From the garden

Every Saturday, I get together with my Dad and we go to Phil’s Organic Market or the St. Lawrence Market or some food-related place where we get a few things to cook up during the week.

In the summer, he greets me with a little bag of goodies from his garden – tomatoes, purple basil, green onions, lettuce and various herbs that get all blended together on his way to meet me.

At the beginning of summer, my fab friend Diana took me to her allotment garden (pictured above) and shared her bounty. I took home this bulging bag of lettuce, chard, herbs and other wonders that I would have ordinarily cooked up, but instead made into a salad due to the intense heat and humidity.

Last week, I got to see Diana after way too long and she had just gone through her garden to tidy it up and had saved me some beautiful ingredients for supper.

I had a friend over for dinner that night, but it was still too muggy to cook much.  So I took Diana’s fresh, fragrant basil, crisp green and purple beans and various tomatoes and created:

Chicken pasta salad with fresh basil and tomatoes

10 Bean salad

Green Salad (with Diana’s tomatoes)

It was perfect.

I am grateful to these amateur farmers as well as the professional folks who work so hard to put good food on my plate.

Watch for Poetry of Food’s next issue launching next week for my story about one very special farmer.

Pining away

It’s not that my kitchen is so great.  It’s narrow and there’s little to no counter space and our stove is wonky and the fridge and freezer are too small.

But it’s mine and it’s mostly functional. and I miss it dearly.

See in this immense heat, it has become a place that I go only to get cold drink after cold drink and in the late evening, take out some salad or cold chicken to eat because really, you’ve got to eat something.

I miss the serenity cooking gives me.  Even when things are going badly with a dish, there is always hope that it can be saved.  I love the zen mind that happens when I’m chopping, stirring and whisking.  It’s like waves lapping against the shore.  It’s peace and quiet.  Mostly, anyway.

It is only the beginning of July and it’s been weeks of such intense heat, even my appetite has faltered (good lord, will it never end?).  I am trying to accept that it’s just too hot to cook and enjoy restaurant fare for my food book clubs and restaurant reviews.  I am trying to enjoy the “extra” time that I have now that I’m not in the kitchen for 2-4 hours a night.  I am trying really, really hard.

But it’s not working.

I guess that’s how I know it’s serious, that it’s complete and utter love, that it’s something that while I can live without it now, I can’t live without it forever.

Once that cool weather hits, you’ll be lucky to find me doing anything else.  I’ve got lists in my mind of dishes I want to conquer, pies I want to try and bake and meals that I want to create to sell to a nearby cafe.

And for now, I will try to be patient while the sun pours in our windows, heating up the joint and giving our cat various placed to sprawl until 9 p.m.  I will begrudgingly have salads and sandwiches and cold chicken (pictured above) for dinner as sweat pools in the crease of my arm.

But I’m telling you, that first hit of crisp, cool air – the place is going to be stacked to the ceiling with homemade food.

Just try and stop me.

Magazines to the rescue

I knew I wanted to cook last night, but I didn’t know what.

I checked the freezer for meats and took a huge bag o’ chicken wings and a tray of stewing beef out to thaw.

Now what?

I headed out to the library and thought I might see some inspirational ingredients on the way.  Lucky for me, I got Food & Wine‘s February issue and Fine Cooking‘s Feb/Mar issue that filled in the blanks.

From Food & Wine, I made Classic Hot Wings (recipe below) which Grace Parisi recommends you flour first, bake on high (500 degrees) and then finish with melted butter and hot sauce.

My fella came home from the office starving, so I don’t know whether it was his crazy hunger or whether they were that good, but he kept saying how much he liked them.

While the wings were baking, I made Food & Wine‘s Celery-and-Celery-Root Salad (which would’ve been much easier if I’d used my mandoline instead of my Chinese cleaver – what was I thinking?).  What a beautiful looking salad and really, just the simplest of ingredients.

My guy does not like the look of celery root before it’s peeled, so while he’ll eat it, he’s not too crazy about it.  This of course, I didn’t know the extent of until he came home and said, “Yeah, not for me.” After spending about 20 minutes whacking the beast and all the other ingredients (my celery root came out not like matchsticks, but like wide watercolour brushes – hey, you do what you can with what you have), I was disheartened, especially because now I had to eat a honkin’ bowl of root veg on my own.

Luckily, one of my closest pals dropped by in between meetings  today and I made her an ad hoc lunch of sliced chicken breast and a side of the celery salad.  She loved it so much, I gave her the recipe!  Phew.  Now there’s only a tub the size of a beer cooler left …

The main course I made was thanks to Fine Cooking. 

