The Cauliflower is in Bloom

Have you been wondering where I've been for the past week or so? No? Wow, I thought you loved me. 

The thing is, I got furloughed from my job. I took a week of PTO, which gave me lots of time to cook and then talk about it. I really did intend on doing something every day. But then, I got picked up in the corporate labor pool. I'm working, which is a good thing. Pays the bills and all that. But it drastically cuts into my cooking and blogging time. By the time I get home, work out, shower, change, make dinner, and watch the obligatory one hour of M*A*S*H reruns, I'm beat. 

But no more. I made a commitment to keep posting, so I will. 

I've realized that I need to stop going shopping for a couple of weeks, since this is supposed to be the worst time for the virus where I live, so I'm going to work with what I have in the house. And when I get to go back out to the store again, I'm going to start being a little more frugal about what I buy. Times is hard and all that. 

So, it's time to eat cauliflower again. Last time, when I made the Buffalo cauli, my friend Nikki asked me for an Asian version. I'm basically treating the cauliflower like chicken wings, so I will most likely do pretty much every flavor you would find at your local BWW. 

I used the same batter as last time, except I added a tiny little bit of sesame oil, and cut out the smoked paprika. 

I found a recipe in my old binder, from when I had State Street Cafe, that I made up for chicken wings, and used it.

1/4 c. soy sauce

1 TB honey

1 TB sweet chili sauce

1/4 c. hoisin sauce

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. minced ginger (full disclosure: there was no ginger at my local market, so I got the stuff in a tube and it worked great)

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp. chili oil

toasted sesame seeds

Combine all ingredients, except sesame seeds, in a bowl. When cauliflower is finished in the oven, place in bowl and toss to coat. Plate and garnish with sesame seeds. 

That is a soba noodle salad with cucumbers, scallion, peppers and ginger-apple dressing. 

It was all yummy. 

Tune in again soon. There will be more. I promise. Meantime, hang in there. And try to eat healthy, at least until dessert!

Cod Help Us

First of all, let me say how inconvenient it is that my local fish store can't be open, so I have to resort to the fish sold at the supermarket. I realize this is a total first world problem, but what can I say? I am fortunate enough to be able to pay the price for fresh, line caught fish, or high quality farmed fish. For those of you who don't have this opportunity, I want to explain the two reasons why I, whenever possible, buy non-farmed (or at least not from certain countries' farms) fish. Both reasons actually overlap. Because many farmed fish are kept in tight quarters and are fed mostly a corn based diet, they have very little taste, and much less nutritive value (having been fed corn). For example, you could probably eat a piece of cardboard and get about the same nutrients as if you ate a piece of farmed tilapia. Uh oh, I'm digressing. Moving on now.

Anyway, there I was with my piece of shrink-wrapped, previously frozen, supermarket cod.
I had bought some tasty cherry tomatoes, and a ball of fresh mozzarella, so was planning on some sort of Caprese thing. But I had no basil. So I thought, well hell, I'll add some baby arugula (I always seem to have this in my fridge). I was planning on putting this over some black beans with pickled onions. (I'm trying to not eat too much pasta, or it would have been orzo or something like that)
But wait. I had an avocado that was going funky. Better use that, too. So in it went. Well, at this point, why not just combine the whole thing? So I did.
Well now, we have somehow gone from Italian to Southwest, so I added some cumin, sea salt, pepper, olive oil and lime juice. Looked like this:

 Ok, now I had to season the fish. I have this chili-lime stuff that I bought from Aldi. I will not start talking about the virtues of Aldi at this point, or we will never get done. What I will say, is that this stuff has no artificial ingredients.

I sprinkled a little olive oil over this, and broiled it. So many ways I could have cooked it; pan-seared, in a foil packet, roasted-but this was the easiest at the time. Did you pick up on what I just told you?
You don't have to cook it the same way as I did. How 'bout dem apples?
Here's the finished product. If I had thought ahead, I might have made a lime crema or chipotle aioli to drizzle over it. Then, BOY, would it have looked impressive!

