Archive for February, 2006
After my recent roasted broccoli triumph, I thought I’d try roasting cauliflower, a vegetable none of us much likes. Delicious! Ben acted like his cousin with tuna casserole; he ate three big helpings before we cut him off. We’ll be making this again.
1 head of cauliflower
1/3 c pitted olives, very coarsely chopped
2-3 tbsp capers
olive oil
freshly ground black pepper, grated parmesan cheese, and chopped parsley to taste
1 pound of pasta (I actually made ours with half a pound of pasta — there are only three of us eating — but if you like a higher pasta-to-vegetable ratio, or are feeding more people, then of course you’ll want to cook a full pound)
Preheat the oven to 400 and put up a big pot of water to boil.
Break the cauliflower up into bite-sized florets (this is the most time-consuming part of the recipe). Toss the cauliflower in a large bowl with the olives and capers, and drizzle a couple tablespoons of olive oil over the lot. Spread out in a large baking pan and roast, stirring once or twice, for about 20 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender and starting to brown a bit around the edges.
Toward the end of the cauliflower-cooking time, boil the pasta. When it’s done, drain, reserving a half cup or so of the pasta water. Toss the pasta back into the cooking pot with the roasted cauliflower, olives and capers. Add some of the pasta water if it seems too dry. Serve with lots of freshly ground black pepper, grated cheese, and a sprinkling of parsley.
February 27th, 2006
Ben: When did the day start?
Me: Um… [not sure if I want to say “midnight” and make him feel like he’s missing out on something before he wakes up] … the day starts about 7… when you wake up.
Ben: No, Dada, when did all the days start.
Me: [scrambling] Um…
Ben: I think before they built the houses.
Me: [Wow.] That’s right
Ben: And before the bridges…
[Ben commences “listing voice” — which almost always produces his most thoughtful material. I just stay out of the way and try hard to remember it all.]
Ben: Before the babies came out of their mamas’ bellies…
Me: That’s right.
Ben: Before the dinosaurs and dragons and alligators were alive…
[long pause]
Ben: … and before they poured the concrete
Me: [stifling a laugh] That’s right
Ben: And before the children appeared.
There you have it. The beginning of time. I think it’s honestly better than I could have done myself.
February 25th, 2006
Anyone who’s ever actually had a baby knows that sleeping like one means waking randomly at all hours of the day and night and screaming your head off until someone puts a nipple in your mouth.
Sleeping like a preschooler, now, that’s some good sleeping.
Tony and I were cleaning up tonight when we heard a faint beeping. Smoke alarm? Low battery on the cell phone? What appliance was trying to communicate to us? I headed upstairs, following the sound into Ben’s room. Ah-hah! His clock.
Ben is four, he goes to preschool in the afternoons, he’s not setting the alarm. But we’re trying to teach him how to tell time. Mostly, we’re focussed on one time, 7 AM, the hour until which we want him to stay in bed every morning. Instead, he tends to come thundering down the hall between six and six thirty, climb into bed on my side (he knows Tony will march him back to bed) and cuddle next to me, demanding that I tickle his belly and asking “Is it morning yet? Is it morning yet?” every minute until I can’t bear it anymore and, despite the dark, roll out of bed with him and head downstairs.
So, there’s the alarm clock beeping away, but I can’t get to it without first tripping over a pile of Lincoln Logs. Crash! The clock is on his headboard, somewhere, but so are his jar of seaglass treasure, his sippy cup of water, a framed picture of Tony and me, the egg carton caterpillar that he made at school, and on and on. I fumble around ineffectually for a minute before giving up and turning on the light.
And there he is, flat on his back, arms flung over his head, snoring away, oblivious to the alarm and the light and my very presence, which would have had him wide awake, sniffing for milk, back when he was a little nursing thing.
Good sleeping, buddy.
February 22nd, 2006
Nigella Lawson’s Feast is my current favorite cookbook, although I’ve only made recipes from two sections: Chocolate Cake Hall of Fame and Breakfast Feast. Because really, despite the broccoli and tofu recipes I’ve been posting, every day I just want to eat breakfast and chocolate cake. Is that so wrong?
