Help Me Rhonda

BalsamicChicken4

I did some recipe testing this week and loved this one so much that I decided to offer for the May 1st dinner.  It is called Balsamic Chicken.  Mostly it is a braise - meaning that the chicken cooks in a flavorful broth of tomatoes, onions, red wine, and a few other herbs, spices and pastes. Toward the end one adds a bunch of chard and cooks it until it wilted.  Polenta was a great side and I'll make up a fresh batch for Thursday's dinner too.  Are you hungry yet?

The menu for May 1, 2008:

*Balsamic Chicken or Tofu* - Slightly sweet and tangy sauce with chard, onions and tomatoes.  Choose from either organic chicken or locally produced tofu

*Polenta* - Organic polenta cooked with a bit of milk & Parmesan cheese until creamy

*Pan au Levain* - from Brio Breadworks

*Seasonal Salad* -  organic greens, fresh-made dressing

*New York-Style Crumb Cake* - have you ever had the Entenmann’s crumb cake in the white box??? Well- this isn’t it.  This is way better – a buttery yellow cake with a soft, cinnamon-crumb topping

Swedish Limpa Rye & Lemons

Bread

Friday was a day well spent in the kitchen.  I decided to try a new recipe out of my latest baking book, Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads.  I was very excited to try out his whole grain Swedish Limpa Rye.  I had tasted my first limpa rye about 20 years ago and have never forgotten how wonderful it was.  Limpa rye is a light rye (less than 30% rye) flavored with anise and fennel seeds, cardamom, orange peel and molasses.  I was able to use my sourdough starter and grind some fresh rye for this batch.  The dough was quite tender and I had pretty good success kneading the dough using the French technique of stretching and folding (it really is more like slamming and folding because you grab one end of the dough with two hands, swinging it above your shoulder like your holding an axe, slam it to the counter top so that it stretches into a long piece and then fold it over onto itself. My teacher said that when he was learning this technique and practicing at home he knocked out a couple tiles from his counter top!)  The bread was quite easy to shape and it smelled heavenly as it baked...I couldn't wait to cut into it.  We tried thin slices with a smoked tofu spread, hummus, and Cypress Grove's Purple Haze Chevre.  The bread was heartier than what I remembered, probably because it was whole grain while what I tasted 20 years ago was white bread. I liked the goat cheese best, Jack liked the smoked Tofu.  Two days later I'm still enjoying it toasted with Fig-Ginger jam.

Limoncello

A friend traded me a big box of fresh lemons for a credit towards dinner.  I had been wishing for a windfall of lemons after reading my friend anthrogrrl blog about making limoncello.  I found the the recipe that she tried on another Vox blog (limoncello post) and started peeling lemons. It is pretty simple - just lemon peels, vodka and simple syrup.  I bought one of those big bottles of vodka from Costco and used up most of it for this first batch.  I only made it through part of the top layer of lemons in my box so I guess I'm heading back to Costco for more vodka. I'm going to let my mixture infuse for at least a month before I try it out.  I'll keep ya'll posted.

Oatmeal Cookies

I also made a double batch of thin & cripsy oatmeal cookies.  The recipe is from Cooks Illustrated.  I love the variation with coarse salt on top...sweet & salty, thin & crispy oatmeal cookies!

Grilled Tofu

Thursday's dinner was grilled!  My friend Pete offered to staff the grill for me and did a fantastic job. He also saved me a couple hours of work by grilling all the tofu and the pork chops while I finished up everything else.  I had the brined & spice rubbed chops and marinaded tofu ready for him when he arrived.  One of the tricks for getting great tasting tofu is to press out the water.  I do this by placing a brick of extra firm tofu between two plates and then weighing it down with a couple pounds of whatever is closest at hand.  Often it is a bunch of bananas or a bag of beans.  After 10 minutes you will have a small pool of water to pour off.  I'll pour off water once or twice before I'm ready to marinade.  I slice the tofu brick into 10 or 12 slices and place them in a container with a tight fitting lid.  I use a rubbermaid tub that is big enough to hold all my slices in one layer and I pour the marinade over them. My favorite marinade for grilling tofu is the following recipe: 