It was yummy, even without the drizzle.
Let's review: what began as an Italian style dish, morphed into a Southwestern dish. What happened?
FOOD. FOOD HAPPENS.
Happy eating. Stay safe, y'all.

Miso Bored

You know when you stare at everything you have in the fridge, and nothing appeals to you? You know, you're hungry, but overcome with ambivalence? Yeah, that's me today. 

So I pulled out the miso paste from the back of the fridge. When everything around you is yucky, miso soup makes you feel better. I don't know why, but it does. I wanted to make it filling, so I grabbed some stuff from the pantry and the fridge. Here's what I came up with:

Dried shiitakes, broccoli slaw, scallions, a ramen pack, miso, and kombu powder. Kombu is edible kelp, used to make a broth called dashi, which adds a little extra umami flavor to things, especially miso soup. Someone once gave me this powder. You can buy sheets of kombu at the Asian market. 

Dried shiitakes are awesome. They have a nuclear shelf life, if you keep them dry. You have to soak them in hot water, so I put them in a small pot and heated water to soften. When they got soft, I removed the mushrooms and strained the liquid into another pot through cheesecloth (if you don't have cheesecloth, use a fine strainer). The water takes on a mushroomy goodness so it became the base of the soup.

You have to remove the stems from shiitakes, whether you are using fresh or dried. They're too tough to eat. Once they were off, I cut the caps into a fine julienne. 

In another pot, I boiled water to cook the ramen noodles. Before opening the package, I broke the noodles into quarters, so they wouldn't be too long once cooked. As for the flavoring packet? The only place for that is the trash can. Ever read what's in that stuff? Sodium, monosodium glutamate, and all kinds of other scary stuff. It's like 2 days worth of salt in one little package. Bleah. 

Once the noodles were about halfway cooked, i grabbed a handful of the broccoli slaw and threw it in the pot. It only took about another minute, then I poured it into a strainer. The slaw stayed a bit crunchy, but was cooked. I put that into the bottom of a deep bowl. 

In the mushroom water, I added about 2 Tbsp. of miso paste, 1 tsp. of the kombu powder, the shiitake slivers and whisked it together. You have to adjust miso to your own taste. Sometimes, you have to add more. 

When I reached the desired flavor, I poured it all over the noodle/slaw mixture and garnished with scallions. 

And here is a great place to use that chili garlic sauce I told you about!

Voila! Lunch! Not too filling, but really satisfying. See, I told you if you keep some staples in the house, you'll always be able to make something great. 

See you tomorrow. I'm off to the Nordic Track machine to continue my climb of Mt. Fuji!

Building Blocks

As promised, here we go on our culinary adventure. I am not going to rewrite the introduction to the book word for word. What I do want to start with is to give you a list of what I consider the essential ingredients to have in your house. They are the building blocks of just about anything you could think of making. In the world without Covid-19, these would all be pretty easy to find at any grocery store.
The fact that I went to the store yesterday and couldn't find any SALT is insane. I realize we are
keeping clean, but are we supposed to be KOSHERING everything in sight? Oy vey...

I'm going to break this into a few categories. Let's start with the refrigerator.

• Butter- you can keep in the freezer if you don't use often. Two kinds: unsalted (for baking) and salted. I think I've mentioned I'm a huge fan of Kerrygold Irish butter. I can eat that stuff like brie. 
• Dijon mustard
• Grainy mustard
• Hoisin sauce
• Capers
• Olives (black, green, all kinds)
• Ketchup (Heinz)
• Lemons and Limes
• Vinaigrette type dressings and Ranch dressing 
• Mayo (I've recently discovered Duke's)
• Miso paste
• Tamarind paste
• Eggs (farm eggs if possible. Or at least free range. Cage free? Nope)
• Some kind of teriyaki marinade (I have Trader Joe's)
• Salsa
• Italian tomato paste (it comes in a tube)
• Anchovy paste (adds umami to certain things, trust me)

Here's a lovely picture of the door of my fridge. You may notice other essentials like Bloody Mary Mix, white wine and Prosecco..

