white gazpacho, part 2

got together with all the pizza guys tonight to prep for tomorrow, and have continued this white gazpacho journey... results are interesting! i don't think that i have EVER tasted anything quite like this soup.

in addition to the previously mentioned grape cluster: 1 large loaf of white bread, staled for the past few days. cut off the crust and cubed the bread. soaked it in cold water for about 15 minutes. 1 bulb of garlic, 4 c. slivered almonds, toasted, about 1/2 c. sherry vinegar, some more water, maybe a cup, about 1/4 c. olive oil, salt.

originally, i left the grape mix out of the chopper. doing the almonds and garlic together, then the bread and liquid. i mixed all this together with the halved grapes and their liquid. it was nice to take a bite and have the sweet crunch of the grape. but we all decided that it would be better to have the whole mix blended up together. to get the texture right, and to get those grapes mashed so that the sweet taste is through out.

i really don't know what to think.. when i take a bite, i kind of want to keep eating it: the fresh garlic, the nutty warmth of the almonds, the sweet grapes and the hint of flavors coming from that whole experiment, the mash of the bread, the cold temperature and the whiteness of it. it is just like nothing else. i am very nervous to see how the crowd responds tomorrow, definitely not for the faint of mouth.

white gazpacho, part 1

this is the start of the white gazpacho trials of 2009. this is the first summer that i have heard of such a variation. and i am CURIOUS! i have done lots of research, looking at different recipes, pictures, asking everyone that i have encountered if they have ever had it, made it, seen it, etc. ("what is it like?! do you taste the almond most? is it really fresh, raw garlic? is the garlic flavor strongest? is it balanced? is the bread necessary? is it creamy, savory or sweet?) it all started when i read about gazpacho and its cousins in the ny times last week. and this is where i got the idea for this start, so far- delicious!

green grapes soaking in pernod, lemon juice, water, sugar, ginger, some grapefruit zest, thyme and star anise.

i am almost tempted to not take it any further. the balance of what is going on here could easily be tipped in the wrong direction. as it is hard for me to visualize on my tongue what the final product will taste like, it is hard for me to imagine that anything added to this grape concoction could make it any better.

i have to trust that taking this all the way- adding the other traditional white gazpacho ingredients will make this my new favorite summertime soup.. so for the next step i will add garlic, almonds, and stale bread maybe some vinegar..

it isn't often that i can't imagine what the final product will be like, as i guess i am usually cooking something that i have had before- a variation on the familiar, whether it be technique or ingredients.. this breaking into unknown territory is fun! and really leaves me wanting to taste "the real thing" so that i know if i am doing it right. or this could be another round of sierra's first consomme. hilarious.

empanadas

i made empanadas today from scratch!

i used a real easy dough recipe: 4 1/2 c. ap flour, 1 tsp. salt, 1 c. cold water and 8 oz. soft butter. after mixing by hand, i let the dough chill in the fridge for about 4 hours. rolled it out thin and cut 4 inch rounds. realized that i left my rounds for cutting dough in walla. boo.

for the stuffing: sauteed the beet greens from last weeks pickling project with an onion. ran through the little chopper with some fresh mozzarella. lots of s, p and red flakes. spooned a little filling into the rounds, folded them over, forked the edges and brushed with egg white.

to dip there was some chive (from the garden) business. could have been more creative, something red with acid would have been nice.. but these were pretty good. the dough turned out great and flakey, without being dry. i liked the filling a lot, but remember when i made them with cevapcici? and ricotta and chard?

garden

haven't been over to the garden for a while! and my has it grown.

i traded some weed removal for some jalapenos, serranos, some chives and basil. the tomatoes are coming- but we need some heat around here.

dirty knee collective is looking good midsummer and i can't wait to get my hands on some tomatoes, squash and OKRA!

forkheartknife

my food got a nice little stage tonight along side great pizza with 'a tavola mangi'.

i got to serve all the pickled stuff that i made on monday as an appetizer. (thank goodness i don't have to take care of all those pickles myself..) the beets turned out perfectly. the color was that deep red, bright purple beet hue. the texture was on the money. the flavor so satisfying. vinegary, but not too, with some sweetness but mostly earthy beetness.

