more pizza (a study..)
April 12, 2010
I really want to get pizza right. The crust, the toppings, etc. Yesterday I made an arugula pizza, and the toppings were good, but the crust came out a little bit soggy.
I made a full batch of dough, and left two parts of dough into the fridge to use later, and today I made pizza number two.
My mission tonight was to try to get rid of the soggy crust. I rolled out the dough, set it aside to rise, and preheated the oven, with my cast iron pizza pan in it.
When the oven was heated, I basted the pizza generously with olive oil, dusted the pan with cornmeal, and set the pizza in the oven to bake.
I let it cook for about 10 minutes (I think…) and then took it out, popped the bubbles, added the sauce, cooked nettles, and cheese, and popped it back in the oven to finish cooking.
I kind of forgot about the pizza and it got a little bit crispy, which I like anyways…and no soggy crust! I also loved the nettles, cooked with onions and other veggies, sprinkled across the top.
I set the pizza on the porch railing to cool, perched out there myself, and had dinner with the gentle breeze, chirping birds, and leftover sunshine…
first pick
April 10, 2010
My mom and I spent the morning having quality time in the garden. We turned under the compost on the surface of our garden boxes, raked, and planted one of the boxes. We found a volunteer lettuce patch, the parsley, thyme, and onions. I love that we already have some hearty plants going strong!
We planted a whole bunch of things. First in line are the beets. We planted chioggia beets that are pink and white striped. They are planted in two widely spread rows. My mom wrote the name and date planted on little markers for each row. We left the seed packages because they looked cute!
Next were the carrots and radishes, planted together. Someone (I can’t remember who…) gave me this tip a few weeks ago. The radishes will grow more quickly, and as they are harvested, the carrots will have more room to grow! I can’t wait to see how it works. Next in line is the arugula, and then another variety of carrots, some chard, and kale. We were ambitious!
As we were planting, my mom spotted the first asparagus of the season! A few little stalks poking up around the leaves and compost.
We immediately stopped what we were doing and ran inside to cook the little batch.
My mom always peels the tougher bottom part of the asparagus. It is delicious, and without the tough part, each stalk is extended an inch or two with this simple trick.
We steamed the asparagus in a little water, and had it on toast with a little parmesan cheese on top and set under the broiler. We then sat on the porch and had our toast, and then went back out to finish our gardening.
pacing out the pumpkin patch
March 30, 2010
I am obsessed with pumpkins. So, to convert an entire patch of my front field into prime pumpkin growing territory sounds like a good idea to me…
Last night, my friend (and partner in pumpkin crime) Jay and I went out to stake out the dimensions of the patch. We staked out a very very large patch, and aren’t exactly sure if we will use the whole thing or not…it is huge. Somewhere around 100 feet by 35 feet. I have to say that my eyes tend to be bigger than my stomach, so to speak.
We haven’t exactly figured out how we are going to prepare the bed. I guess it depends on how big we actually make it. We are going to research how to plant pumpkins, and prepare beds, and see what we come up with. We have a little bit of straw, and an endless supply of cardboard for mulch, which will probably come in handy. And lots of pumpkin seeds, rotten pumpkins, and ideas for seeds to get. And we are thinking of adding gourds, maybe some butternut squash, and why not some watermelons…? Oh dear.
soup for eating in bed (mushroom barley)
March 27, 2010
I was on my way home today, thinking of what I could make that would be cozy, hearty, and filling. And could make a dent in my refrigerator full of broth. Mushroom barley soup came to mind. I hadn’t ever made it, but since I still had some left over mushroom broth in the fridge, I thought I would give it a try.
I stopped at the grocery store on the way home and picked up some mushrooms, barley, and a few other ingredients.
To make the soup.
First add a little olive oil and butter to a pan on medium low heat, about 1-2 tablespoons each. Add about 1/2 an onion, finely chopped, and saute. Meanwhile, finely chop one stalk of celery, and add, as the onions are cooking.
Then add several handfuls of mushrooms (I used a combination of shiitake and crimini, roughly chopped). My mom once told me that sauteing mushrooms in butter brings out their flavor, so I usually try to do this for soups, etc.
