Jan 29
I recently pulled over the ottoman from the sitting area into the living room, as part foot rest and part work station. It’s about twelve years old and looks it. With no desire to spend money on reupholstering it, I did have extra material from the day tote I made and thought it would make an interesting statement next to the other furniture. I took the dimensions, went to the sewing machine and voila!
Before
After
There are two meals that are always easy to make and sure to please around our house: tacos and stir fry. We make both with lots of veggies and while they may not be authentic dishes, they are satisfying and delicious.
Frank & Julia’s Stir Fry
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. sirloin tip, cut into thin strips or small cubes
1/4 lb. snow peas, with ends cut off
1 large green pepper, cut into thin strips or coarsely chopped
1 medium onion, cut into thin strips
1 jalapeno, seeds discarded for milder flavor, seeds included for hot heat
6 mushrooms, sliced
Salt
Pepper
2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon garlic chili sauce
In skillet on medium-high heat, oil the pan and cook the meat, about 4 minutes. Salt and pepper the meat. Add the veggies and stir; add soy sauce, cayenne pepper and garlic chili sauce. Stir well so all pieces are coated with seasonings. Reduce heat to medium and cover, about 5 minutes. Veggies will be softened, but not mushy. Eat as is, or serve on top of rice.
I also made beignets on Sunday, in theme with the Vikings playing the Nola Saints. I can say one thing, the beignets were a bigger hit than the Vikings’ performance that night. Following the recipe from Epicurious was pretty easy. Getting peanut oil to the correct temperature in what I’m sure was the wrong kind of pan to use, was more of a challenge. As was getting the beignets off of the counter into the pot. They sure looked nice in their perfect squares pre-handling though.
First thing first: they say to lightly dust the counter with flour before you roll out your dough, but next time I may just put oil on the counter so when I go to get the dough off the counter, it actually does. The dough is ridiculously sticky, and if it sticks to your fingers, you’ve lost your pretty square shape. I ended up coating my hands with flour, separating the pieces, and reshaping the dough for easier handling. Then the heat: I lost the first ten beignets to too-high heat, so took it off heat completely to cool down. Once it had cooled to the right temperature (no thermometer, so I had to sacrifice some dough to test the temp), it was a pretty easy process. Five in at one time, then turn; add five more and when they needed to turn, took out the first five. Once to the party, they went in the oven at 200 for about an hour, then powdered with confectioners sugar and they were delicious! A note to those sensitive to post-cooking smell: the sweet fried scent was still lingering on Monday, a good 24 hours later.
Jan 26
I know I said I would be making the Lotta Jansdotter apron over the weekend, but on Friday night, Frank’s sister surprised me with a gift from her and her mother – you guessed it, an apron. AND it was embroidered! It is very retro cool, and I can’t wait to make stir-fry tonight with such a cute addition to my outfit. So, there was no need to make an apron but an all-day tote? Sign me up. I had already marked this sewing project as one to get to from her book “Simple Sewing,” and had fabric on hand, so I just went for it. No pattern, just lots of fabric squares in varying sizes that some way or another, would get assembled. I love the two exterior pockets (one on the side for coffee mug, and one in the front for just about anything, but good for a magazine), and two inside pockets (see bottom pic). It strikes me as a really friendly way to keep organized, yet act as a catch-all during a mad dash out the door. So, I started sewing away and four hours later, there it was, a really cute tote and a super proud owner. Now, if only my Matt & Nat super sale satchel didn’t arrive today…
I’m pretty excited about this weekend, as it is the perfect balance between social calls and at-home coziness. Here’s what’s up for the weekend:
1. Starting it off with my favorite, Mac+Cheese with Leeks and this time, I’m adding bacon. Should be awesome. Read more
Jan 19
On Sunday night, feeling the usual excitement of watching the Golden Globes yet restless with just sitting, watching and secretly guessing at the winners, I picked up Molly Wizenberg’s A Homemade Life to find a delicious Sunday treat that wouldn’t take too much time to make, and would be a nice snack in the morning on my way to work. It is yet another recipe from Molly’s book that has pleasantly found its way into my kitchen, and inevitably, into my stomach. Full disclosure before I dive in: I have a really bad habit of not following a recipe generally but especially if it involves 1) raspberries or 2) chocolate. Of course, with both items in my possession, I breezed past Molly’s condition that to make these you use non-wet, neat foods, like raisins or cranberries and not wet, messy foods. What did I use instead? Wet, messy raspberries and chocolate. Not only did I go astray form the recipe and totally ignore Molly’s condition to use the recipe, I used too much of both. Way too much. The scones turned out more like a chocolate and raspberry pie than a Scottish Scone with lovely flavorings of them. Yet…they were still really good and gooey.