I’m going to quote here from Nigella on granola, because she captures my feelings exactly:
You may think making your own breakfast cereal is a strange way to go about life, and certainly I’d never have thought I’d be the kind of person who does this, but the only big deal here is the shopping–the actual making is incredibly easy–and even there, don’t be daunted by the length of the ingrediants list. It means one big sortie to a health food shop [or Trader Joe’s!] and then you’ve got the goods to make this again and again. I love having a big jar of it in the kitchen, to eat with milk for breakfast, over yogurt and drizzled with honey late at night, [with peanut butter and ice cream while watching hard-working Olympic atheletes…], or as it is, by the grasped handful, any time I pass by the jar.
I am eating this granola all the time these days. Today I made Nigella’s granola muffins, which are fine; last week I made these chocolate chip granola cookies, which are also very nice. But I like the granola on its own, whether as breakfast cereal or dessert topping, best, rather than as an ingrediant in something else.
Here is her recipe, which is Andy Rolleri’s recipe, to which I’ve added a few ingrediants myself.
4 1/2 c rolled oats (I use oats half-and-half with TJ’s multigrain hot cereal)
1 c sunflower seeds
3/4 c sesame seeds
1 c raw pumpkin seeds
2 c raw almonds
1/2 c flax seeds
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp salt
3/4 c applesauce
1/3 c brown rice syrup (I’ve used maple syrup instead, but brown rice syrup gets the granola to clump up better)
1/4 c honey
3/4 brown sugar
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 c raisins (or half raisins, half dried cranberries)
Preheat oven to 300.
Mix together the nuts, seeds, spices and salt. Add the applesauce and mix well, then add the syrups, sugar and vegetable oil and mix again. Spread the mixture out in two large baking pans (I use two pyrex lasagne pans) and bake 45 minutes to an hour, stirring midway through, until it’s all golden and toasty. Remove from the oven, stir in the dried fruit, and let cool.
February 20th, 2006
A totally soy supper! Well, not quite. This is essentially Libby’s chicken edamame stir- fry adapted, as she suggested, for vegetarians. And because I can rarely cook a recipe as written, I made a couple of other changes, too. Still, the whole dish comes together in less than the time it takes to cook a pot of rice.
4 tbsp soy sauce (divided)
1 tsp honey
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped coarsely
1 8 oz. package tempeh, cut into strips
1-2 cups frozen, shelled edamame
1/2 pound frozen broccoli florets (yes, of course, you could use a head of fresh broccoli, but the point here is easy and quick)
4 tsp dark sesame oil
3-4 tsp minced fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 c veggie stock
2 tbsp rice wine
Rice for 4 people
Get the rice started.
Stir the honey and 2 tbsp soy sauce together and pour over the cut-up tempeh. Let it sit while you toast the walnuts.
Toast the walnuts in a large frying pan or wok over medium heat for about three minutes, shaking the pan or stirring frequently. Drizzle the rest of the soy sauce (2 tbsp) over them, stir until the walnuts are coated, and dump them out into a bowl. No need to clean out the frying pan or wok for the next step.
Now heat the sesame oil in your pan over medium heat. Cook the tempeh for several minutes, stirring constantly. When it is getting brown and crispy around the edges, lower the heat a bit, add the garlic and ginger and stir a minute or two, making sure that they don’t burn. Now add the frozen edamame, broccoli, stock and rice wine, stir to mix well and cover. Let it simmer for about five minutes. When the broccoli is tender, toss the walnuts in, stir, and serve!
February 17th, 2006
Nursing is so inspiring sometimes. There I was in the glider with Eli, wondering how best to fete my sister on her milestone birthday when I thought, virtual cakes! Lots and lots of virtual cakes! So thanks to all of you in the computer who helped me make her 45th a memorable one.
Now, about this cake. You might recognize it from the cover of February’s Gourmet (although of course I dressed mine up a little with candles & flowers). I knew as soon as I saw the picture that I would have to make it, and since Libby likes flourless cakes, it seemed a good choice, despite not being your traditional three-layers-with-filling-and-frosting. Ben still wants to make earthworm cake with red hot marshmallow squirters for anyone’s birthday, so I think we’re doing well to use edible ingrediants . And it’s a good cake. I mean, mascarpone and nutella — how can you go wrong?
So happy birthday again, Lib; I wish we could celebrate this one together, but we’re thinking of you with each bite of cake!
February 16th, 2006
Here’s to you on your 45th! You make it look great!