I Put That S#*t On Everything!

I do love me some Buffalo sauce. Back in my carnivore days, Buffalo Wings were one of my favorite football day snacks. But now, I don't eat meat. I mean, every ONCE in a blue moon I will have a bite of chicken or beef if it is locally farm raised, but I don't really crave meat at all anymore.

I do, however, still love Buffalo sauce. So, when the geniuses who decided cauliflower was a good substitute for absolutely ANYTHING came up with coating cauliflower in batter, baking it and tossing it in Buffalo sauce just like wings, I said, "Jen, you've got to try making this."
There are a bunch of recipes out there where you just bake the florets and then toss them in the sauce, but I really wanted some kind of coating, because, if you have ever roasted cauliflower, you know it doesn't get crispy, it gets mushy and falls apart. So I found a recipe and changed it a bit. Holy cow was it good!

I wish I had thought of photographing the entire process, but as we go on with the other recipes, I will. Meantime, this recipe is very easy to follow.

Grab a head of cauliflower and cut it into bite-sized, but not too small, florets. Mine were basically two-bite size. Preheat the oven to 450, and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

In a bowl, combine the following:

1 cup unbleached white flour
1 tsp. paprika (I used sweet smoked paprika for a little smoky goodness)
1 tsp. garlic powder or granulated garlic
1 tsp. kosher salt or sea salt
a couple grinds of fresh black pepper
1 cup unflavored oatmilk (yes, you can use moo-cow milk, but I like the consistency of oatmilk. Plus, I don't drink cow juice)

Whisk well until you get a smooth consistency. 
Add the cauliflower florets to the batter, and coat well using tongs. Place on the lined sheet pan, leaving room between pieces. Bake for 10 minutes, flip with a spatula, and then bake for 10 more.
While it's cooking, wash and dry the batter bowl.

In a glass bowl or measuring cup, combine:
1/4 cup hot sauce (Frank's. It's simply the best for this.)
1-2 Tb. butter (everything's better with butter. I am obsessed with Kerrygold)
1 Tb. honey

Microwave 30-45 seconds, then whisk to combine. Put the sauce into the clean bowl.
When the cauliflower is finished, add it to the bowl and toss to evenly coat.

I don't usually buy blue cheese dressing, so I mixed Gorgonzola crumbles into ranch dressing and used that. No regrets on that choice! It was crispy, hot, and delicious!

Make it. Take a picture. Post to Food Happens. And enjoy, even though there's no sports to watch while eating.

Quarantine Cuisine

I guess it's time for me to sit back down at the keyboard and start blogging again, huh? I mean, I really have no excuse anymore, do I?

How have you all been holding up? I have officially been "furloughed" as of today, so I will be posting pretty much everything I make. I managed to load up on as much fresh ingredients that would fit in the fridge. When that runs out, I will start digging way back into the pantry to see what's been lost back there.

Before I move on to the recipes and pictures, let me pause for a moment and say that I actually wrote an entire cookbook (never published) that would be perfect for this situation. The principle behind the book (and my whole theory of creating great food whenever you want) is to have a supply of certain things in your larder and freezer that are the building blocks. In a normal world, you would buy the fresh produce and meat/fish/poultry as needed. Or have the meats stocked up in your freezer, and just pick up the veggies. Since we are in the Upside Down these days, things are considerably more difficult. But we shall overcome.

So here's the deal. I am going to post entries from the never-seen-the-light-of-day cookbook on here every day. Then, what I'd really like is for all of you to make some of the recipes, and post pictures of them on my Food Happens Facebook page. Let's make this a family thing.