Scottish Scones
This recipe was given to my sister by a good friend of hers who, appropriately, is Scottish. I pass it on to you only on the condition that you try making it first with something neat and non-wet, such as raisins, currants, dried apricots, citrus zest, or candied ginger. Wetter things, such as frozen berries, will send you into murky territory, and it’s best to learn the lay of the land first.
½ c milk (I’ve used skim with no adverse effects, although it might be best to use one with more fat and body)
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ stick (2 ounces) unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
3 Tbs sugar (I often choose the finely milled raw cane sugar—hippie sugar, as I call it)
Flavorful additions of your choice, to taste (see above for ideas; if you use berries, make sure they are frozen)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Beat together the milk and the egg and then set aside. In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Rub the butter into the flour mixture, working until you have no lumps bigger than a pea. Add the sugar and whatever additions you choose, and stir or toss to mix. Pour the wet ingredients into the dries, reserving just a tad of the milk-egg mixture to use as a glaze. Bring dough together gently with a wooden spoon.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead it no more than 12 times. [Apparently, twelve is the magic number here; surpass it at your own risk.] Pat dough into a round approximately ½-inch thick, and cut into 8 or 12 wedges. Place on an ungreased baking sheet or a Silpat, if you have one. Using a pastry brush, glaze wedges.
Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack.
Jan 17
It’s been a busy week at the house, tackling the last two projects that have been lingering for too long: back porch closet organization and back entrance revamp.
The closet is a classic old-house small space that is the landing pad for all things to be shoved in, hidden, put in a box and forgotten about. Even the cats didn’t want to play hide and seek for fear they’d be sucked into the dark void forever. While emptying this small space, I was surprised at how much came out (think clown car scenario), particularly in the shoe and coat area, as I didn’t recognize a good lot of it. I painted the closet from a late 70s dark beige-meets-peach color to bright white, bought two shoe organizers and reused an old one, organized the shelves for tall boots only (if I see one brown box up there, it’s going to get tossed) and cleared the floor space for two bins to hold winter gear. I think it’s a pretty huge improvement and isn’t the eyesore it was before. As the “before” picture too horrid to actually insert, here is the “after”:
As for the back entrance, the green floral print with accented brown baseboard wasn’t working for me, and while I originally gravitated to a light sky blue, white felt best in the end. It’s a space now that I wish had enough room for a sitting chair. Bummer – it’s an entryway.
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
For most of the art, I took fabric squares from the quilt I made my mom (I guess as my own memento of sorts), and postcards I’ve collected over the years that had a nice abstract quality. And the light globe – who can’t love a paper globe from Ikea for $6? Most of my inspiration comes from the posts at Apartment Therapy, seeing what people are using in their spaces, and how they arrange them.
While not quite a full month from our last dinner party, Nick and Chen have baby boy #2 on the way soon, so we thought to kick up the timing for this one. Our food theme was Asian, with Nick on a Momofuku kick, and me loving Andrea Nguyen’s Asian Dumplings. We made braised pork shoulder with black sesame green beans and steamed vegetable dumplings; the pork shoulder went nearly 8 hours and for that great fall off the bone, nearly melt in your mouth effect, you’ll need to go that long.
For the wine, we started with Spring Valley Merlot from Walla Walla, WA, then to Sokol Blosser Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley OR, and then had the delightful indulgence of drinking The Contender and In the Rocks Syrah from Reynvaan Family Vineyards in Walla Walla, WA (and yes, the picture on their homepage is what Walla Walla looks like). This was a special treat, as we all love Syrah from that area, and I personally was excited to try the first vintage of wine from a family I know, have spent time with and respect, the Reynvaan’s.
