNVZzAGPM/s1600/babette.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tBLOUaC_t90/Uwytr67-XeI/AAAAAAAALqM/HxZNVZzAGPM/s1600/babette.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scene stealer Solveig is third from the left</td></tr>
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For my culinary tip of the hat to this outstanding film, I wanted to make something French. Babette is the wise heroine that has found peace in her new homeland and with gentle Martine and Philippa, and wants to give them the gift of a fine meal to honor their dead father and religious leader. She spends all that she has to give them this present, brushing aside the sisters' protestations when they learn of it, with a simple declaration: "a great artist is never poor."<br />
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Husband Dan has recently discovered an insanely easy way to make homemade aioli, which we have been slathering on our sandwiches, dolloping on top of salads, and love alongside steamed artichokes.<br />
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Dan makes it in a drinking glass using an immersion blender. The trick is to choose the right glass. You want something with tall sides and that is just a little bit wider than the immersion blender so the tool can go up and down easily and you can see that the aioli is emulsifying and getting to the right creamy consistency. Here's his recipe:<br />
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<b>Dan's Easy Homemade Aioli</b><br />
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1 egg yolk<br />
1 Tbsp. water<br />
Juice of one small lemon (about 2 tsp.)<br />
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard<br />
1 cup canola oil<br />
2 cloves roasted garlic (peeled)<br />
Salt to taste<br />
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Place all ingredients except salt in your glass. Blend with immersion blender moving slowly up and down the glass until all ingredients have been mixed together and it is a creamy consistency. This takes a minute at most. Season with salt to taste.<br />
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Makes 1 cup aioli. Store tightly covered and use within a week or so. Not a problem in our house.<br />
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That's it! A remarkably easy recipe and one which adapts to other mix-in flavors, like Chipotles in Adobo sauce (that's the red in the photo above) , roasted red peppers, curry powder or fresh chopped herbs.<br />
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Many, many bravos to Babette's Feast! Thanks to <a href="http://culinary-adventures-with-cam.blogspot.com/">Culinary Adventures with Camilla</a> for picking this great film for Food 'n Flix. Stop by later this week to see the roundup of other Babette's Feast posts.<br />
<br />Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-56087771533772537072014-02-22T15:50:00.001-05:002014-02-22T15:50:13.233-05:00An Indian Inspired Vegan and Gluten Free FeastThe North Wind just keeps on blowing this winter here in upstate New York, but rather than feeling housebound here at the Crispy Casa (and watching too many icy sports in the Sochi Winter Olympics) we've warmed up with books, films, music and foods focused on more sultry climes.<br />
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The subcontinent of India has beckoned with the wonderful travel memoir by Tahir Shah "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" about his days learning the tricks of magic and illusion in Calcutta. I've also devoured two of the four witty mysteries by Tarquin Hall featuring chubby Delhi private investigator Vish Puri and his motley gang of operatives.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fzsGg1KrFVo/UwkInDBfjcI/AAAAAAAALos/3E4O2jQg6GY/s1600/tshah2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fzsGg1KrFVo/UwkInDBfjcI/AAAAAAAALos/3E4O2jQg6GY/s1600/tshah2.gif" /></a>India was the theme of a recent dinner and a movie date with one of our favorite couples, Joe and Lisa, last week. Joe's a vegan and Lisa, like my husband Dan, must dine gluten-free, so there was some planning involved in getting a menu for a delicious feast for us all. I consulted with my cookbook library (Madhur Jaffrey was most helpful, as was Isa Chandra Moskowitz) and found some great recipes and inspiration. We had recently had a trip to the Asian markets in Albany to stock up on edible supplies, so our menu came together very nicely:<br />
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<b>A Vegan and Gluten Free Feast</b><br />
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<b>Pappadum </b><br />
I buy these packaged chickpea (or gram) flour disks and then puff them up individually in the microwave for about a minute and a half, rather than frying them in oil, as the package instructs. They come in a variety of flavors and brands, but be sure to read the ingredient labels to make sure no wheat flour is added.<br />
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<b>Spicy Eggplant in Tomato Sauce</b><br />
I adjusted a great recipe I found in beautifully illustrated coffee table cookbook. "The Food of India" (Bay Books, 2002) which called for fried wedges of those cute little round Indian eggplants simmered in a tomato sauce redolent with ginger, garlic, fennel, and coriander.<br />
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<b>Steamed Basmati Rice</b><br />
I sauteed a handful of curry leaves in oil for a few minutes before adding them to the rice cooker.<br />
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<b>Punjabi Cabbage</b><br />
Another riff off a recipe from "The Food of India", very similar to <a href="http://www.revivedkitchen.com/2012/08/punjabi-cabbage/">this recipe link here</a>. Basically, you saute chopped cabbage with your whole spice cabinet.<br />
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<b>Tamarind Lentils</b><br />
I used the recipe from Moskowitz's epic "Veganomicon", <a href="http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/3392452-Tamarind-Lentils?full_recipe=true">linked here</a>. The recipe recommends that the regular brown lentils not be used as they might get too mushy, so I used horsegram, which is a kind of legume popular in India that is lentil-y but remains very firm after cooking. My guests liked this recipe a lot, remarking that it was sort of like Indian Baked Beans.<br />
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<b>Chopped Cucumbers with Coriander, Salt and Lime</b><br />
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<b>Mango Pickle and Apple-Raisin Chutney</b><br />
Mango Pickle was store-bought and extremely salty. Just need a little dab on the plate. Apple-Raisin Chutney was homemade from <a href="http://wheat-free-meat-free.blogspot.com/2008/09/canning-fruits-of-autumn-with-apple.html">my recipe here</a>.<br />
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<b>Baked Curried Tofu</b><br />
Veganomicon's recipe used here. Very easy to make with the added bonus, that unlike with a meat marinade, one can pour off the marinade from the tofu before baking to reuse as a base for another sauce or salad dressing.<br />
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<b>Chopped Fresh Mango Cubes</b><br />