so lets talk about how that one worked out in the jar.. i lightly blanched the beets, boiling them for a bit, then dropping them into jars. over top, i poured the boiling pickle magic- mostly that standard pickle brine: vinegar, water, salt, pepper, pickling spices. for this one i added about a cup of apple cider vinegar to what was boiling. covered the beets in the jar with the brine, then topped off the jar with about a tbsp of olive oil.

pizza from #2 was again really great. my favorite was the marinara, sausage, basil, mozz and fried egg pizza. then there was a braised radicchio, leek, bacon and arugula salad pizza. it might actually be a tie. nevermind, can't top something with a fried egg on it.

i got to clean things up at the end with the campari and citrus sorbet. up front with the grapefruit, but the campari took away that zing that makes you pucker at the end. really refreshing and cleansing.

it feels so nice to get to have some food out there. watching people try my creations. and this one night a week thing is so perfect, keeps the energy feeling exciting and experimental. playful and interesting. i'm full.

aperitivo sorbetto

i am going to go on a little rant about jamie oliver for a second before i get started on this one.. so i have been thinking lots about campari lately. then some folks put the idea in my head for blood orange sorbet. then i got to googling. and found this wonderful, simple recipe for campari and citrus sorbet. and it comes from no other than jamie oliver. i try to keep my feelings for jamie on the inside. he is married and has a wonderful family. and he is famous and lives in a different country. but my goodness! he has the most endearing way of speaking, he is handsome and adorable and goofy as hell looking all at the same time. and he can cook. and i love the way he cooks. he keeps it simple, using good stuff and bringing out the best in it. and that is why i love this sorbet so much.

it is mostly fresh grapefruit juice (5). also: fresh orange juice (2), fresh lemon juice (2), 1 1/2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of campari. mix it together and let the sugar dissolve, then get it in the ice cream spinner. super easy and so refreshing. all the fresh citrus really zings and the campari gives it that "ooo! what is this extra flavor i am tasting?!" excitement.

i think this might be the start of a series of aperitivo and digestivo sorbets..

next up- lillet blanc and orange. fernet branca with maybe camomile? rhubarb? strawberries?

jamie oliver: if you read this, i would give you my preserved lemons recipe.

pickle party

today i pickled sooo much stuff..

i preserved lemons. and i pickled lots of cukes and some asparagus and some beets. and it was so fun.

hilarious that my dad has been saving all these jars for me. but only the jars, not the lids. so its good thing that i will be having pickle eating contests with myself for the next few weeks to get rid of all these goods. nothing better than a pickle on a hot day.

i don't claim to be an expert on the old fashioned process of canning.. they just don't teach you useful stuff like that at culinary school... but i am getting a little bit more comfortable.. and i think that after going through the whole process once with someone, i will be a pro. but for stuff that gets put in a jar and kept in the refrigerator, i am doing great..

for the preserved lemons: you are going to have to figure it out on your own. this is my secret weapon.. and i am going to have to warm up to the idea of sharing. or you could google it and call it your secret weapon. i like to use one in my chimichurri, i like to use one in a chutney, i like to eat one with an anchovy. yum.

for the pickles: pack the vegetables in the jar, boil some vinegar, water, sugar, salt and some pickling spice. pour it over the veggies and let it cool a bit. cover and refrigerate. i start eating pretty much right away. it is fun to taste the difference a day makes on a pickle. but i think day 3 or 4 is probably best... in a few of the jars i put some exciting things, lemon and garlic cloves in with the asparagus. peppers and jalapenos and garlic in with some cukes. extra dill in some. and extra sugar and balsamic in a sweet batch.. the beets got apple cider vinegar, a little olive oil and a pickling spice pumped up on fennel seed. and remember, unless you are skilled at canning, keep the stuff in the fridge for freshness!

pizza party

so i realize that this is probably the first restaurant review that i have done here... and it's not even a real restaurant (yet?)

it is pizza, among other things, happening on thursday nights in take the cake's space. i am having a hard time pinpointing what created such a special atmosphere/sensation/experience.. i haven't been able to spend much time in take the cake, as they are closed on my days off- but the space is very special and it was very conducive to making pizza night very fun, unique and genuine..

boys- you have earned yourselves a very high rating with me.. i have been looking for a food and surroundings experience like this for about 6 months. not often you find it in this city- but the last time i felt it was at slims in february. totally satisfied with the simplicity and perfection of the food. awaiting the next bite while sitting in a stimulating space. and somehow there seemed to be a lack of pretention and scene from the other pizza eaters. which makes for a wonderful combination that is hard to maintain- glad i caught it last night and i will make wishes that it continues on..

the pizza-

CRUST: the crust is fantastic. thin with a more dense outer edge, strong enough to hold the toppings but not too crusty. not one bite was too floury or salty or yeasty. each bite tasted almost velvety in richness but light enough to keep it coming.. definitely left me wanting more. i think there is crack in it.