Washington & Oregon Wines
I love drinking wine from that part of the country, not just because I lived six years there, and not only for the sentiment of knowing something personal about the wine, winery or vineyard, but because it tastes so particularly of the place (also known as terroir, but I won’t call it that). It’s fun to remember a hot July day driving through the mixture of wheat fields and vineyards, seeing the grapes starting to swell and turn purple, getting that excited feeling in my gut that harvest was right around the corner. In this instance, of the Reynvaan’s In the Rocks Vineyard, I remember walking through this rocky stretch of land before the vines were planted, feeling dusty and thirsty, and just imagining that day in a few years when wine from that place would be in a glass to drink. Pretty sentimental, maybe even schmucky, but pretty cool. Both wines were simply beautiful, and had their own character and charm. Get on the waiting list now, because they are going to be hard to come by in a year or two.
More information about Walla Walla wines, wineries and vineyards at the Walla Walla Wine Alliance. If you think about planning a trip, this is a great place to go for a long weekend of wine tasting, and great food.
Jan 8
Scallops, while expensive in the off season, make for a sure-fire quick dinner and are really delicious. Here’s how we did it up:
1. In a lukewarm (kosher) salt bath, let scallops soak for ten minutes (technique courtesy of Thomas Keller in Ad Hoc), then pat dry with paper towels, and salt/pepper
2. Meanwhile, fry a few strips of bacon, set aside to cool
3. In same pan as bacon, cook scallops on med-high heat, 4 minutes each side (let them cook a little longer if they aren’t caramelizing)
4. Meanwhile, toss a salad. We use the Organic Farms Italian Salad with Annie’s Goddess dressing, chopped up the forementioned bacon, added some herb croutons and grated blue cheese for the top.
And a SUPER easy dessert from (you guessed it) Molly Wizenberg: Dutch Baby Pancake. I overcooked by about 30 seconds, so keep your eye on that baby as the timer counts down. However, it was still so good…
Jimmy’s Dutch Baby Pancakes
Jimmy likes to make his babies in two 6-inch cast-iron skillets, but you can also make this recipe in a single 10- or 11-inch one.
For the pancakes:
4 Tbs unsalted butter (or, if you’d prefer to try it as we did with today’s happy butter accident, try using 6-8 tablespoons, and then do not add clarified butter when serving)
4 large eggs
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup half-and-half
For the topping:
4 oz clarified butter (or, if you’re not into clarifying, simple melted butter will do)
Juice of 1 lemon
Powdered sugar
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Divide the 4 Tbs butter between two 6-inch cast-iron skillets, and melt it over low heat.
In a blender, whir together the eggs, flour, and half-and-half.
Pour the batter into the skillets over the melted butter. Slide the skillets into the oven, and bake for 25 minutes.
Remove the puffed pancakes from the oven, transfer them to a plate or shallow bowl, and pour on clarified butter, sprinkle on lemon juice, and dust with powdered sugar. Serve immediately.
Serves two.
Friend and fellow blogger Elisabeth Carr of mission:closet wrote a great piece, “Wardrobe Refresh,” published earlier this week in Mission Local, for San Francisco’s Mission District pub. As the new year came around, and living in Minnesota, I took a moment to feel the fashion blahs, as style goes to the wayside for thermal underwear and wool sweaters. Read more
Jan 6
Poached Eggs with Hollandaise and baguette
As promised after “Cooking with Nick,” I made poached eggs with hollandaise sauce, method and recipe courtesy of Julia Child. I’ll be honest and tell you I don’t like poached eggs or hollandaise (Frank, however, orders it whenever we have breakfast out), so this was a bit of a stretch for me. I liked poaching the eggs right into the simmering pot of water, and spooning the whites around the yolk to give it a shape (you’ll remember that scene if you’ve seen Julie & Julia); Frank even offered advise to swirl the water in one direction to help the whites make a shape, which worked beautifully. Now, for the hollandaise. I think I’ve tried it once or twice in my life and don’t remember is being nearly as…buttery. Julia’s recipe is insanely buttery, and I even cut out a good portion of the butter called for. I also felt it needed some spice, like cayenne, which other recipes I’ve since researched, do call for. My confusion is here, though: As I’m looking up different recipes for hollandaise sauce and eggs benedict hollandaise sauce, I find very similar recipes to that of Julia’s, all seemingly intensely buttery. So when I look at Frank’s eggs benedict across the table from me at a restaurant, with everything drowning in hollandaise sauce and he’s saying it’s delicious and not overly buttery, then what recipe are they using? As you’ll see in the picture above, I clearly thought I had made perfect hollandaise and following suit of diners across America, poured on the sauce. Ooops. We got through one and a half, and then called it quits with a butter-ache.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Go here to poach an egg.
