Archive for April, 2006
I don’t really think of Amanda Hesser, the food writer for the NYT magazine, as someone who’s going to give me ideas for cooking with kids, and that certainly wasn’t her intention when she wrote about kumquats a couple weeks ago.
But the essay intrigued me, so I ordered some in our box and started manufacturing excitement with Ben. He’d never heard of the fruit, but just saying “kumquat” a few times was about all it took. Try it. We had a brief setback, the night before our produce box was due to arrive, when Ben fell prostrate to the floor, crying “But I want kumquats now!”
But we got past that, and when Ben was home from school last week, we turned one of Hesser’s ideas in to a neat little craft project, which in turn became a nice post-dessert dessert (because dessert is still usually something I’ve baked).
So if you happen to see some kumquats in your market (I know, I know), try this with your favorite preschooler. Ben did everything but slice the fruit.
Kumquat Popsicles
You need kumquats, one egg white in a dish, a dish of cinnamon and a dish of sugar or sprinkles (you know which we used). You also need some toothpicks, and then an empty egg carton or other light cardboard box is handy to stick the kumquats in while they freeze.
Slice the kumquats in half horizontally. Stick a toothpick into the stem end so that you’ve got a handle. Dip the cut end of the fruit first into the egg white, then the cinnamon, then the sugar or sprinkles. Stick the end of the toothpick into the empty box so that the kumquat can stand up. Repeat with remaining fruit, and then stick into the freezer till frozen.
April 5th, 2006
Eli has started to give kisses!
April 3rd, 2006
A tragedy struck our community this week, and while we absorb the news I find myself doing a lot of baking. It’s good to have something very concrete to focus on (trying to write would give me far too much room for reflection), and when I’m done there’s a ton of food, so we invite friends over to share a meal, making everyone just a little less sad.
The first day, with Ben and some of his friends out of school, we made granola and bread. Granola is really just a lot of measuring, and the kids are good at that. Bread is both measuring and playing with dough — cooking and an art project all in one! I had a cookbook open to a particular recipe, but since I was the only one reading it, and with the kids starting to argue about whose turn it was to measure, things got a little casual. Still, it turned out fine. Bread, in my experience, pretty much always does.
That evening, with the kids sleeping and the rain pouring down again (we set a record, did you hear?) Tony and I found ourselves in the kitchen, quietly doing some more cooking. He made his stuffed peppers, I wound up making two lasagnes and a pie.
We had enough food, ultimately, to gather friends for dinner two nights in a row.
Tonight I started making food for tomorrow’s vigil and potluck. This weather, and my mood, makes me long for strong flavors so I dug out the recipe for Martha Stewart’s chocolate ginger cookies. They’re kind of a pain to make (dissolving the baking soda in boiling water, please…), which is why I don’t make them more often, but they are truly great cookies. If you’re going to go to the trouble, double the recipe.
Then, not feeling like cookies were quite enough, I turned to Feast, my go-to cookbook these days. Besides, I think Nigella, more than any other living food writer (MFK Fisher is her predecessor in this), really understands the intricate connections between food, celebration, and mourning. In the introduction to the final chapter, in fact, she quotes Fisher, who describes “the mysterious appetite that often surges in us when our hearts seem about to break and our lives seem too bleakly empty.” The rosemary remembrance cake looked just right.
(Links to more recipes coming as time permits… )
April 2nd, 2006
Ben’s not a picky eater, but he doesn’t like tomatoes unless they are roasted or dried (last year he went through a phase of eating graham crackers & dried tomatoes for breakfast). So when I remembered this recipe, I was happy to bring lasagne back into our lives. It’s from one of my favorite general cookbooks, Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. Her version is pretty easy; mine is even easier.
1 c walnuts
2-3 bunches chard, leaves only
2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for the dish
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 c white wine
1 c ricotta
1 c grated parmesan
8 oz fresh mozzarella, coarsely grated
1 1/4 c milk
8 oz lasagne noodles
Preheat oven to 400. While it’s warming, put the walnuts in to toast. Give them 7-10 minutes, until they are nice and fragrant, then chop finely and set aside.
Cook chard leaves in a large pot with a couple cups of water till tender, about 5 minutes. Scoop chard into colander, press out most of the water, reserving 1/3 cup of the cooking water. Chop chard finely.
Heat oil in a wide skillet and add 2 cloves of garlic, then chard. Cook over medium-high heat, turning frequently, for several minutes, then add wine and allow to cook down. Turn off heat.
Combine ricotta, parmesan, all but 3/4c mozzarella, and remaining garlic in a bowl. Stir in 1/3 c chard water, then add chard. Mix, season with salt & pepper.
Lightly oil a 9×13″ baking dish. Drizzle 1/4c milk into dish (it won’t spread evenly because of the oil; that’s ok).
Fit 3 pieces of uncooked (really, it’ll work just fine) pasta into baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/4 c milk, 1/3 cheese mixture, 1/4c walnuts. Repeat twice more with pasta, milk, cheese mix and nuts. When you get to the last layer, add the remaining mik, mozzarella, and walnuts.
Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes.
Remove foil and bake 10 minutes longer, or till lightly browned.
Let rest 10 minutes before serving.
April 2nd, 2006
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