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I wish I had remembered to take a picture of our beautiful feast as it lay unmolested on our dining table, but alas, I was in full entertainment mode, and only remembered to snap a photo of our leftovers. Just imagine some brightly colored table linens, bhangra music in the background and the smell of exotic spices wafting over us.<br />
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To cap off our "trip to India", we all snuggled into the couch to watch a DVD of "Today's Special", a charming foodie flick about an impatient young first generation Indian man who learns how to cook great food, not from being a sous chef in a fancy Manhattan restaurant but from learning how to passionately appreciate life when he helps his ailing father reinvigorate their Indian restaurant in Queens.<br />
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I am linking this post up with Weekend Cooking over at <a href="http://www.bethfishreads.com/">Beth Fish Reads</a>, where each Sunday great cooks share their foodie musings and recipes.<br />
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<br />Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-4614738454554923272014-02-07T12:43:00.001-05:002014-02-07T12:44:58.654-05:00Eating our Way through Albany, New York on a Cold Winter's DayPlaying tourist in our own backyard during this interminable winter is one way to beat the cabin fever blahs. It was also the perfect cover for my ruse to lure my husband to a surprise birthday dinner with his favorite loved ones.<br />
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The epic journey started with two hours of snow shoveling at home and wrapping up orders at the bookstore, but then finally got our day underway around 1 pm. I told the old man that I would have a bunch of surprise events all day long, nothing expensive, or wild like hot air balloon ride, so he wasn't too suspicious.<br />
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We started with lunch out at <a href="http://casadominicanarestaurant.com/">Casa Dominica </a>(260 Central Avenue), which offered just the sort of soul-satisfying food that rewards a morning of snow drudgery. The restaurant is bright, clean, and welcoming. We didn't speak Spanish like most of the other patrons that day, but we warmly welcomed and then each item in a steaming hot lunch counter was explained to us, always a good thing when you must dine gluten-free. I had cautioned Dan that I had made dinner reservations to cap the day but both of us couldn't help ourselves as we nodded when the proprietor heaped our plates with pork chops, baked and stewed chicken, rice, sweet plantains and roast pork. The latter was particularly wonderful with a wonderful CRISPY crust, all served with a spicy garlic and cilantro sauce on the side.<br />
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Leftovers were cheerfully wrapped up (we knew spoilage was no problem in our refrigerated car) and the owner was most gracious to offer his tips about making the roast pork at home: 400 degrees F for three hours covered with foil and then uncovered for an hour more. Water should be added to the roasting pan and replenished as needed to keep it moist. We plan to be back again and again to try all the other tasty-sounding things on the menu (Alcapurrias (Stuffed Plantains), (Mofongo de Pollo (Mashed Plantains with Chicken), Majarete (Corn Custard). Two big thumbs up for Casa Dominica!<br />
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Then it was time to walk off some lunch. We headed over to the Historic Albany Foundation's Architectural Parts Warehouse (89 Lexington Avenue) and spent a great time perusing buckets of old doorknobs and porch spindles, bathroom fixtures in a range of styles and hues, tons of old doors and windows and some other intriguing bits of old buildings.<br />
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A lot of the most beautiful and unusual items already had SOLD stickers on them, including a magnificent, wall-sized wooden commercial ice box, circa 1910s-20s with great old brass fittings, an entire Victorian interior staircase with ornate carvings, and great chunks of old carved stone.<br />
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The Parts Warehouse also offers<br />
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but I settled for a kiss from my beloved near some buckets of stair parts.<br />
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Our next stop on the Albany Tour was going to be Dnipro Deli, a Russian-Eastern European market on Central Avenue in Colonie <a href="http://wheat-free-meat-free.blogspot.com/2012/03/mushroom-salad-hunting-russian-language.html">that I have shopped at and reported on before</a>, but they were closed and I've since discovered that they have moved to yet another location in Latham. So, we redirected our efforts to checking out <a href="http://www.parivarfoods.com/">Parivar Spices and Food</a> (1275 Central Avenue), where we had never shopped. We stocked up on a ten-pound bag of basmati rice, curry leaves, besan (chickpea flour), and some packaged snack mixes of roasted beans, chickpea "straws" and spices that we like to sprinkle on our curries and rice dishes. The produce selection is not as great as at the nearby India Bazaar, but the owners were helpful and friendly and noticed that I had picked out basmati sella (a yellowish parboiled short-grain rice product) instead of regular long-grain basmati, so I was pleased that they were looking out for me. There's also a cafe in back which we hope to return to in the future. We were there in mid-afternoon, so there were only a handful of folks knocking back the delicious-looking and -smelling plates of food, but it is apparently a local hot spot for Indian food.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/asian-supermarket-albany">Asian Supermarket</a> (1245 Central Avenue) was the next stop to replenish our supplies of fresh tofu, kimchee, peanut oil, various kinds of gluten-free noodles and other ingredients. Dan was super-psyched to find some gluten-free ramens and we always have fun perusing the massive selection of fruits and vegetables. They had pomelos as big as my head, squeaky fresh bags of snow peas, beautiful round Indian eggplants, and my favorite roasted seaweed snacks. We always buy a few new things, and the prices are so reasonable that it isn't a problem if we don't like them. I got a bottle of gluten-free dumpling sauce in hopes that Dan will whip up some of his great Thai veggie wraps soon and we will be trying to cook up a chayote and some yu choy soon in the Crispy Kitchen.<br />
<br />
It was time to lure my husband out to dinner at <a href="http://newworldbistrobar.com/">New World Bistro</a> (300 Delaware Avenue) where our surprise crew awaited. I had to kill some time by pretending I needed to use the restroom at a fast food joint and then insisting we stop at another store to stock up on the GF corn pasta that Dan really likes, so I was thinking fast on my feet. Our Chevy's dashboard lights are in an intermittent state these days too, so I couldn't keep tabs on the time there, so I had to keep surreptitiously flipping open my cell phone to monitor the countdown to surprise time. This is highly suspicious in my case, since I hate my cell phone--AKA pay-as-you-go electronic ankle monitor-- but Dan was oblivious to my actions and to the New World Bistro hostess who announced that our party of 8 was waiting at the bar when we checked in (Argh! This despite my instructions over the phone).<br />