My mother has made Brisket once a year for special occasions since I was young, and the smell of roasting beef has a distinct place in my memory. Loving roasted beef, but only really knowing Brisket, I set out to find three types of roasted beef to try and incorporate into my Sunday slow-cook regimen.
First, I made Brisket following the recipe my mom uses, out of The New Basics cookbook, and it is THE recipe for Brisket. For alternative beef roasts, I turned to classic cookbooks: Cook’s Illustrated New Best Recipes Cookbook for Classic Pot Roast, and Julia Child’s MTAFC for Boeuf Bourguignon (recipe links at bottom of post). Generally speaking, the breakdown between these three dishes is the cut, liquids and meat preparation; other than that, they all use a Dutch Oven, take a good few hours to cook, and you’ll need onion, garlic and carrot to get started:
The Cut: Brisket (the dish) is named after the cut of meat (Brisket), and is located between the Chuck and Shank. Pot Roast and Boeuf Bouguignon, however, typically call for a cut of Chuck, which is tougher meat.
Liquids Added: The other point of difference between these three recipes is the amount of liquids used during the roasting period in the oven. The brisket calls only for the natural juices that occur during the browning process; Pot Roast calls for added liquids (beef and chicken stock), but only two cups worth; Boeuf Bourguignon however calls for enough liquids to cover the cut and vegetables.
Preparation: Brisket is one cut of beef, boneless; Pot Roast Chuck calls for one cut of boneless beef chuck or the 7-bone (which I would highly recommend over the boneless chuck); Boeuf Bourguignon needs boneless beef cut into cubes (you can also use what the grocer calls “Stew Meat”).
Overall, the Brisket is tender but meaty, with flavors influenced by the vegetables in the pot; its taste is subtle and should always be accompanied by the gravy made from the Brisket juices. Pot Roast or Boeuf Bourguignon, however, don’t need a gravy…everything you need for flavor is in the meat. Pot Roast, because of the added liquids, is very tender, fall-off-the-bone (if you chose a 7-bone), and nearly melt in your mouth. The taste is a nice blend between the vegetables and the stock flavors. I love this recipe, and how juicy and flavorful a cut of meat can get because of this process. And now to Boeuf Bourguignon: I did not like it. Sounds crazy perhaps (I thought I was crazy as I was eating it and not liking it), but I think I prefer meat and vegetable flavors in a beef dish versus an over-stimulating aroma of red wine and beef broth. It was far more in line with a stew than roasted beef, with a very strong reduction taste.
New Basic’s Cookbook “Nach Waxman’s Brisket of Beef” Recipe
Jan 4
My mother’s birthday was yesterday, and as I had posted previously, I made her a quilt. This is the first quilt I’ve made, and I think it turned out all right, though some good lessons were learned. Lessons like checking the bobbin every so often so you’re not in the middle of a long seam and run out, then having to stop and wind her up again. Or, don’t let the cat and dog be in the same room as a sewing machine, glass of wine and a large quilt. Or perhaps most notably, cut, measure, re-measure, square off, cut, measure again. Sewing is precision oriented, and is something I will practice to (hopefully) perfection. The quilt is the first pattern in Material Obsession, called the Avalon quilt. Simply put, it is twelve 18″ squares of different fabrics, pieced together by the gray pieces, which are of different lengths, but all at 3.5″ width.