February 15th, 2006
One Valentine’s Day when I came home from school, I think I was eight or nine, my mom sent me up to my room to await a treat. This was unusual. Several minutes passed, then mom arrived with a tray on which there might have been a bud vase with a flower. There was definitely a flowery china plate with a matching dome, under which was a heart-shaped cream cheese and raspberry jelly sandwich on white bread (white bread! unheard of!). We sat together on my bed talking, and I ate my sandwich, and felt happy and well-loved.
I cannot remember what I might have done to deserve this extraordinary treat, but my normally unsentimental mom made a sweet gesture that year, and nearly thirty years later, I haven’t forgotten it.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
February 14th, 2006
It’s not uncommon to find some version of this on brunch menus here in San Francisco. This is my attempt to recreate the effect. I think of this as a sister dish to Huevos Rancheros, but rather than having tortillas on the side, they’re integrated into the dish.
I’ve seen versions of chilaquiles without eggs, but I’ve only ever eaten it myself as an egg dish, so here goes.
One of the main things that my version has going for it is that it scales. That’s a term us software monkeys love to use — it simply means that you can make this for many people, or (as I most often make it) for just one. When making it for many, I do scrambled eggs because it’s just more efficient. When making it just for myself, I almost always have fried eggs — there’s something great about the oozy eggs contributing to the overall gooey, messy effect.
Again, the recipe changes based on how many people I’m cooking for. If it’s just for me, I usually don’t include beans, simply because I would only need about a half can, and a don’t trust myself to remember to use the other half can of beans in the fridge before they get fuzzy.
Eggs (roughly 2 per person)
Tortillas (corn or flour or even tortilla chips)
Salsa (this is a dish where salsa from a jar is better than a really fresh chunky salsa)
Onion
Soyrizo (!) (optional) I’ve seen this on many menus with the more traditional chorizo. I’m a vegetarian, so
Black beans (optional)
Avocado (optional)
Heat the oven on low (250 or so) and put plates in. If you’re just using tortilla chips, put a couple handfuls of chips on each plate.
If you’re using tortillas, cut them into strips — I usually cut the tortillas in half first, and then cut the two halves into strips. Add a little oil to a skillet and fry the tortilla strips until crispy. Transfer them to the plate/s in the oven.
Chop the onion into thin wedges. If you’re cartographically inclined, that would be slicing them longitudinally. Add a little more oil to the pan and saute the onions over pretty high heat. If you’re using Soyrizo (or chorizo for that matter), add it to the pan after a couple minutes. Cook until everything is nicely browned.
Things move pretty fast at this point, so be on your toes.
Add the salsa to the onions, thinning with a little water or some tomato sauce if you’ve got some handy. Since the pan is hot, it will bubble up pretty fast and you don’t want to cook away all the liquid. If you’re using black beans, add them now. Simmer until everything is nice and hot.
Pour the sauce over your tortillas or chips. Now it’s time to cook the eggs.
Fry or scramble your eggs in the same pan… they’ll pick up the flavor from the salsa and onions. Put the finished eggs on top of everything else. If you’ve got an avocado, you’re in heaven.
February 13th, 2006
Roast it! Who knew? This recipe came with my weekly produce box (in which, inexplicably, there was another leek). I just assumed it was a pasta dish; it was only when I started to type up the recipe (after I made it for dinner last night) that I discovered there is, in fact, no pasta in the recipe. There is now! Because why stop at a side dish when it could be an entire simple and delicious supper?
Here’s the game plan: preheat the oven and bring the pasta water to a boil while you chop the broccoli, then cook the pasta and make the lemon-garlic butter while the broccoli roasts. Dinner in less than thirty minutes!
Pasta with Roasted Broccoli, Lemon-Garlic Butter and Toasted Pine Nuts
1 pound broccoli florets
2 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp minced garlic
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 pound of pasta (penne or some other chunky shape is preferable, I think, to spaghetti for this)
toasted pine nuts
grated parmesan cheese
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Put up a big pot of water to boil.
In a large bowl, toss the broccoli with the oil, salt and pepper. Spread out on a baking sheet and roast, stirring once or twice, for 10-12 minutes, until just tender.
When the water is boiling, start cooking your pasta.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and lemon zest and heat, stirring, for about a minute. Add the lemon juice. Remove from the heat.
Drain the cooked pasta, then toss it back into its cooking pot with the lemon-garlic butter and broccoli. Mix well.
Serve topped with toasted pine nuts and grated parmesan cheese.
February 10th, 2006
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