Vanessa's* Grilled Tofu Marinade

2 Tablespoons peanut oil (canola oil works fine too)

2 Tablespoons toasted sesame oil

1 Tablespoon soy sauce (I use tamari)

1 teaspoon rice vinegar

2 Tablespoons brown sugar (light, dark, golden...all work)

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon salt

Mix to combine and pour over tofu slices and let sit for at least 30 minutes. Turn the tofu at least once to get marinade on both sides.  This makes enough marinade for about 1 pound of pressed tofu. 

*Vanessa was a housemate's friend who just whipped this up one day and it has been a favorite ever since!

grilled chop plate 2

Most folks wanted pork chops this week.  I purchased these thick-cut Beeler pork chops from the Arcata Co-op. They were brined for about 1 hour in a sugar, salt and water solution, dried, then rubbed with a spice mixture of fresh ground fennel, cumin, coriander, cloves, yellow mustard as well as already ground cinnamon, cardamom and a bit of brown sugar.  I also made rice pilaf, roasted beets, and braised chard. 

Mango galette

Dessert was a mango galette...I spread some almond cream on a tart dough and topped it with mangoes tossed with a bit of sugar.  I baked them for about 30 minutes until they were bubbly and golden brown.  I can't wait for plums, peaches, figs, apples & pears! 

Morel Hunt

On Saturday, Jack and I joined the local mushroom club for a morel hunt in a recently burned area in Trinity County.  Morels frequently come up in disturbed areas with fire being one of the "best" disturbances.  A few years back, we had new wood chip mulch sprout morels in our own yard (I stepped on half of them before I realized how big the patch really was...I decided to harvest the smashed ones too and just chop them for ravioli...best darn ravioli ever!)

We brought a big basket anticipating a large harvest.  Unfortunately, everyone came up with empty baskets as far as morels were concerned.  We did see 100s of pale yellow Fawn Lilies as well as poppies, larkspurs, and other Penstemons. 

The trail we were following was along the New River.  A beautiful, prestine, and mind numbing cold river.

2 unid'd shrooms

A couple people did find mushrooms.  Our friend Terran found these ones.  No one in our group was able to positively identify them.  Our initial guess was "Hawk's Wing" or "Turkey Tail"

April 20th - The mushrooms were identified as Polyporus tuberaster (a.k.a. Stone Fungus).  They actually fruit from an underground "tuber". Both the mushroom (fruit) and the "tuber" are edible according to Mushrooms Demystified by David Arora. 

gill side

Here is a photo of the undersides.  Notice that these mushrooms don't have gills, they have pores instead.

Jacks cake 1

I made this birthday cake for my sweetie today.  It was really a glorified strawberry shortcake. It was a yellow sponge cake with a strawberry-Kirsch filling and cream cheese whipped cream...Jack was happy.  The strawberries were crunchy, but it was still quite good. I can't wait to make it again when our garden strawberries are ready. I might try a chocolate or poppy-seed sponge cake next time...doesn't that sound good?

FreshSandwichBread1

I also made bread today.  It was a really good formula from Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads.  This was the second time I've made this tasty bread.  It is a 100% whole wheat sandwich bread, he calls it the Master Formula.  I used King Arthur's White Whole Wheat Flour both times with good results.  The technique uses a separate soaker and a biga that sit overnight to develop great flavor.  It might seem like a hassle to mix up pre-doughs the night before, but it goes really quickly and ends up saving you a bunch of time the next day because you hardly have to do anything - just mix the predoughs together and knead it a couple minutes.  Let it rise, shape it and rise again in the pan, then bake..and voila...fresh bread!  As you can see, the bread bakes up beautifully and slices without tearing apart.  I think this method would work well for production baking.  I can't wait to try out more recipes from this book!