Next, add a carrot, diced. And a thyme sprig or two, the leaves pulled of and rubbed before tossing into the soup. I like to space out my vegetables. Take care to make sure nothing burns!
After the vegetables have cooked for a few minutes, add one cup uncooked barley, and about 1 quart broth. I used a mixture of Hearty Mushroom Broth, and Winter Broth (from Deborah Madison’s Vegetable Soups, and Greens and cookbooks respectively). Broth is very important here! It is what gives the soup its flavor. Home made broth is a lot of work, but worth it.
You can toss in a Parmigiano cheese rind, for flavor. One of my favorite things in soup.
Bring soup to a low boil, turn heat down, and simmer, about 35-40 minutes, or until barley is tender.
Serve garnished with grated Parmigiano, chopped parsley, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Great soup to eat while curled up under the covers in bed.
pot au feu (minus theo)
March 25, 2010
I have been talking with my friend Theo about making pot au feu since we made pho a few months ago. A sort of pot au feu anyway. Something vegetable and warm, and roasted, with mushrooms, etc. We even looked at the recipe the other day. And I got inspired to do it, unfortunately while he was away at a whiskey tasting convention…
It all started out with the broth. A hearty mushroom based broth that is so thick you can’t see through it. With that already made, I didn’t have much to do. Cut up and roast the vegetables, with aromatics and red wine. Turnips, carrots, portobello mushrooms, potatoes, and several sprigs of thyme.
The vegetables were easy to roast. I stuck them into my large le creuset pot, tossed them with olive oil, poured in a little red wine, put the lid on, and stirred them occasionally. After about 20 minutes I took the lid off, and cooked them until they were tender and caramelized.
Meanwhile I mixed up the batter for, and cooked the dumplings. They were rosemary dumplings, with an egg, some flour and a lot of fresh rosemary chopped very finely. For some reason the dumplings ended up too mushy, and full of water. I am going to have to look at the recipe and maybe compare it to some other ones to see what to do differently next time. Also, I salted the water as I do pasta water, and this turned out to make them a little too salty. That said, I still liked them in the soup..
The finished bowl, before adding broth. I heated the bowls in the warm oven before putting the food in. I arranged the roasted vegetables, dumplings, and a wedge of steamed cabbage.
The broth, poured on top. It was so thick and rich, that one big bowl of soup left me stuffed!
broth, hearty and delicious
March 24, 2010
Yesterday I got on a broth kick. I went to the grocery store while hungry (always either great or a mistake, depending on how you look at it). My friend Ayni was telling me about how she loves chicken broth, and how simple it is to make. I somehow forgot how labor intensive vegetable broth is to make, and told her that it was super easy. Then, I came home with two very heavy bags of vegetables. I spent the entire afternoon washing, peeling, chopping, stirring, and straining vegetables for broth. Making broth takes a lot of work. But it is definitely worth it.
I made two batches of broth. Both were recipes from Deborah Madison, the first from the Greens Cookbook, and the second from Vegetable Soups. I love Deborah Madison’s recipes, they are simple, easy to follow, and consistently delicious. The first recipe was for Winter Broth. My favorite basic broth recipe.
The vegetables start off bright and beautiful. I am always inspired by their cheerful colors and shapes.
As they cook, the color disappears, and I think that it sinks into the broth…which ends up with a beautiful mellow color, and bright flavor.
The lentils add a nice bit of body, and depth to the flavor. The colors of the vegetables are already fading as they cook down..
Above are the left over cooked vegetables, after the broth has been strained out. They are tossed into the compost pile, with a little regret…
Meanwhile, I started the hearty mushroom broth. I realized that I wouldn’t have enough time to cook the broth (about 45 minutes), so I prepared the ingredients to be able to make the broth more quickly (cooking show style) when I came home.
This mushroom broth recipe has tomato paste, flour, and red wine to add body and flavor. The mushroom broth is currently brewing in my kitchen, and the entire house smells delicious! Strong, hearty mushroom flavor. I can’t wait to try this one!
Here are the dried shiitake mushrooms soaking in warm water. The soaking water becomes the water for the broth.
