Crackin' Up

Cheese and crackers is probably my favorite appetizer. I love soft brie, firm chedder, I recently sampled and bought a sheep's milk gouda that was spectacular. Buttery and firm, delicious by itself, but even better with crackers. We usually have on hand a couple different kinds of crackers, we like the brand Milton's and there a couple of Trader Joe's crackers that are good. But recently, when facing a cracker shortage I decide to make some. It was much easier that I thought is was going to be, and fun too!

 After rolling out the dough, you can add seeds, herbs, salt (definetly salt) and roll them into the dough.Then you cut it into pieces and bake.

A dough scraper should always be at the ready when handling dough, and cracker dough is no exception. After cutting the thin pieces of dought into my cracker shapes, the dough scraper was key in transferring them to the sheet pan for baking.

 I made one batch of poppy seed and sea salt, and another with Herbs de Provence and sea salt. They were both delicious. I think next time I'l do one with parmesan cheese - how could that go wrong?

 Despite the ease of mixing and baking up these delcious snacks, the clean up is always there to snap you back to reality. The second bowl with the pastry blender in it is from my crust making - sweet potatoe pie was also made on the same day.

 

 There are plenty of cracker recipes out there - I used the one in a fabulous little cookbook called D.I.Y. Delicious by Vanessa Barrington. It's a great read and has many interesting techniques and recipes. Until the next food adventure!

 

Spring Has Sprouted

Part of feeding a large family is always having food. We make the weekly and sometimes mid-week treks to Trader Joe's but the way I feel that I would rather feed my family would be to raise our food. The latest book I have checked out from the library is called "Backyard Homesteading: A Back-to-Basics Guide to Self Sufficiency." It has chapters on beekeeping, raising chickens, raising goats and 3 chapters devoted to raising your own food.  I already have the chickens, (we eat their delicious eggs) and I have 10 garden beds filled or soon to be filled with edibles. I enjoy working in the garden, I can spend hours out there, weeding, turning compost, replanting, whatever needs to be done is a joy for me, not a chore. Currently I have seedlings of tomatoes (some my Dad started and gave me,) squash, corn, kale, basil, dill, chervil and borage.



Lots of basil starting here!

 

In the garden my potatoes, sugar snap peas, lettuces and carrots are all coming up, all directly sown. I also have parsley that started coming up all over 2 of my beds, seed that had been laying dormant over the winter. I can't wait to turn all that parsley into delicious, pungent salsa verde!

 

 

It will have to come out so that all the tomatoes and squash can go in. I have also planted soybeans for the first time. For some reason I had made the assumption that it would be difficult to grow soybeans, but after reading up on it they are just another legume. This weekend I plan to direct sow my string beans. We'll see if that gets done amidst the soccer, softball and T-ball games. I hope you all have something edible growing in a spot of dirt, or on a windowsill! Happy growing and eating!



How Does Your Jelly Roll?

If you thought this was about that lovely swiss sponge cake rolled and filled with jelly you may want to stop reading. This is about my first attempt at making strawberry jelly, alone. A few years ago my Aunt Theresa (TR) came over with a crate of apricots and walked me through the jelly making process. I actually think what we made that day and what I attempted to make today is considered jam, but then I wouldn't have a clever title for my post now would I? The process that TR showed me seemed easy enough, what I took away from it, the most important part of jelly/jam making, is to have all you ingredients and equipment gathered and ready before you start.

I didn't write anything down that day, figuring there would be enough information on the interenet if I got in a jam (hee hee.) Fast forward a couple of years, no gifted jellies from TR or my cousin Casey left in my larder, I decided to make my own!

My first recipe search yielded a recipe for Easy Strawberry Jam by Ina Garten. Do you know her? The Barefoot Contessa, I have a secret crush on her, I want to fly to the Hamptons and sneak into her barn so I can peek in her windows and watch her cook. :)Her recipe seemed easy enough, but was one that you served right away, or kept refridgerated and used in a few weeks. It also used an apple to create pectin that is necessary for the jelly to set up. I liked this because I had been doing research on how to make pectin - but I'll save that for another post. I figured with this recipe and my previous experience with TR I would be able to create a few jars to restock my pantry.
You can search "Ina Garten Easy Strawberry Jam" for the recipe, or you can follow my adjusted one. Adapting recipes to what I have is always necessary to me. Some of the ingredients I don't have and will not go buy for just one recipe. For instance, I will never follow a recipe using self-rising flour. Why? I always have all purpose flour on hand, with the addition of baking powder or soda you can avoid buying this extra ingredient. Be flexible, but in baking as in jelly making, you do have to be exact.  My adaptation of Ina's recipe omitted the orange flavored liquor, and the blueberries because I don't keep orange flavored liquor, and blueberries aren't in season. I replaced the liquor with the juice and zest of a half of a lemon. I did this for a flavor element, not for the acidity that is necessary in canning. I also used regular sugar, not superfine, and did not run it throught the food processor. I also made it using less strawberries, so here is the modified ingredient list:
2 pints strawberries, washed, hulled and cut into chunks
2 cups sugar
Juice and zest of 1/2 of a lemon
1/4 of a Granny Smith Apple, peeled and cut into chunks