Tomater Dei

I wait all year for tomatoes. Real tomatoes. From PA, Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. Red, ripe, juicy and delicious. I feel sorry for those of you that have never experienced the glory of one of these beauties. From the fancy trappings of a Caprese salad, with fresh basil and locally made fresh mozzarella, to the simple perfection of a tomato sandwich, the bread of your choice, a light smear of mayo, big slices of tomato and salt. Ahhhh…

If you grow your own maters, you know that quite often you are faced with some big green ones. Yes, you can wait for them to ripen, but why not pick them now, and make yourself a special treat-

Fried Green Tomatoes. Yes, they are real, not just the title of a movie. And you don't have to go down south to have them. Although you can't find green tomatoes at the supermarket, you can ask for them at your local farm market or stand. (or your neighbor's garden)

Fried Green Tomatoes are easy to make, but do require some prep time. Wash them, then slice them. Not too thinly, though, or they will turn to mush when you cook them.
Then you need to set up what we in the business call the dredging station. Flour, egg, crumb. I use King Arthur Flour, but that's a story for another day, another post. I don't season my flour. I season the egg. I use sea salt, pepper and chopped basil in my egg mix. When you bite into the tomato, you get that little surprise of basil flavor. The bread crumbs are just plain. No seasoned, and no Panko crumbs here. Here's what the setup looks like:

Now here's the big secret about dredging: Use one hand for the wet, and one for the dry. So, here's how I do it. I pick up a tomato slice with my left hand and put it into the flour. With my right hand, I sprinkle some flour on the top, then flip it over so both sides are coated with flour. I pick it up with my right hand, then place it into the egg mix, being careful not to get my fingers in the egg. Using my left hand now, I flip the slice to coat it with egg, then pick it up and place it into the crumbs, again, attempting to not get crumbs onto my eggy fingers. Right hand now- put some crumbs on the top, then flip it over to get all coated with crumb, then gently put onto a waiting tray or plate. If you're lucky, you can get all of your tomatoes breaded without forgetting which hand is wet, and which is dry. Yeah, good luck with that. Most likely, you'll have goop stuck to both hands. It's all good. No judgement here. Remember, it's just food.

Now, it's time to fry. And by that, I mean pan fry, not deep fry. If you have a cast iron pan, now's the time to break that sucker out. They heat so evenly. They're wonderful. Unfortunately, mine is not big enough for this task. I would be frying for hours, so I used my super duper nothing sticks to me I got it on the internet pan. I use grapeseed oil to fry. It heats nicely, and has no taste. You can use an olive oil if you want, but not extra virgin. It will smoke if you get it too hot and turn bitter on you. Save it for drizzling over the tomatoes when they're done, if you want the flavor. As for canola oil, well, read my post about that. Blechhhh.

Let them get nice and brown and crispy. If you are making a bunch of them, you can reheat them right before you serve. But not for too long. You want them to stay a little crunchy on the inside.

As for serving them, well, there are myriad ways. You can do a mayo/aioli type sauce, a drizzle of good olive oil and aged balsamic, or pretty much anything else. I had some really nice, locally made fresh mozz in the fridge, so I sliced it and layered it between the tomatoes, then drizzled with some homemade pesto. It could have been a meal in itself, but I used them as a side for our Beyond burgers. I think I'll write about them next...

Don't let tomato season pass you by without trying Fried Green Tomatoes. Have I steered you wrong yet?

Until next time-enjoy summer. Corn, tomatoes, fresh produce. MMMMM...

Cope with This

Any of you ever seen this stuff before? My guess is no. But if you have, yay for you!

This, my friends, is Cope's Corn. It comes two ways: canned (rehydrated) or bagged (see above).

I was introduced to this corny wonder by my first boss, who, incidentally, looks a bit like the dude on the bag. (Tracey, you know who I'm talking about!)

Ok, ok, I'll explain it to you now. As the bag says, this is toasted dried sweet corn. It tastes different than any other corn you have ever eaten. This is Lancaster County, PA corn. At the moment it hits the height of its sugar content, it is picked and then immediately dried. Those sugars caramelize in the heat, and that is what gives it the unique brown color you'll see. Once you reconstitute the kernels, the corn has a nutty, sweet flavor. 

The Cope's Corn Company was founded by Martin Cope in Manheim, PA (near Lancaster) in 1900, when the first batch of corn was dried over a coal burning stove. Martin named the product for his grandson, John. For over 100 years, the company stayed in the family, but in 2006, was sold to Hanover Foods. 