Additionally, I made my mother a cake after being so inspired by Molly Wizenberg’s chapter and recipe both titled “Winning Hearts and Minds Cake.” I have to say, this cake really could win over hearts and minds. At least for those who love dense chocolate cakes. And it was easy, with few ingredients and a short baking time. As you’ll see in the picture, I did not have the “best quality” dark chocolate, but I did have Ghirradeli chips (I didn’t bother chopping it up), and though European-style butter was lacking, Land O Lakes suited me just fine. Also, unbleached flour wasn’t in the cupboard, so I used Pillsbury all-purpose.
Winning Hearts and Minds Cake
7 ounces (200 grams) best-quality dark chocolate
7 ounces (200 grams) unsalted European-style butter (the high-butterfat kind, such as Lurpak or Beurre d’Isigny), cut into ½-inch cubes
1 1/3 cup (250 grams) granulated sugar
5 large eggs
1 Tbs unbleached all-purpose flour
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, and butter an 8-inch round cake pan. Line the base of the pan with parchment, and butter the parchment too.
Finely chop the chocolate (a serrated bread knife does an outstanding job of this) and melt it gently with the butter in a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring regularly to combine.
Add the sugar to the chocolate-butter mixture, stirring well, and set aside to cool for a few moments. Then add the eggs one by one, stirring well after each addition, and then add the flour. The batter should be smooth, dark, and utterly gorgeous.
Pour batter into the buttered cake pan and bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until the center of the cake looks set and the top is shiny and a bit crackly-looking. (I usually set the timer for 20 minutes initially, and then I check the cake every two minutes thereafter until it’s done. At 20 minutes, it’s usually quite jiggly in the center. You’ll know it’s done when it jiggles only slightly, if at all.) Let the cake cool in its pan on a rack for 10 minutes; then carefully turn the cake out of the pan and revert it, so that the crackly side is facing upward. Allow to cool completely. The cake will deflate slightly as it cools. Source: Orangette
Winning Hearts and Minds Cake
My long weekend at home over the New Year holiday was to cook a lot (will post on that subject soon) and read “A Homemade Life” by Molly Wizenberg, blog-turned-book by way of Orangette. I commented to a friend last week how kid-in-a-candy-store it is now to see the growing section of books with personal accounts of food and cooking, versus the classic cookbook with occasional humor and personal touch throughout it’s pages. A few years ago, books about food were limited to biographies about chefs and food editors, or the Gourmet compilation of food writing naturally derived from its monthly publication. In other words, if you were “in the know” about food, you had everything you needed after purchasing the latest cookbook, devouring Bon Appetit or Gourmet montly, and had a dinner reservation at such-and-such hot new place. Not that there is anything lacking in that, but I love that now, we can pick up a book about Molly Wizenberg’s account of how cooking and her love of food helped her grieve her father’s death and celebrate his memory, or how it connected her to unexpected friends and ultimately, her husband. It’s a true story that is neither biography nor memoir…it’s a story that notes memorable food throughout a memorable period of her life. I found her trustworthy (I love a gal from the midwest who isn’t afraid to be fearless and vulnerable at the same time), with a good heart and great stories behind the recipes she dishes out. For my friends in Seattle, she talks a lot about living there which I know is fun to read when you can identify with the weather, bus schedule, restaurants and such.
Here are a few recipes from the book I will be trying in the short weeks ahead:
Bouchons au Thon: “With a texture somewhere between that of a quiche filling and a freshly made country pâté, they tamed the flat pungency of canned fish with the sweetness of tomato and the rich butterfat of crème fraîche.”
Ingredients:
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease 8 wells of a standard-size muffin tin with nonstick cooking oil spray.
Place the tuna in a medium mixing bowl; use a fork to break up pieces any larger than a dime. Add the cheese, creme fraiche, tomato paste, eggs, onion, parsley and salt, stirring to thoroughly combine. (The mixture will be a soft orange-pink color.)
Divide the mixture evenly among the 8 muffin wells. Use water to fill any empty wells halfway full to prevent those wells from scorching. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the tops and edges of the bouchons are set.
Carefully pour the water out of the muffin wells, then dislodge the bouchons by running a rounded knife around the inside edges of their wells. Let them sit for 2 to 3 minutes, then carefully extract them and transfer to individual plates (2 for each portion).