Washing and hulling the strawberries is task I enjoy. I employ a tomato corer and it makes the job quite pleasant.

perfectly cored

 

 tomato corer and beloved paring knife

For the most expeditious process I set up the colander with the washed strawberries next to my compost bowl (GOT TO HAVE ONE) next to the pot that the jam will cook in. Leaves and core in the compost bowl, strawberries in the pot. Once they are all hulled then I went back and cut them all.

Toss the strawberries with the sugar and lemon zest and juice.



Start cooking! Once it came to a boil I added the apple and kept in a a low boil. When I could see the fruit breaking own, I went in and used a potato masher to make it a smoother consistency. The mixture cooked for about 35 minutes, and I stirred it every 2-3 minutes.

Meanwhile, I had a large pot of water boiling, ready to sterilize my jars, lids and rings. I remembered that the lids need to stay in simmering water until you are ready to put them on the jars. So here comes the hiccup, Ina's recipe reads "...cool at room temperature, then store covered in the refridgerator." So I let the mixture cool - NOOOOO! As I ladled the room temperature jelly into my sterilized jars I remembered, when TR and I did this it was hot! I went ahead and filled the jar with the delicious room temperature jelly, wiped the edge of the jar clean, gently placed the hot lid on the jar, secured the ring and turned them upside down on my towel. Now, if I had been making 10-12 jars of jelly like TR and did with the apricots that day this would be tragic. But this recipe only yielded 2 1/2 jars.

Even though lid doesn't pop when pressed I will keep them in the fridge. They will be consumed quickly in this house. I think I'm going to gift the "baby" jar to my friend Amy who is expecting, with specific instructions to keep refrigerated!

 

Too Tart for Words

I love pie, and crusts are one of my favorite things to make. I appreciate that one recipe yields two. You can use both, or save one in the fridge while you wait for a second round of inspiration. This and my love of flour (read more about this in my first post on pizza dough) is what makes me gravitate towards baking, but these baking skills come in handy for savory dishes too. When recently faced with the what's for dinner thought, I looked around the kitchen and saw the makings of a savory tart. First I made my basic crust recipe, 2 cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 12 tablespoons butter or lard or a combination of the two and 5-7 tablespoons of ice water. I found that grating the hard, cold butter on a box grater is a simple way to get it incorporated into the flour. You still have to cut it into the flour (sometime I use a pastry blender, sometimes my fingers depending on how many dishes I feel like washing) but it doesn't take as long. Once the 2 crusts were chilling in the fridge, I looked around to see what would go in the tarts. I saw I had a butternut squash calmly waiting to be roasted. Butternut squash is so patient, probably because it knows that many people avoid it, preferering to purchase the pre-cut, pre-peeled, bagged butternut at Trader Joe's. I'm sure it tastes fine, but I just can't go there. I think if you take the time and gather the right tools you will find that peeling, cubing and roasting a butternut squash that you grew and cured yourself is well worth the time. Okay, you don't have to grow your own, but at least find a good organic one at the farmer's market. You should start with a cutting board, made sturdy by placing a thin towel underneath it, a large butcher knife, a small paring knife and a spoon.

First cut the butternut squash at the point where it starts to get wider, then take each section and cut them into rounds. It's more managable if it's in half first. For the top section without seeds, cut the rounds into quarters. Scoop the seeds out of the other rounds and cut those into about 1 inch sections. Use the paring knife to peel the skin off the outside of the squash. Some people will peel the entire squash with a vegetable peeler but nevers get all the skin off for me. Once peeled, you can cut the pieces of squash even smaller, as I did for this tart.
Now roast your pieces. I tossed them with olive oil, salt and pepper. I decided to roast some potatoes too that could be the filling for the second tart. Just a couple of russets, peeled and cubed. The squash and potatotes can share a sheet pan, roast them in a 400 degree oven, start checking them at 20 minutes, roast until browned and tender. Try not to eat them all as they cool, you need them for your tart! While these were roasting I carmelized an onion, this was a purple one because it is what I had, you could do white, brown, or even shallots. As the squash cooled, I grabbed some baby spinach. Yes it was from a bag. I have none growing right now! I threw that baby spinach in the pan with the hot, carmelized onions and tossed it until it wilted a bit, then I added the butternut squash to the mix.