TOPPINGS: the toppings were everything i would have wanted them to be. authentic and simple and just as balanced as the crust. there was one with tomato sauce, fresh mozz, and basil leaves with parm shaved on top. there was one with figs, prosciutto and an arugula mess on top. there was one with tomato sauce, sausage and smoked mozz. i got to have BOQUERONES!!! in cincinnati!!! on a pizza and i can't even remember what else was on it, but thank you thank you thank you for getting those on there. and at the end i got to taste a special white truffle pizza.. maybe because i was one of the last to leave! yumyumyum.

DRINKS: it is BYO, and i didn't plan very far ahead.. but there was a very refreshing ginger mint lemonade..

i think most people know that i compare every food experience to the jimgermanbar.. and i must say that this night of pizza felt most like those nights than any other that i have had in cincinnati. the food was great, special and rare, but made simple and approachable by the preparers.. no fuss. no scene. a meandering sort of feeling around the eating part.. food coming, more food coming later- trying out different bites of different things. the nicest way to eat. and i know that someone has struck gold when i lay awake after a meal just thinking about the food, thinking about the parts that are perfect, thinking about ways to do it different, thinking about what i will make today after being so stimulated.

and since this is the first review i have done, i guess i need to figure a rating scale- 10 points for a tavola mangi!

ICE CREAM MAKER!!!!

for my birthday i got what i really wanted.. an ice cream maker! and today i am taking it out for a spin...

i have had this recipe sitting around for a while, with the intent of using the orgeat syrup in a whiskey drink.. maybe something like whiskey, orgeat syrup, cherries, bitters.. like a manhattan but warmer. i made a big batch of the syrup and never got around to seeing it through, hopefully this winter i can make this a staple cocktail.. (note to self- velvet falernum?!) but since it is summer: ORZATA SORBETTO!

making sorbet is really very simple, and most recipes are basically a simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water, dissolved) with the addition of fruit, etc. so the recipe for the orgeat syrup works for making a sorbet:

8 oz. bag of blanched almonds. cover the almonds with water and let them soak for 30 minutes. drain the water, crush the almonds in the chopper. mix the crushed almonds with about 2 cups of water. let this all sit for about 2 hours. you are supposed to do this 3 times. some of us have a patience problem, so i will tell you what i do. i just cook the almonds in the water for about 15 minutes, over low heat- doing this a few times. at each 15 minute interval, strain the liquid from the crushed almonds, saving the liquid. reuse the almonds in a fresh 2 cups of water, cooking again for about 15 minutes. then one more time. you can do it three times in under an hour! genius!

so, spend an hour making almond milk, basically- and get rid of the almonds cause they are about spent (i have been known to dry them back out and throw them in a batch of muffins..) cook that almond juice over low heat with about, i don't know, maybe 1 1/2 cups of sugar. warm this until the sugar is dissolved. and that's the simple syrup..

cool the syrup and add about 1 tbsp. of orange flower or rose water. and if you really want to have a good time, you can add some vodka. to make the sorbet real fast in the ice cream maker, you want your mix to be cold when you pour it in there. i added some chopped marcona almonds for some crunch and a sweet/salty thing.

and now i am having visions of a summery manhattan with a big scoop of this sorbet floating! genius strikes again!

spuds

the final night that i cooked on vacation was wednesday. it was like i was so relaxed and into being on vacation that i couldn't get inspired to cook... plus, i realized that it is amazing to take a nap on the beach right around 5 pm, and i was missing out on that cooking dinner every night..

wednesday was the night that wally and dianne came to have dinner with us. we had a "baked potato" bar. i got pretty interpretive with this..