They will collapse a bit as they cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.
As well as:
Scottish Scones, found on Orangette.
Burg’s French Toast, her father’s recipe and said to change your life.
Jan 1
“Cooking with Nick” will become a monthly installation here at Minneapolis Hunter. Nick, Frank’s brother and my good friend, is a foodie…a gourmet. I’ve known Nick for a decade now, and the meals I’ve had with him are most pronounced in my memory. There is one instance with him and another dear friend Betsy (who you will meet in detail once I stop cooking savory, and begin baking sweet) when we dined late night at Bar Lurcat here in Minneapolis. He was in town from Chicago, and we were celebrating the soon-to-be birth of his first son and his having met the love of his life, Chen. It was enough to be together, drinking a bottle of wine from CA (he would remember the producer, and vintage but not I) and talking of the next year, but Nick lives to dine – this celebrated time was to be noted by the food and wine. It was another bottle of fine wine in, a helping of foie gras (forbidden in Chicago), tuna tar tar and I can’t remember how many other dishes, that we raised our glasses many times, and forked down as delicious of food as was the time.
(Update! Nick with his razor sharp memory just texted after reading, lest you should be punished for my terrible memory: The wine from CA was a Bradford Mountain Grist Vineyard Zin, the second bottle of wine was Nicolas Fuilette champagne and it was accompanied by Oysters on the half-shell)
Three friends at Lurcat, 2006
It’s truly a delight that he and his wife Chen with their darling son have since moved from Chicago to Minneapolis, and that the five of us can get together once a month to make a meal. Now, I will have to impart some humble information about myself. When I cook, and it’s edible, it’s quite surprising. My mother is a great cook, and I grew up with most meals coming straight from her vegetable garden. I think I grew up almost expecting my mother would cook all of my meals. For eternity. Eighteen and at college did not break me of it (college cafeteria food was actually really good), but twenty-one in London and no money to eat out did. I cooked lots of pasta, I’ll say that. It wasn’t until I met Frank and had a nice sized kitchen that I actually started to cook, and I’m still learning. So let’s get back to Nick, who is a wonderful cook. Mostly, he makes the meals and either we show up, or stock some decent swill while he cooks. But when he cooks, I’ve learned to watch and listen, and ask questions. I’m always amazed that he can take five things and combine them in a way I never would have. I mentioned the blog to him, and immediately we agreed that the typical monthly meal Frank, myself, him and Chen get together to enjoy, should be documented.
Above, a rare and special meal on the occasion of my birthday a month ago, eating several cuts of beef rubbed and cooked differently (in particular, I love the tenderloin seared with a nori crust and served with wasabi butter), Mashed Red Potatoes, Seared Scallops on a bed of bacon and brussel sprouts. If that wasn’t enough, it was accompanied by a bottle of ’95 Staglin Cab, and an ’05 Cayuse Syrah (En Chamberlain). I can’t say I’ve had such a delicious meal since, well, maybe ever. Last week we made pan seared Mahi Mahi with coconut sauce, mashed potatoes and sauteed baby bok choy. The wine had gusto, starting with a Crios Syrah/Bonarda blend ’07 (Argentinian), and then a Californian Graziano Zin ’06. The meal was delicious (the picture says it all, doesn’t it? Those textures, flavors…yum), but I will remember the sauce for a long time.
Mahi Mahi on a bed of Mashed Potatoes, wrapped in Baby Bok Choy with Coconut Sauce
What’s with sauces? After devouring Bourdain’s “Kitchen Confidential” (the way he talks about sauces makes you think he’s found true love), re-reading Julia Child’s chapter on sauces, and watching Nick make the coconut sauce brought it all together for me. I’m a sauce person generally speaking, but ask Frank and he’ll tell you I’m not a sauce maker. I’ll just use the juices from the pan…forget the fancy reduction sauce. Or, salt and pepper it – I’ll be fine without a sauce. In fact, I think the closest I’ve ever come to a sauce is simmered milk with melted cheese and an egg whisked in. So, the lesson: Learn to Make a Sauce. So this week, I will make a hollandaise sauce a la Julia with poached eggs.
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