<br />
But it was all worth it to see my Dear One's face light up when he saw his buddies. We all had a grand time and enjoyed our meals (okay, my daughter didn't realize a garland of beet cubes would be draped over her scallops) and the cozy ambience and service. They also have an extensive gluten-free menu.<br />
<br />
So here's to Staycations in Albany in mid-winter! <br />
<br />Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-12151435172547257462014-02-03T16:18:00.000-05:002014-02-03T16:18:02.052-05:00Lois' Versatile Vegetable Chowder Recipe: A Gift from a Good FriendMy friend Lois is amazingly optimistic and happy. She's <u>always</u> in a good mood. Even when there's terrible weather or some health issue crops up, she's upbeat and always ready to envelope me in a welcoming hug. She's the kind of person that you gravitate towards because she just radiates warmth and happiness.<br />
<br />
Lois is a terrific cook. She and her husband used to own the art gallery next door to our bookshop and when they would have one of their self-catered exhibition openings, Lois would bake and cook for days before. When the nibbles came out on opening night, her creations were always the first to disappear into hungry art lovers' mouths.<br />
<br />
Recently, Lois gave me her handwritten recipe for Vegetable Chowder. It's a versatile recipe that she makes with all kinds of vegetable variations. I of course wanted to make up a pot during our unusually frigid recent weather pattern, so I made sure to stock the larder with broccoli crowns. And sure enough, when I made this satisfying and thick soup, it made me smile almost as much as I do when Lois is around.<br />
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Here's Lois' recipe below. I didn't have cauliflower around and didn't add in any meat, so bulked up on the broccoli (2 full stalks).<br />
<br />
<b>Lois' Versatile Vegetable Chowder</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
1 Tbsp. butter or olive oil<br />
1 medium onion, thinly sliced<br />
1 medium potato, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes<br />
5 oz. each broccoli and cauliflower, coarsely chopped<br />
3 small carrots<br />
2 cups milk<br />
1 cup vegetable broth<br />
1 cup light cream<br />
1 Tbsp. snipped fresh dill (I used frozen)<br />
<br />
*Mix-in Protein Options: 1 lb. of boneless chicken cubes, scallops or peeled shrimp. If using chicken, add in as vegetables are cooking. If using seafood, add it at the end and just cook until done.<br />
<br />
Heat butter/oil in soup pot. Add onions after 5 minutes. Add rest of veggies, milk and broth and cook until tender. Transfer to food processor and chop to little pieces. (I used my immersion blender only briefly, as Dan and I like our soup chunky).<br />
<br />
Return to soup pot and add dill and cream. Just heat up. Don't let boil.<br />
<br />
Makes 4 hearty servings.<br />
<br />
I'll be sharing this wonderful chowder recipe with another friend, Deb of <a href="http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/">Kahakai Kitchen</a>. She hosts a weekly roundup of soup (and sandwich and salad) recipes at her <a href="http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/2009/01/souper-sundays-details-and-guidelines.html">Souper Sundays event.</a> Be sure to stop by next Sunday to see what other wonderful cooks have in their soup cauldrons.<br />
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<b><br /></b>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-19087820427678198092014-01-23T09:37:00.000-05:002014-01-24T09:43:38.630-05:00A Book Review of Baking Cakes in Kigali and an Awesome African MealIn the five plus years since the online foodie book club <a href="http://cookthebooksclub.blogspot.com/2013/12/our-december-january-book-pick-baking.html">Cook the Books</a> began, we've traveled to many kitchens in many lands, but never have we set foot on the African continent until this latest round. We're reading <b>Baking Cakes in Kigali</b>, by Gaile Parkin (NY: Bantam, 2010), an enjoyable novel reminiscent of Alexander McCall Smith's <b>Number One Ladies' Detective</b> series.<br />
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The book is set in the Rwandan capitol of Kigali, a few years after the terrible genocide of 1994. The central heroine is Angel Tungaraza, a Tanzanian grandmother who is living in a high-rise apartment building that houses many other residents from other countries. Angel's husband Pius is a university professor and they are taking care of their three orphaned grandchildren. Angel also has a business as a fancy cake baker and is sought after for her vibrantly decorated confections for weddings, birthdays and other special celebrations.<br />
<br />
There are a lot of subplots and minor characters that weave into the novel and sometimes the social problems brought up in the narrative seem overwhelming, both in number and emotional content (female genital mutilation, grief, rape, AIDS), but I did savor this book (and am happy to note that there is a sequel, <b>When Hoopoes Go to Heaven</b>, published in 2013 that I am eager to read). Parkin is a native of Zambia and was a counselor in Rwanda for two years after the genocide, so I felt that the subjects she brought up and dialogue rang true throughout the tale. Despite all the heavy content, the tone of the book is largely upbeat and hopeful, though certainly, the world has not taken the mantra "never again" to heart all around the globe, but particularly sad in the nearby Central African Republic.<br />
<br />
Angel could be described as a busybody, as she actively works to resolve the different conflicts she encounters among her customers, neighbors and friends. Whenever she hears about an issue that she feels is wrong, she slowly removes her eyeglasses and gives them a good polish from the ever-present collection that resides in her brassiere. "It was something that she found herself doing without thinking whenever she felt that someone could benefit from looking at things a little more clearly." (page 4)<br />
<br />
Angel polishes her spectacles a lot in this book.<br />
<br />
I found many enjoyable lines to quote. Here's a few that I found particularly wonderful:<br />
<br />
"Is a child's laughter not the roof of a house?" (p. 11)<br />
<br />
"In my house it's tea time all the time." (p. 18)<br />
<br />
"When someone is unhappy, tea is like a mother's embrace." (p. 93)<br />
<br />
"...[W]e say that a hoe cannot be damaged by a stone that is exposed." (p. 246)<br />
<br />
At Cook the Books we read and review our featured books and then we cook up something inspired by our reading. I first thought that I would bake a cake like Angel, brightly and colorfully adorned. I did a little research on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imigongo">Imigongo,</a> a native Rwandan art form in which wooden boards are painted with vivid geometric designs using... (wait for it.....) cow dung. I would, of course, have used an alternate frosting.<br />
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<br />