 

Now for the crusts. If you made your crust way in advanced, like the day before, or the week before and it's been sitting in the back of your fridge waiting for that inspiration, pull it out and let it warm up. You wouldn't wanted to be rolled on when you were all cold and stiff would you? Roll the crust out on a well floured counter, or for the sake of less clean up, roll it out directly on your sheet pan. I abhor these "airbake" cookie sheets for baking or roasting, but for a tart they work perfectly. I use the word tart loosely, I am too busy and well, lazy, to make a proper tart for a weeknight dinner, instead I opt for a lovely alternative I call free form. Once the crust is rolled out, pile the squash, spinach, onion mixture in the center, grate some cheese over the top. I used gran padano, then fold up the sides, leaving the filling peeking out the center. Pop it in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, until the crust is nice and browned. Slice and serve. If you are wondering about the russets, they too got put in a crust, topped with mozzarella cheese. Equally delicious, but not as colorful.

 



Date Night

Coachella, Indio, Mecca, Thermal. When you hear the names of these California desert towns in the Coachella Valley what do you think? Hot, yes. Dry, yes. Do you think of dates? Walking hand and hand in the clear, balmy, moonlit night as sweat trickles down the back of your neck... naw, not that kind of date. I'm talking about the soft, sweet, brown fruit of Phoenix dactylifera, the date palm. Dates are thought to have originated in areas surrounding the Persian Gulf and have been in cultivation since 4,000 BC. Seedlings were brought to California by Jesuit missionaries in 1769 and now 95% of dates grown in the United States are grown in the Coachella Valley, an area probably known better for it's golf courses and day spas.

Have you ever tasted a fresh date? If you haven't you need to! Unfortunately you'll have to wait until next November. Date season in southern California is from November to December and walking around any farmers market in the LA area you'll find several varieties of these delicious fruits for sale. While my budget doesn't permit me the extravagance of these farmer's market finds, my mom never fails to deliver a package or two of Medjools at Christmastime from her friend Antonia's trees in Blythe, CA. I always look forward to finding new culinary uses for them in my home. One New Year's Eve I pan-fried bacon wrapped dates. The marriage of crispy, savory bacon and soft, sweet date was delicious. Of course the ever popular date shake always gets made in our house this time of year. You can make a true shake with milk and ice cream, or what I like is to use frozen bananas in place of the ice cream - I tell myself it's healthier! By far, in my opinion, the medjool date with it's thin, puckered skin and sugary, grainy interior is best in confections. My favorite being a date bar.

About Date Bars:
A google search of date bar recipes yields 2,460,000 results. That's a lot to choose from! The basic date bar is oatey, cookie layers reminiscent of shortbread sandwiching a date puree. I read over a few online and also one in my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook. I chose to loosely follow the recipe from the joyofbaking.com, which actually calls them date squares, and in parenthesis, matrimonial bars. Huh? My thoughts exactly! Is it because a date leads to marriage? Or is it because they are so good feeding one to somebody will surely garner a proposal? Nevertheless hilarity ensued when I read that AKA of the date bar. I tried to think of clever names for the new recipe I created: Take me on a Date Bar, I met my Date at a Bar, After much time spent together at the Bar we decided to go on a Date...as you can see I get a little carried away, I'll just stick to Date Bar. Unlike my former posts, I will actually give you a recipe this time.ENJOY!
Anissa's Date Bars
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly butter a 9x9 inch baking dish
Make date puree
27 fresh Medjool dates, pitted (If all you have access to are dried dates, you will have to reconstitute them in simmering water. You also might need more that 27)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Puree dates and vanilla in a food processor, adding small amounts of warm water until it just loosens but is still quite thick. Set aside.
Make the crust
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup cold butter, grated or sliced
Whisk everything together except the butter. If using grated butter, add to the dry mixture and toss gently to combine. If using butter slices, add them to the dry mixture and using a pastry blender cut the butter into the dry mixture. Press half of this in the bottom of the pan. Spread the date puree, you may have to use your hands to ensure that it gets evenly spread and not pull up the crust. Press the rest of the crust on top of the date puree in an even layer. Bake for 35-45 minutes. Cool for at least 30 minutes before trying to cut. Trick your 3 year old by telling her they are chocolate. :)

Stop and Smell the Fennel

We arrived at El Capitan State Beach Campground, which is 17 miles west of Santa Barbara off highway 101, at 4 pm on Wednesday, August 10 for our first tent camping experience. Our site, like most at El Capitan, was large and was surrounded by trees and shrubs so we really got a sense of privacy and our own space. After setting up two tents and drinking a well-deserved Hop Ottin' IPA we walked down to the beach. It was 5 pm, the sun was still shining but sat low in the sky to our west. The activities that we saw on that gorgeous stretch of beach were: beach combing, body surfing, boogie boarding, birdwatching, cocktail drinking, dinner eating, frisbee throwing, kayaking, knitting, sand sculpting, smashball playing, sun bathing and surfing all on approximately 1 mile of sand. Walking east (feels like south, but here the coast is south facing, not west facing) the beach got more crowded because this was the day use area. After soaking up some much needed sun and inhaling the beach air, we headed back to our campsite to get dinner ready.