i can't say that i have ever made a traditional baked potato. i have no idea how. my dad had this rack with prongs that you stab into the potato. i think that you are supposed to stab it with a fork so that it doesn't explode. i have vague memories of watching someone slather the spud in crisco before baking it. there were just too many unknown variables for making a baked potato the old fashioned way.

so i just went ahead and cut up a bunch of sweet potatoes and idahos and roasted them in the oven at 450 till they got some color. of course i rolled them around in oil, was liberal with the s & p and some red flakes. i also did a bunch of the little red potatoes bravas. crowd pleaser.

for the toppings there was chili. some cheddar cheese. sour cream. steamed broccoli. bacon.

it was good. and we had that corn that molly made.

and i really loved having dinner with dianne and wally. these are the kinda new york talkers that are seem trained in story telling. we covered everything from dianne's coincidental reunion with previously unknown half-family. lots of twists and turns in that one. and wally told us more stories about being a firefighter in NYC for 9/11. they add to the other's version with seemingly choreographed interruption.. it was magical.

i was stuffed, but we had picked up some cheerwine, a delicious beverage that is only really found in abundance down in those parts. we had it out at the whoop in waitsburg, so i knew what we were getting into... and we also got some vanilla ice cream and we made some floats and there is no other feeling like drinking a float. float bloat.

magic molly corn a la mexicana

boil the corn.

roll it in mayo.

sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

squeeze some limes.

shake on the red powder.

magic. molly made it.

beach blues

this is the post i have been wanting to write since we got here. i have some time in between being done with making dinner and waiting for our guests to arrive. last time we came to this island, pam and mom made friends with our neighbor, wally. and his wife. can't remember her name. anyways, they live here all the time, are from nyc and have the most strong ny accents that i have ever encountered. they sound like cartoons of themselves. they'll be here in about an hour. i could go swimming, maybe i will after this.

it is really so hard to be here without jenna. to know that she is at home. that she doesn't get the break or the sun or the waves. or the walking in the sand, the spacing out. the breeze. the sound. the birds. not only does she not get any of this, but she doesn't get a break from what she is going through. doesn't get a break at all. just keeps getting pounded with the reality of being sick, of watching her body change and fight. being pumped with drugs that make her feel like she has no sense of her body and what is going on inside it.

i know that i have no idea even what this all feels like for her. i keep trying to be right there with her, but i know that i have no clue. it makes me feel so sad and distant from her, even when i am beside her. heartbreaking stuff. to have my best friend, the one who gets me, who i usually get, feel so far into an experience that i can't fathom. i am starting to even feel like i can't cheer her up... with the dumb stuff that we usually say. the stuff that usually works for making her smile and getting her out of her head and atleast distracted.

and selfishly, i miss jenna being the one to cheer me, to distract me from the heavy stuff in my head or the pain in my heart. i could use some of that magic right now. that would feel like vacation. in the meantime, i guess i'll go get pounded by some waves and hope that shakes it all outta me.

babes

this is the morning after, and i am not going to be drinking anymore of these drinks called "bay breezes", somehow morphed into "babe drinks". no more. i started drinking em on the beach at around 4 pm, and by the time i should have been making dinner, all i wanted was a nap for the rest of the night. but as i am sleeping on the couch in the main room, and as i do enjoy making dinner, i stayed awake and kept drinking those babes.

how we managed to have me here cooking and micheal here making drinks is a point that the moms all really like mentioning. like they pointed us in this direction so that on beach vacations there would be one bartender and one cook.

we did actually have a 'bar' last night. the plan on the way to vacation was to have a different 'bar' each night: pasta, taco, potato, salad, etc... the first couple nights it just felt a lot easier to throw everything together. but last night i laid it all out. build your own fajitas...

i really hate eating and cooking chicken (unless jenna makes it), but people were clamoring for some. marinade: tequila, lime, jalepeno, taco seasoning packet, red onion, oil. black beans cooked with onions, garlic, jalepeno. sauteed red peppers and onions. had some cheese, some sour cream, some tomatoes. chips and salsa. i realized about 5 minutes before dinner was ready that i had forgotten about avocados completely. so we had no guac, no green. i am still feeling shame.

the most fun part was that when people are building their own, everybody's looks so different!