However, I decided to make a savory African treat instead and settled on Mchicha, a Tanzanian spinach and peanut stew, in honor of Angel's homeland. I found many recipes on the Internet and finally settled on <a href="http://www.food.com/recipe/mchicha-tanzanian-spinach-peanut-curry-310341">this one</a>, which I tinkered with to use 1 (10.5 oz.) package of frozen spinach ($1) instead of the 2 lbs. of fresh spinach ($8). I also added in a handful of frozen peas. I wanted to serve my Mchicha over ugali, a stiff cornmeal mush (African polenta!), but was out of same, so served it over stewed red kidney beans instead. A very tasty meal to honor this satisfying book.<br />
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Please join us over at <a href="http://cookthebooksclub.blogspot.com/">Cook the Books</a> after the January 27th deadline for submissions to this round when our splendid CTB Host Deb of the awesome Hawaiian food blog, <a href="http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/">Kahakai Kitchen</a>, will post a roundup of blog posts. After that, feel free to join our band of literary-loving cooks as we read <b>Twain's Feast: Searching for America's Lost Foods in the Footsteps of Samuel Clemens</b>, by Andrew Beahrs.<br />
<br />
<br />Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-53249597321235873722013-11-14T16:12:00.002-05:002013-11-14T16:12:41.096-05:00The Crispy Cook is Let Loose in Virginia and West Virginia<div class="MsoNormal">
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<h5>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">We are back at the Crispy Casa having been sprung for a week
to tour parts of </span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">Virginia</span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;"> and </span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">West Virginia</span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">. Dan and I had a blast seeking out sites of historic
interest, natural beauty and quirkiness. And of course, we were hunting for
books and good food along the way, kicking it old-school without a GPS or smart
phone to guide us (though I did plenty of guidebook and internet research ahead
of time, and we did have a laptop that plugged into our hotels at night).</span></span><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;"><br />
<br />
<span class="usercontent">Here's the highlight of Days 1 (and 7!), the long
driving days of our trip: the most awesome Latin food at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LaIslaRestaurantPA">La Isla</a> in West </span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">Hazelton</span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">, </span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">PA.</span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;"> We were in need of a mid-afternoon lunch and just pulled
randomly off Interstate 81 into this town. We're not much for the zoo food of
chain restaurants and fast food eateries, so we prowled for more miles off the
exit than we wanted in search of deliciousness. Just as we were about to turn
around we stumbled into the triangular intersection of two streets lured by
what appeared to be many contractors' trucks (those guys can nose out good
eats) parked at a renovated gas station turned eatery. </span></span></b></span></h5>
<h5>
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;"></span></b></span></h5>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;"><span class="usercontent">It was La Isla, which was a bustling Latin restaurant filled with delicious smells and lots of folks both
dining in and taking out. We waited until the crowd died down and then peppered
the counter guy with tons of questions about the food, which he was most
gracious about. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<h5>
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;"><span class="usercontent">Dan's gluten-free, so he was told that he could eat anything
on the menu that day that wasn't fried. We each got a plate of two main dishes
with plantains, rice and bean soup. I had the most delicious baked chicken,
while Dan feasted on roast pork. We were stuffed and happy as we hit the road
again, and it was truthfully the best meal we've had in a long time. It was so
good, that we made sure to stop back on our return drive and order up twice as
much to go (stewed goat and chicken!), which we've been depleting in the last
several days since we've been back. </span></span></b><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></h5>
<h5>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;"><span class="usercontent">We spent Night #1 in </span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">Winchester</span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">, </span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">VA</span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">, which has a great stock of 18th century architecture, a
lively pedestrian mall and an amazing Beaux Arts public library gem: The
Handley Library. From the curved and gilded radiators to the window seat bench
nooks to the interior rotunda, every little nook in this jewel is so inviting
and luxuriously detailed. They also have a little used book room, but it was
closed when we arrived as the (only?) volunteer had gone home for the day. </span></span></span></h5>
<h5>
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<h5>
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;"><span class="usercontent">We stayed at the historic George Washington Hotel with a great old-fashioned lobby and the biggest walk-in granite-lined shower stall I've ever
seen. Bodacious amounts of hot water and water pressure and no plastic shower
curtain clinging to my legs<b>! </b> We scooped
up jerk chicken from a <a href="http://www.jamaicaislandcafe.com/">local Jamaican restaurant</a> and feasted like kings in our
comfy hotel room while watching the Cards </span></span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;"><span class="usercontent">unfortunately </span></span></span><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;"><span class="usercontent">lose Game 5 of the World Series.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="usercontent">One thing that was really strange about our day in </span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">Winchester</span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;"> was the birds. We were strolling around at night and heard
some enchanting birdsong up in a tree. Then we noticed the unbelievable
encrustation of bird guano on the sidewalk and quite a layering all over a car parked next to
the tree and we quickly scooted away. We saw this same guano phenomenon on
several other sidewalks and wonder what kind of Hitchcock birds are making this
mess and whether it's just migrating flocks or a constant avian population.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></b></h5>
<h5>
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<h5>
<b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="usercontent">We devoted the whole next day to tooling down the Skyline
Drive in Shenandoah National Park and it wasn't nearly enough time to soak it
all in. The </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">Skyline
Drive</span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">