I never thought camping would be an experience for me to write about in my blog, because frankly my options for food prep and storage were limited. But, while walking through the campground to and from the beach I spied several stands of foeniculum vulgare, fennel. For anyone who has experienced the drive from San Diego to Los Angeles, or Los Angeles to San Luis Obispo, you know that the perennial herb fennel grows rampant along Southern California's coastal areas. Not only is this fennel that grows wild beautiful, it is also so flavorful! In the summer you can use the fronds and then in the late fall or winter the seeds. Wild fennel is different from the bulbed fennel you can buy in the store or at the farmer's market. If your bulbed fennel still has some fronds attached they will not be as flavorful or fragrant as the fronds of wild fennel. However, the wild fennel will not ever grow a bulb. So wild fennel is the reason you get to read alittle about my family's camping experience at the beautiful and highly recommended El Capitan State Beach and Campground.

Cooking with foraged fennel:
The meal planning for this camping trip was pretty simple. Cold cereal and pan toast for breakfast along with fresh fruit, sandwiches and more fruit for lunch. For dinner on Wednesday we planned grilled brautwurst and hot dogs and Thursday grilled top sirloin steaks. To go with brauts, I caramelized a (presliced) purple onion and added a handful of the delicate, fern-like fronds, cooking just to soften them. To go along with steaks the next night, I melted a 1/2 a stick of butter and added the finely chopped fronds to pour over the lightly seasoned sirloins. Our dinners would have been delicious without the fennel, but an opportunity to forage is an opportunity to feast!

My Soup Kitchen

It's been unfortunate to neglect my writing. I have so many entries written in my head I just can't seem to find the time to sit down and write. So here I am at work, writing my blog. Shame on me! I've never done this before - but today, due to events related to the bureacracy of my daughter's preschool (which is run by the same administration as my employer) I'm working on as-needed basis today. I told Irene (my coworker) she's okay with it, she's a great supporter of sticking it to "the man" which is what I'm doing - albeit passively.

So I've written (in my head) entries about making and eating flour tortillas, ravioli, chocolate cheesecake, making and gifting cookies at Christmas-time, growing and canning tomatoes (I ordered Roma seeds this season,)a fantasy about working for Alice Waters, and the joy of Rose and Marla's eggs. But what I've been making and thinking about a lot more is soups. Soups are so economical and delicious. With soup you can take the same basic ingredients, and create hundreds of different combinations. This week we had tortilla soup on Monday, and vegetable, bacon and bean soup (needs a different name huh?) on Thursday. I think my family is less enthusiastic about my obsession with the creations that come out of the beautiful black Le Creuset pot that holds court on our stove.(It's too gorgeous to put in a cupboard!) But with a budget of $200 each week to feed breakfast, lunch and dinner to seven people, soup is always a smart choice. Deciding on a garnish is also an important part of soup making. I always like to have a kind of cheese or herb that will float on the soup adding another texture and flavor to the bowl. Paired with a crusty loaf of bread, dinner is served. I consider my kitchen creations inventive and delicious - I once combined white beans with a tomato broth and floated a spoonful of pesto on top. I thought it was brilliant, but my 3 daughters were not impressed. Their favorite soup is sopa de fideo. It consists of a light tomato broth and thin fideo noodles. For them simplicity is bliss.

About soup:
The basis for my soups are usually a mix of carrots and onions, leeks, or shallots and a bit of salt. I add this to olive oil or rendered bacon fat - reserving the bacon to add in later. After softening them for a few minutes I add 2 or 3 cloves of pressed garlic. At this point I would add small cubes of potatoes if I was using them and let the outside begin to soften, brown a bit, but watch the garlic. Then comes the liquid. I usually have chicken stock in my freezer. When we grill or roast a whole chicken we save the neck and innards - you know the heart, kidneys and I think there is a liver in there. I throw these in the freezer and use them and any combination of celery, onions, herbs to make chicken stock when I need it. If I don't have homemade stock I use water. I can't bring myself to pay for canned or boxed broth. The flavor is just not right - I pass. The process of slowly cooking the vegetables will create a broth that doesn't necessarily need anything. After adding the liquid, stir and turn up the heat. Before it comes to a boil taste to see if you need more salt. When it comes to a boil turn it down to keep it at a low simmer. After about 20 minutes at a simmer I would add precooked beans or leftover chicken or any greens that I'm using. I would add the bacon back in at this time. This is a blueprint of how I make soup in my kitchen. Walk through the soup aisle of the grocery store for ideas, but then go home and start your on your own creative, soup project in your kitchen.