After the vegetables and herbs were lightly browned, I added tomato paste, flour, wine. The alcohol is burned off by boiling, then I added the dried, soaked mushrooms and their water, and simmered the whole pot for about 45 minutes.
The result was a single jar of mushroom broth. One quart.
salad fingers pizza
March 21, 2010
I woke up from a nap this afternoon craving crunchy romaine lettuce ribs and finely chopped kale. To turn this into dinner, I put my third (and final) frozen pizza in the oven, chopped my romaine and kale, both from my awesome CSA, and set out to make a dressing. I wanted to make something that would taste pizza-ish, so I used olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, and oregano. I added salted mountain capers, chopped olives, and pepper. For protein, I thinly sliced some Parmigiano Reggiano for the top of the pizza, and added tiny cubes of cheddar to the salad.
My best friend Swati always takes me to a restaurant in California when I visit her that serves salad pizza. It is yummy! This is my version…frozen home made pizza and kale salad.
My mom brought a little hen over for dinner to peck at the edge of the pizza. I actually lit it on fire (it is a candle..) later on, and am still not sure if I am okay with burning chickens…
On a side note: if anyone has any tips on making non-chewy frozen pizza dough, please, please let me know. The frozen pizzas are great, but the dough turns out a little chewy. I put the pizza right in the oven, frozen. Maybe I need to let them thaw and rise a little first?
kimuchi
March 2, 2010
I saved baby bok choi from my CSA share for a week and a half to have enough for this recipe (it requires for about 4 baby bok chois). Kimuchi is a Japanese style kimchi, that I found in my usual canning book, Joy of Pickling. The recipe is normally made with napa cabbage, but Joy of Pickling suggests that you can use other types of cabbage as well. Since we reliably get bok choi in our CSA, I decided to try it instead.
The cabbage is sliced into sections, ready to be salted…
…and pressed overnight.
Salting draws out the moisture in the cabbage, and works as a preservative. The salted cabbage ends up looking quite shriveled.
I chopped the salted bok choi into 1″ squares, and added slivered carrots, grated apple, and the usuals: ginger, garlic, green onions, salt, and hot pepper. I used a little less hot pepper, to experiment and see what happens.
The kimuchi now has to sit, loosely covered, for a few days before it is ready. My last batch has been living in my fridge now for about a month, and it seems to get better with time. The flavors aren’t quite as sharp…
one skillet lunch
February 28, 2010
I love it when I can make a meal with one skillet. Especially when the skillet is cast iron, and doesn’t require a lot of cleaning…
I was working on a project this morning, and when it got time to make lunch I realized that I didn’t have too much time. I wanted something hot, and so I rummaged around in my fridge and pulled out a handful of rainbow chard, a carrot, and some cheese, and olives. I made a grilled cheese sandwich, and on the other side of the grill I sauteed my chard with olives. It was a yummy treat, and so pretty to look at!
soup for bait.
February 26, 2010
Sometimes it is rather tricky to get my mom over to my house. Especially in the winter, when it is cold (14 degrees), snowy (I can’t even drive down my little lane..), and dark (8 pm).
But, when I have a jar of home-made soup, and a promise to heat it up, she does somehow make it over. My dad and I made dinner for some friends of his, and I made soup from a wonderful soup cookbook, Vegetable Soups, by Deborah Madison. My mom brought the cookbook home from the store a few days ago and we have made two delicious soups from it already. (She made a black bean soup with cumin, lime, and cilantro.) I saved a jar of soup for my mom, and heated it up for her when we got home.
I started the soup with a bunch of fresh vegetables, and made a stock. I like to make home-made stock, although sometimes I just don’t have the time to do it. This particular soup calls for chickpeas, so I added the chickpea broth (made with garlic, onions, bay leaves, parsley, and peppercorns) to the soup as well.
The main ingredients were broth, chickpeas, and farro (for which I substituted soaked spelt, with a slightly chewier result). 
We garnished the soup with fresh parsley, olive oil, salt pepper, freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and a squeeze of lemon juice to brighten things up.
Anyways, I got home, heated up the jar of soup, gave my mom an eider down comforter, and the hot soup.
living in the woods and making stuff 