takes you along the </span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">Blue Ridge</span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">Mountain</span></span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"> tops for 75 miles or so, with some 90 overlooks among its
twists and turns. I had an old edition of Henry Heatwole's Skyline Drive Guide
with us and this was a great reference as we approached the mile markers and
learned about the historical or geographical significance of each spot. </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</span></span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">We were
past autumn leaf peak, but there were still lots of gorgeous muted foliage west
through the </span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">Shenandoah
Valley</span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">
and east toward the </span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">Piedmont</span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">Valley</span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">. We got out for one short hike at Fox Hollow and saw some
remnants of mountain settler homes and grave sites and had a mountaintop picnic
of the rest of our Jamaican delights. </span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">Hazel</span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;">Ridge</span></span><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-weight: normal;"> and the Big Meadow were particularly memorable Skyline
sites.</span></span></span></h5>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qeyBUw4Dq04/UoOPU2E1riI/AAAAAAAAKKU/JSHO5GTNm28/s1600/DSC04771.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qeyBUw4Dq04/UoOPU2E1riI/AAAAAAAAKKU/JSHO5GTNm28/s1600/DSC04771.JPG" width="240" /></a></b></td></tr>
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<span class="usercontent">Day 3: Fulfilling a long-time dream to see Thomas Jefferson's
self-designed home and farm, Monticello, we joined a large number of other
history buffs who received timed tickets to view the house and gro</span><span class="textexposedshow">unds. A bus takes you atop the Little Mountain (</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Monticello</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> in
Italian) and then a tour guide takes small groups through various rooms of the
downstairs. The home is exquisite: perfectly proportioned, filled with historic
treasures, fossils, books and scientific instruments. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="textexposedshow">Though it was late October, there were still plenty
of flowers and vegetables in the expansive gardens that cascade down the
terraced hills. A couple of gardeners were tending the heirloom vegetables and
herbs, which contained many exotic items like cardoons and elecampane, and we
were surprised to see an abundance of hot peppers. We lingered for a long
while, examining the wine cellars (</span></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Jefferson</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> preferred
wine shipped in individual glass bottles rather than wooden casks as they were
less likely to be watered down by "rascally boatmen") and then made
our way downhill past </span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Jefferson</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">'s
gravesite and through a sun-dappled forest. </span></span></span></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow">The museum back at the </span></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Monticello</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> base camp
focuses on the architectural designs and building construction details of </span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Monticello</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">, but I was
left wondering how the initial site preparation was undertaken. </span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Jefferson</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> had 150
slaves, but the logistics of getting them, provisions and supplies up a steep
mountain in the late 1700s-early 1800s and how on earth they leveled the top of
the mountain, improved the rocky soil and removed tree stumps without power
equipment seems a monumental task. Dan was squinting up close to see the
fabulous books from </span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Jefferson</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">'s library
(these are replacements since </span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Jefferson</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> sold his
volumes to the Library of Congress after they were burned in a fire during the
War of 1812).</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"></span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="textexposedshow">I might have pressed on to tour two more nearby
presidential abodes Chez James Monroe/Madison, but Dan was a hungry man and
wanted to check out downtown Charlottesville, so we headed in that direction
and had a restorative meal at <a href="http://eatateppies.com/">Eppie's</a>. They were gracious enough to allow Dan
to have the day before's Carolina Salad special which was gluten-free and I had
a tasty pulled pork sandwich with great collard greens with a peppery vinegar
accompaniment. </span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Note shelf title for the Civil War books</b></td></tr>
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<span class="textexposedshow">Thus revitalized, we sought out Daedalus Books,
where three floors of used and rare books awaited our perusal. The prices are
very reasonable and I saw many unusual and interesting titles. Dan and I bought
some </span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Adirondack</span></span><span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> history
for the store and a first edition of Russell Banks' early novel "The Sweet
Hereafter" for ourselves. We had a nice chat with Sandy, the affable
owner, and teased him about labeling his Civil War books as The War of Yankee
Aggression, as well as commiserating about how the poetry shelves suffer the
most from customer's "creative reshelving" (Sandy says that comes
from poets having their heads in the clouds). He advised us to be sure not to
leave his city without walking around some of the surrounding historic streets
so we took his suggestion and had a nice stroll around the courthouse, some
churches and old hotels. One the way back to our hotel we passed by the <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/spca-rummage-store-charlottesville">SPCA Thrift Stor</a>e, and had a nice half hour before they closed admiring their
homeless kitties and interesting wares before leaving with an armload of art
and music titles.</span></span></div>
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Days 4-7:
Exploring </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">West
Virginia</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">We left </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Charlottesville</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> the next morning and began our days in
</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">West
Virginia</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">.