On my morning walks I've been noticing some new flowers.  I really enjoy this time of year in the redwoods!

2CitrusSalads

This salad was the start of a very lovely and tasty dinner.  It was made with organic mixed greens and butter lettuce, sliced honey tangerines, blood oranges, & kumquats, topped with chopped toasted pistachios.  The dressing was tangerine zest, tangerine, blood orange, & navel orange juices, agave nectar, rice vinegar, canola & olive oils. It sounds like it could be too sweet, but it wasn't...it was light, fresh and slighty sweet. To find creative seasonal salads, I often turn to Annie Somerville.  This recipe is from Everyday Greens.  This cookbook was a lucky find at the local used book store.

3FiloPurses

For the center of the plate entree, I wanted to make something festive and capture the season.  These filo purses fit the bill.  They are filled with roasted asparagus & cremini mushrooms, caramelized red onions & leeks, fresh garden thyme & parsley, Asiago & Parmesan cheeses, and a couple fresh eggs with a tiny bit of cream.  Once the filling is made the purses come together rather easily.  A whole tray of these coming out of the oven is gorgeous!  They didn't taste too shabby either! 

CedarHillSourdoughBluePan

I've been a frustrated home baker...especially after seeing what a professional bread oven can do for artisan-style breads. While looking for dessert recipes a couple weeks ago, I stumbled across a simple technique in Cooks Illustrated (Jan/Feb 2008).  They suggested baking the bread in a preheated covered dutch oven.  I was pleasantly surprised at how good the oven spring was and how crispy and thin the crust turned out.  My friend Sunni loaned me her beautiful and well-loved Le Creuset dutch oven for this loaf.  This bread uses a levain culture that I got from the San Fransisco Baking Institute.  The recipe is Vermont Sourdough from Bread: a Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman (a great book for both professionals and home bakers alike)

LemonChessecake1

2 comments

Dessert...my favorite part of the meal

I made a lemon cheesecake. It had three distinct layers. The crust was made with Barnum Animal Crackers (I find great comfort that they still come in those little boxes with a string handle), butter and sugar.  The filling was cream cheese, cream, eggs, sugar, lemon zest & juice, vanilla and salt.  The topping was a tart layer of lemon curd.  I modified the curd recipe by steeping fresh rose geranium leaves with the lemon juice.  It added a slight floral nuance. The flower is rose geranium.

Next week's dinner

Tuscan White Bean Soup - A rustic soup made with three different beans and a tomato-garlic-rosemary-wine broth. I make it a day ahead because it actually develops better character as the flavors have time to mingle and marry. 

Seasonal Salad - romaine and mixed greens, sun-dried tomatoes, Hard-cooked eggs, olives, sourdough croutons and red wine vinaigrette

Artisan-style Bread - Brio's Pan au Levain 

Fresh made Rose-Geranium Ice cream and Buttery Shortbread - oh boy...this is an experiment...let's see if we can keep the ice cream cold enough!  I suggest that you bring an ice pack when you pick-up or just rush home quickly and eat the ice cream while the soup is warming on your stove!

$15/serving 

This meal will be ready on Thursday, March 20th.  Please reserve by Tuesday night (9 p.m.) March 18th

Indian Dinner Mar 08

Yummy!  This was Thursday's (March 6 2008) dinner.  My friend Saremy invited me to join her for dinner after I finished my deliveries.  I packed a box for us so that we could eat together when I got to her house.  It was a lot of food and we couldn't eat it all! Starting with the green plate and moving clockwise...Indian-style coleslaw with a fresh turmeric & lime dressing, Trader Joe's naan, stewed black-eyed peas with tomatoes and Indian spices (freshly toasted and ground), baked carrot halvah, and basmati rice pilaf with cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon. Not pictured...Lemon-Drop...a wonderful mixed drink that Saremy had ready for me when I arrived...it was really good and worthy of its own blog entry. 