Spicy Red Lentil Dal with Winter Vegetables & Lamb might sound heavy for June, but it’s been cold and rainy on and off, so it felt like a good night for something hearty.

I replaced the red lentils with green and substituted beef for the lamb.  Otherwise, I followed the recipe as written.

Spicy comfort food with a modern edge.  It was absolutely perfect and exactly what we needed on a chilly night.

I am so grateful to these magazines.  They made what started out to be a panicked cry of “What will we have for dinner?”, into  a wonderful, memorable, nourishing night.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 500°. Line a large baking sheet with foil and spray with vegetable oil. In a bowl, mix the flour with the salt. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Spread the chicken on the baking sheet in a single layer and spray with vegetable oil. Roast the chicken for 45 minutes, turning once or twice, until browned and crispy. In a bowl, toss the chicken wings with the hot sauce and butter; serve.

Sayonara

I will have had Japanese 4 out of 5 nights by the end of tomorrow.

I reviewed a Japanese restaurant Friday night, went to one with friends for dinner Saturday night, cooked at home last night (potato leek soup from scratch, chicken with homemade barbecue sauce, rice, veg and salad) and then am going to a Japanese restaurant with 2 book clubs tonight and back again with 2 book clubs tomorrow night.

Similar to the “5 Indian Restaurants in 8 Days” bit in my book, I have had the opportunity to really compare and critique various techniques and dishes.  The only difference is that I think I could have a Japanese meal every day.

Hey, I’m working on it…

Totally baked

I do not bake.

Firstly, because it is such a scientific, specific craft and while I like to do a good job, I am not a perfectionist – it’s not like cooking, where I am comfortable and I can improvise at any point in the dish.

Secondly, I don’t have a sweet tooth, so it is impossible for me to gauge how cookies, cakes, tarts and pies should be.

However, yesterday I made Diablo Cupcakes, a Mexican chocolate version that is just a little spicy.  And not only did I make them, I took them to a fancy dinner party a couple of hours later.

What was I thinking?

I was sooo nervous.  Here I was, not only baking, but imposing my bad skills on folks that I like and care about.

Normally I would make a side dish, salad or something savory and in my comfort zone.  I guess all of this cooking madness went to my head and suddenly I thought I could do anything.

It’s impossible to tell how people felt about them because no one is going to stand up, cast their plate across the room and yell, “Drivel!” (unless Gordon Ramsay is a guest)  My fella of course said they were good, which prompted a bunch of “uh huhs” and “oh yeahs.”

No one threw up and they didn’t have to be thrown in the trash, so I feel I did all right.

I am glad just to be making dinner tonight.  I know my way around anything supperish.  I am solid ground.

Until, that is, it’s someone’s birthday and I get the bright idea to make the cake.

Super size it

As you know, I don’t bake.

So when I make something dessert-ish, I use a mix.

Recently, I made cornbread for when company was over for dinner.  Normally, I do make this from scratch, but the other stuff I was making was pretty time intensive (top sirloin roast, cabbage soup, layered salad with homemade dressing, sides, etc.) so I went with a mix.

The package instructed me to use 2 cups of the mix, along with water, eggs, and the usual suspects.

After portioning out 2 cups worth, there only remained 1/3 of a cup.  So not only can I not make it again from this package but I’d have to get out the ol’ calculator and figure out how much water, egg (can you do an eighth of an egg?), et al I’d need.

Last night, I make an exceptional quinoa salad (I don’t know how it came out so well or why my meatloaf was “the best ever.” ).

Anyway, I had got it from an organic market so it came in a box with instructions.  Put one cup of quinoa with 2 cups of water…

It left me with less than 1/2 cup of quinoa left!

Argh.

Same with my wild rice.  I always have to buy another package before I can use the last bit up.

I know companies have to adhere to weights and sizes and such, but if you can’t just do one or two servings, don’t do it at all.  I’ve got 2 small shelves in which to keep my pantry stocked.  I don’t have room for 2 boxes or bags of one thing.

I’ve got to wait before making more cornbread or quinoa, which means I’m less likely to make it.

We buy our eggs 18 at a time, so there’s no chance of running out (with all this cooking I’m doing, you wouldn’t believe how quickly they go).

I’d buy these mixes any bigger if they made ‘em, but then, where would I keep them?

All I’m asking for is enough to make it once or twice, not something nasty in between.

Can you imagine if nail polish came only enough to do your nails one and a half times?

‘Nuff said.

Salad days are here again

Last night my best friend and I went to a restaurant with a salad bar.

For $13.99 we could eat as much as we wanted.

And we did.

Can you ever have too much salad?

I think not.

p.s. you can have too many pickles though…