The central attraction of this trip was our daughter’s college soccer games in
the USCAA national tournament in </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Charleston</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">, </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">WV</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> on Friday and Saturday
with her Albany College of Pharmacy team, but we tacked on some other days to
make this a week long vacation. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C6HPgolYrvA/UoOZkIlwjMI/AAAAAAAAKN4/0Up9MNhhjB8/s1600/rp_primary_007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="186" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C6HPgolYrvA/UoOZkIlwjMI/AAAAAAAAKN4/0Up9MNhhjB8/s1600/rp_primary_007.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Albany College of Pharmacy 2013 Women's Soccer Team</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">I must say </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">West Virginia</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> was a state I had never thought about
visiting before. Here’s what I knew about the Mountain State before our trip:
1) Hatfield and McCoy feuds; 2) Homer Hickam and the Rocket Boys from the 1999
movie “October Sky”; 3) WV is the state most likely to be used as a horror film
setting; 4) self-styled “hellbillies” in the 2009 documentary “The Wild and
Wonderful Whites of West Virginia”; 5) John Denver’s “Country Roads” hit song;
6) Appalachian poverty. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ajuGObpVJ3o/UoOQcVVmZwI/AAAAAAAAKLM/omUjNtJIeXM/s1600/DSC04793.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ajuGObpVJ3o/UoOQcVVmZwI/AAAAAAAAKLM/omUjNtJIeXM/s1600/DSC04793.JPG" width="240" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">So I did some
research about the history and potential sites before we made the decision to go and found out that it is
a state of great natural beauty and historical interest. After visiting and talking with the interesting folks of this great state, I am excited to visit again some day. This state has a lot of personality and its ruggedly beautiful landscape was a treat after seeing so many other American small towns gobbled up by homogenous commercial strip malls. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">After crossing the
border in WV got off the highway and onto the scenic Midland Trail byway. What
beautiful mountain vistas we saw as we followed the </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Kanawha</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">River</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> towards </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Charleston</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">! We headed up gorgeous mountaintops,
including a delightful overlook and rest stop in the middle of Hawk’s </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Nest</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">State Park</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U2A7KdzgJD0/UoOQkM4TaDI/AAAAAAAAKLU/DpYus-y2b0o/s1600/DSC04794.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U2A7KdzgJD0/UoOQkM4TaDI/AAAAAAAAKLU/DpYus-y2b0o/s1600/DSC04794.JPG" width="320" /></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">and threaded our way through
interesting coal, lumber and industrial towns snuggled up next to the riverside
in the valleys. We had a few stops at thrift shops and convenience stores and
marveled at how quickly the languid Virginia accents had given way to more
twangy speech (West Virginians actually use the word “reckon”). My head was
turned 180 degrees after spying a homemade sign for a cornhole
tournament tacked outside of a bar in </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Rupert</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">, </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">WV</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> and wouldn’t let Dan stop the car and
turn around. A little Internet research later that night revealed this activity
to be nothing more than a souped up game of beanbag toss rather
than a backdoor sex orgy.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bHoiKaxFTKg/UoOQwAZtqoI/AAAAAAAAKLk/7wlOdYm6aD4/s1600/DSC04821.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bHoiKaxFTKg/UoOQwAZtqoI/AAAAAAAAKLk/7wlOdYm6aD4/s1600/DSC04821.JPG" width="320" /></a></b></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Cornhole board and bags spied at a WV antique shop.</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> That night we rooted
for our soccer team on top of a mountain outside of </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Charleston</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">. It was windy and rainy, and the game
was a hard-fought battle that ultimately got a Final Four berth for our
lower-seeded Albany Panthers the next day. </span><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"><br /></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">We had time
before that semi-final soccer game on Day 5 to explore </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Charleston</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> and started off with a visit to the </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">State</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Museum</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">, located right in the Capitol complex
of buildings. It was a great introduction to </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">West Virginia</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> history and culture and I would
recommend it as a launching pad for visitors. Admission to the museum was free
(just had to feed the parking meters </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">outside) and I gained a
lot of insights about different aspects of West Virginia, from coal mining and
other industries, mountain music and arts, and how the state’s history was
shaped. </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">West
Virginia</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">
was a slave-holding state that was carved off from </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Virginia</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> and admitted to the </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Union</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> during the height of the Civil War. </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">West Virginia</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> and </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Virginia</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> seem to have many distinct differences
-much like Upstate versus downstate </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">New York-</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> with the steep, isolating
geography forging a more independent-minded, frontier mentality among </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> West Virginians. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">I saw this interesting flavor a few
times among our trip with the state seeming like a 50/50
blend of Northern (weather and terrain) and Southern
state (I was never called ma'am so much in my life); progressive in some
ways (Mass transit guy I met at the soccer field told me that the
neighborhoods without a supermarket are added to the tourist trolley
route so folks can go to the Capitol Market daily farmer's market) and
conservative (nothing open Sundays til after the Baptist church lets
out). </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> And man, do West Virginians take their football seriously!
Friday and Saturday is devoted to high school and college football. I
saw boatloads of people sporting their Mountaineer (WVU) and Thundering
Herd (Marshall College) regalia over the weekend, and this was at a
women's soccer tournament! We caught lunch at a<a href="http://www.casagrandewv.com/"> Mexican place in the town of Eleanor, WV</a> (a New Deal homestead community named after Eleanor