For those of you that ordered...How did you like the meal?

Thin & Crispy Oatmeal Cookies

My friend Yvonne scored this week...two of her referrals ordered dinner for Thursday. So- she got two dozen of these wonderful oatmeal cookies. These are some of the best cookies I've ever had...I might even say better than chocolate chip cookies. If your referral orders a dinner I'll give you a dozen cookies too!

Dinner next week is special...my friend said it was her husband's birthday and that she wanted to treat him to a nice meal.  So we came up with the following menu... 

Tom's Birthday Menu:

Spring Filo Triangles - these are filled with roasted organic asparagus, leeks & onions, mushrooms, Asiago cheese, and some fresh garden herbs.

Cedar Hill Sourdough - this bread is made with a mild sourdough culture that originally came from the San Francisco Baking Institute.  I'm pretty sure that the local yeasts up here on the hill between Blue Lake and Arcata have taken up residence in the bubbly brew.  This artisan-style bread has a touch of rye and a bit whole wheat flour.

Salad of Mixed Greens and fresh made dressing - let's see what we can find at the local markets this week to make a good seasonal salad. 

Lemon Cheesecake - lemons are still plentiful and my hens have been providing an abundance of eggs!  This cheesecake has a cookie-crumb crust, a rich and creamy filling, with a layer of tangy lemon curd on top...perfect for a birthday treat!

$18/serving

Let me know by Tuesday, March 11th if you'd like to reserve this meal...I think the email link (upper left side under about me) works now. 

Also...I have eggs for sale...$4/dozen 

We recognize spring at our house when we become overwhelmed by eggs.  Spring started 2 weeks ago.  I was down in San Francisco when I got the call..."Rhonda - I filled up the egg carton last night...It was empty three days ago and now it is full.  We have too many eggs"  This happens every year and it is usually quite exciting when you have 5 or 6 chickens.  We have been getting nervous now that we have 16 hens.  All but one are of prime egg-laying age.  We have an old hen, Scarlet (she is a Rhode Island Red), who quit laying about 4 years ago.  We think she is about 10 years old. She is the matriarch, she has fat ankles, and we had to add an extra low roost because she was having rough landings with the 28-inch drop to the ground. Anyway - she doesn't lay eggs, she just eats and bonks the other hens on the head when they get in the way of the food.  Commerical production hens can lay an egg every 25 hours. I think some of our hens can hit this mark, but most lay an egg every other day.  So a little over two weeks ago, when I left for SF, we were getting 2 or 3 eggs a day.  That increased to 3 or 4 eggs when I got the call.  Buy the end of the week it was 5 or 6 eggs. Yesterday we got 8.  On a good day, our household of three adults and one dog can put away 6 eggs.  We've begun making hardboiled eggs for snacking and soon egg salad sandwiches.  Quiches will be coming on line too (I'm waiting for the tarragon to start poking through the soil though...it makes the best quiche).  Custards, cakes, and ice cream are next!   We start to wonder about our cholesterol levels in late April.  Usually by May we have all our egg outlets figured out.  For the last two years, a local little family run store has been willing to trade eggs for fresh produce.  I'll have to check in with them soon.  I'm also hoping that some of my Dinner 2 Go clients might be interested in fresh eggs too.

The top picture is an Ameraucana hen, they usually lay bluish-green eggs. She is not very happy about getting her picture taken at such a private moment.  The headshot is "Buttercup" aka "I'll kick 'yer butt" she and Jenny Jenkins have dominance issues. I just integrated them into the flock last week and it has been exciting (They terrorize as a pair. You can see them both in the bottom picture, they are at 6 and 7 o'clock). Third picture down: Five days worth of eggs and a loaf of Cedar Hill Sourdough.  The bottom picture is the daily feeding frenzy. They act like they are starving in the morning.  Scarlet is at 12 o'clock, it looks like she just bonked Betty (black hen at 11 o'clock) away from the food.