Roosevelt - inexplicable City motto: "Cleanest town in West Virginia") on Saturday and were thankful that we got there fifteen
minutes before what seemed like the entire swarm of the George Washington High School
Blue Devils football team, their parents, fans, dance team,
cheerleaders and anyone who ever even looked at a Blue Devil strode in,
completely outfitted in their Blue Devil team apparel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> We scored some good WV barbecue from a <a href="http://whycharlestonwv.com/restaurants-in-charleston/dem2-brothers-and-a-grill/">roadside truck</a> at the corner of Virginia Street W and Central Avenue in Charleston (Charleston's nickname is "Charlie West", which is kinda cool, and the city motto is "Hip, Historic, Almost Heaven", which is sorta too much of a mouthful and kind of just inscrutable) and ate in the afternoon sunshine at the riverfront amphitheatre.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">Back on the mountaintop, our team lost their semi-final game to Daeman college, so it was back on the road for the two Jags the next morning of Day 5. We headed to nearby Madison, in Boone County, WV, as it was only a short drive and we wanted to see if that Wild and Wonderful White clan was up and about. They weren't in evidence, but we did score some great souvenirs at three great local thrift shops, from a lovely framed bird lithograph to some awesome WV-themed T-shirts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">The afternoon was spent trekking northwest to Point Pleasant, WV to visit the <a href="http://mothmanmuseum.com/">Mothman Museum</a>. I had never heard of the Mothman, but when I told my kids we would be going they were familiar with this urban legend. Back in 1966, some locals touring around an old factory nearby claimed to have seen a 6 foot tall feathery dude with glowing red eyes fly around. Then there was the disastrous Silver Bridge collapse in December 15, 1967 which claimed many lives, and folks starting talking about links between the sitings of this supposedly supernatural creature and this tragedy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">It's a kind of kitschy but amusing museum, full of yellowed newspaper clippings about the sightings of this cryptid creature (I buy the theory that the possibly inebriated couples that first spied him actually saw a sandhill crane) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">The Mothman statue is a fun photo op. I was intrigued to see his plethora of metallic chest hair. </span><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">The museum is</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";"> a fun way to spend a half hour, but we spent a lot more time in the Mason Jar Antiques Center just across the street which had great prices compared to the antique stores back home. Got a few items to strew around the house, and am kicking myself for not buying a $5 Shriner's fez when I had the chance.</span><div class="MsoNormal">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>A blanket which "came in contact with" Richard Gere and Debra Messing during the filming of the Mothman Prophecies". Gimme a break!</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">We were at the Ohio-WV border, and this was the furthest point west in our journey. We circled back east to head into Parkersburg, WV, for pampering overnight at the historic <a href="http://theblennerhassett.com/">Blennerhasset Hotel</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">It was by far the most luxurious and enjoyable lodging of our trip. The place is beautifully renovated and our room had every amenity: deliciously soft his and hers bathrobes, acres of pillows and comfy cotton sheets and a live jazz trio in the restaurant/lounge downstairs. It was Saturday night and the place was packed, so while it wasn't an intimate romantic dinner for us, it was an enjoyable and lively event. We lingered over a bottle of Gewurztraminer, a Caesar salad for me and a Tuna Napoleon for Dan, made specially gluten-free for him by the chef by substituting wonton skins for homemade potato chips. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">We wanted to check out the beautiful used bookstore we saw on the drive into Parkersburg the next morning, but the Trans Allegheny Bookstore, housed in a former Carnegie Library, is, alas, closed. Apparently the previous owner died and there are some estate problems, so the 500,000 books inside are just rotting away. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">From Parkersburg we traveled some highway miles to Clarksburg, where we had learned of the fabled West Virginia magical food: The Pepperoni Roll! We stopped off the highway to take in the ornate stonework of the downtown architecture when we noticed a whole lot of cars signalling to park at the curb. I looked up and saw a small sign for <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/tomaros-bakery-clarksburg">Tomaro's, </a>an Italian bakery that was noted in one of our tourist pamphlets as having the most amazing Pepperoni rolls in the state. I stood in line where the counter ladies were doing a brisk business and just had time to glance along the bakery menu. There was no hope of scoring a gluten-free version for Dan, but I sampled two of these awesome little snacks, still warm from the oven, (and only $1.40 each!) and tried to suppress my whimpers in front of Dan. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">They are not the little strombolis I had pictured in my mind, but a very soft, pillowy roll studded in the center with several rods of pepperoni. I have purchased a stick of pepperoni upon our return and will try to duplicate this WV road food awesomeness in a gluten-free semblance for my wonderful husband sometime soon. He did get a great Indian lunch further on down the road in the hilliest college town in America, Morgantown, so you don't have to feel too sorry for him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style";">That pretty much wraps it up for our On the Road adventures in VA and WV. I know I want to go back to West Virginia again. There were so many beautiful things to see and unusual places to explore. Yes, I saw some poverty and some faded industrial towns, but we have that too in upstate New York. Certainly I saw a lot of personality and not much of the homogenized strip mall morass that engulfs so much of the American landscape. I was amazed when I asked some of the other soccer parents that traveled to the Charleston tournament what they had done in town. Universally, they said they checked out the downtown mall or went out to dinner at Chili's or somesuch. Reminds me of the protagonist in Anne Tyler's The Accidental Tourist, who writes soothing travel reviews for people who don't want any unexpectedness in their travel plans. Can't wait to get sprung again for our next road trip!</span></div>
Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-78537670422445236402013-10-24T16:05:00.000-04:002013-10-24T16:05:04.740-04:00Animal, Vegetable, Jalapeno!The current selection for this round of <a href="http://cookthebooksclub.blogspot.com/">Cook the Books</a>, the online foodie book club, is a wonderful non-fiction narrative, <span style="color: red;">Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life</span>, by bestselling novelist Barbara Kingsolver, husband Steven L. Hopp, and daughters Camille and Lily. We will be reading this book until November 25, 2013, after which time bloggers may submit a post that outlines their thoughts about the book and a dish that they have cooked up which is inspired by its pages.<br />
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I am one of the co-hosts of Cook the Books, and I picked this title for us all to read as I really enjoyed it when it first came out in 2007. I have long been a Kingsolver fiction fan and some of the elements in this book, like the author's interest in small family farms and an appreciation of seasonal foods, were themes in her earlier novels, especially <span style="color: red;">Prodigal Summer</span>.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">Animal, Vegetable, Miracle <span style="color: black;">is the</span></span> tale of one year spent diligently adhering to a food philosophy that limited items on the Kingsolver-Hopp family table to ones that were raised, grown or foraged on their own or in their local community. This deliberate food experiment started after they moved from their long-time home in Arizona to an old family farmhouse in Kentucky. I really enjoyed reading and now re-reading their forays into intensive gardening, turkey raising, cheese-making and canning, as well as Hopp's sidebars about farming practices, nutrition and biological topics, as well as Camille's wonderful recipes. The prose also relates the family's "pain" when figuring out how to cut out non-local edible delights like coffee, chocolate (the horror!) and citrus, not to mention how to deal with monotonous eating during the larder-scarce month of March.<br />
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While I have had a vegetable garden for most of my adult life and enjoy canning, freezing and drying my harvest, I am not as devout a locavore or self-reliant grower as I'd like to be, so reading this book was good motivation to get back into some canning. We have had a warm autumn here in upstate New York and only just had a hard frost last night. I had been cutting up and freezing most of my bodacious 2013 pepper harvest through the past several months, but Kingsolver's book gave me the kick in the butt to can up some pepper relish. <br />
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I only had one jalapeno pepper plant, a gift from a gardener friend, but it really pumped out the hot peppers! I just cleaned out my pepper plants from the garden this past week and took the opportunity to make some Jalapeno Relish with these pungent little beauties and the last of my garden tomatoes.<br />
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I mostly followed <a href="http://solidgoldeats.com/2012/08/20/garden-fresh-jalapeno-relish/">this recipe</a> though I didn't have enough cilantro from the garden to make the 2/3 cup called for in the recipe so my jalapeno relish is redder rather than greener. I also made sure to bring the relish to a boil before packing into the hot jars (omitted from the recipe in the link), which is an essential step for home canning. I had enough jalapeno harvest from this one prolific plant for two half-pint jars and a little extra which I refrigerated and which we have "relished" on pasta and roasted potatoes. The relish has lots of flavor and a nice kick, too!<br />
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I also pulled in some of the other pepper harvest before our frost this past week and got a gift of some other peppers from a friend. The sweet peppers in this rainbow photo are on the left. The ones on the right are some fire-in-the-hole hot peppers that require gloved hands and a taste for heat: Hot Paprika (small squat red ones), Padrone (green poblano type), long red cayenne, yellow Lemondrop, and those green-to-orange Paper Dragons, which are ferociously hot like habaneros. <br />
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As noted above, the <span style="color: red;">Animal, Vegetable, Miracle</span> round for Cook the Books continues through November 25, 2013. Feel free to join our book club regulars by submitting a post of your own. Details back on the <a href="http://cookthebooksclub.blogspot.com/2013/10/our-octobernovember-2013-book-pick.html">Cook the Books website.</a><br />
<br />Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1889046160451485982.post-24543512245444142662013-09-29T12:29:00.002-04:002013-09-29T12:29:38.668-04:00The Butcher's Great Granddaughter Meets the Baker's DaughterGuten tag! The current book selection for the awesome online foodie book club, <a href="http://cookthebooksclub.blogspot.com/">Cook the Books</a>, is Sarah McCoy's "<span style="color: red;">The Baker's Daughter</span>". I am a butcher's great grand-daughter, by the way, hence the title of this post, and I have a couple of his knives and the hand scars from using them to prove it. No candlestick makers in the family tree, though.<br />
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McCoy's novel takes place in Germany, during the waning years of World War II. The main heroine is Elsie Schmidt, a teenaged daughter in a hard-working family of bakers, who are in favor with a local Nazi soldier who is sweet on Elsie. While she doesn't return the ardor of his affections, she is aware of how important it is for her family to continue the relationship. She has an older sister, Hazel, who had an out-of-wedlock son with another soldier who was killed they could marry and before the baby was born. Hazel was enlisted in the Lebensborn program, a strange breeder program whose stated purpose was to produce healthy Aryan stock, but seems also to have served as a handy brothel for Nazi soldiers. Elsie shelters a runaway Jewish boy in her bedroom attic after he appears one night being hunted down by local militia.<br />
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These scenes from 1945 are interspersed with contemporary scenes in Texas, where Elsie has emigrated and is now an elderly woman. She has a German-style bakery on the Texas-Mexican border, and her back story is now sought by a dithering magazine journalist named Reba. Reba's boyfriend Riki is a U.S. Border Patrol agent, and there are some storyline parallels about ethnic intolerance during both time periods that are encompassed by the book.<br />
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Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and found Elsie's character and that of her paramour, Josef, very well-developed. Other characters felt like over-the-top caricatures, like the sadistic Nazi Major Gunther Kremer, or were just plain tiresome in their indecisiveness, like Reba. However, there is a wealth of detail in describing the scenes at the bakery and a poignant Kristallnacht scene, and I particularly enjoyed the author's skill in portraying the shifting relationship between Elsie and a cantakerous old bakery customer, Frau Rattelmuller.<br />
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This book was a satisfying read and there were lots of great Eastern European bakery items to contemplate (and a few recipes capping the end!). For Cook the Books, I was inspired to make a good rye bread, something which is a difficult challenge when one bakes for a celiac, as rye is one of those wheaty cousins that must be avoided. The taste and heft of a good rye bread slice (particularly when toasted) is hard to resist, so I perused my cookbooks and the Internet to find a good gluten-free rye bread recipe.<br />
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I found one at the blog <a href="http://angelaskitchen.com/2013/03/06/gluten-free-dairy-free-swedish-rye-bread/">Angela's Kitchen</a>, and amazingly enough, I had all of the many required ingredients, save for anise seed. I substituted star anise instead, and the results were delicious. The bread has a complex and hearty flavor and the crumb was excellent. It was a lot of work, and required an arsenal of various flours, thickeners and gums to replace the traditional wheat and rye flours, so next time I would double the recipe and make two loaves.<br />
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A roundup of the Baker's Daughter posts will be held after tomorrow's posting deadline. <a href="http://www.girlichef.com/">Heather of Girlichef</a> picked this savory title for our group to read and has secured the author herself, <a href="http://sarahmccoy.com/">Sarah McCoy,</a> to serve as Guest Judge to read through the submissions. <br />
<br />I'll be the host at the helm for the next two months at <a href="http://cookthebooksclub.blogspot.com/2013/06/announcing-our-next-four-cook-books.html">Cook the Books</a>, where we will be reading Barbara Kingsolver's book "<span style="color: red;">Animal, Vegetable, Miracle</span>". Please feel free to join us in reading this great book and then blogging up your thoughts and a dish inspired from its pages. There's no requirements to join other than submitting your posts by the deadline of November 25, 2013. <br />
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<br />Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10211857370548116268noreply@blogger.com7