Cope's Corn, for those who love it, is a family tradition for holiday meals, especially Thanksgiving. Brand loyalty is easy-they are the only game in town! Most of the traditional recipes are for corn puddings, creamed, baked and stewed corn. It can also be reconstituted and used in cornbread.

When I had my restaurant, State Street Café, back in the '90's, I knew I wanted to do something with this sweet, toasted wonder, but not the usual side dish. So I soaked it, then cooked it with vegetable stock, thyme sprigs and shallots, removed the aromatics, pureed slightly and finished with a little butter to make a sweet corn sauce. I served this under my famous (well, in certain circles they are, and that's only because YOU haven't tried them yet) Crab Cakes. 

Mmmm….I can taste it now....

You  can find Cope's Corn in most supermarkets in PA, but it's also available online from various retailers. If you are a corn lover, give it a try. I promise, it will be like no corn you've ever had. 

Enjoy, and let me know what you think. Until next time...

Penne For Your Thoughts

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between the pasta on the market shelf that costs $1.00 and the one that costs $3.00? Oh go ahead, say it, you know you want to. Duh, Jen...price.
Well, yes, my little Mensa friends, but WHY does one pasta cost significantly more than the other?
Is it the packaging? The name brand? The number of curlicues per square foot?

It's two things, actually: the wheat used to make the flour, and the machinery on which it is cut. Let's look at both of these factors individually.


Every heard of Durum wheat? It's what's called a "hard" wheat, which means it contains more proteins than soft wheat, especially gluten. When ground, durum wheat becomes semolina, and durum flour, the only two dry ingredients used in Italian pasta. Semolina flour helps the pasta stay firm when cooked, and is also higher in protein than all-purpose flour.

Good flour and pure, clean water. These are the first two ingredients to high quality pasta.

Now, let's talk about cutting this good quality pasta dough. Pasta is cut by machine, using "die".
Remember that Play-Doh set with the extruder? You could change the plates and make different shapes. Well, pasta machines do pretty much the same thing. Each die produces a different shape, when the pasta dough is pushed through them. As the shape comes out, a blade spins and cuts the noodle at the desired length. Long cuts, like spaghetti or linguini, are great for olive oil based sauces, or full-bodied tomato sauces. Short cuts, like penne, rotini, or farfalle, are better for chunky ragus or vegetable sauces. The last group are the soup cuts. These are the little guys, like ditalini, or acini di pepe. They go best in soup, or as a side dish.

So now, we've got the good pasta dough, and the machine with the die. But wait, there's more. There are two types of die; those that are made with a Teflon coating, and those that are made of bronze. And here, dear readers, is where the main difference in quality comes in.

Teflon, as we all know, is a nonstick surface. When die are coated with Teflon, the pasta dough slides through quickly, easily, and cleanly, which makes it ideal to produce massive amounts of macaroni in less time. However, because it slides through so easily, the surface of the noodle is smooth. Now, that looks nice, but when the pasta is cooked and tossed with sauce, the sauce won't cling to the noodle. It just slides off. (This is where you conjure up memories of the spaghetti you had in the school cafeteria when you were a kid.) Are you now saying to yourself "wow, now I know why I can't get the sauce to cling to my pasta?" Good for you!

Now, pasta that is pushed through the bronze die takes more time to produce, since it has to go through more slowly than if it was passing through the Teflon. Going through bronze leaves a rough surface on the noodle. When cooked, these little nicks on the surface hold the sauce onto the pasta.
Voila!

Oh...you thought I was finished with the story? NOPE. One more piece to the puzzle. THEN I'll stop talking.

Let's review: Quality ingredients=better pasta. Teflon=slippery noodle. Bronze=rough surface, holds sauce. Got that so far?

 The last, but not least, important factor to quality pasta is how the noodle is dried after it is produced. Most of the mass produced, Teflon extruded, lower quality pasta is dried quickly, at hotter temperatures, usually between 140-190 degrees. At 140, the starch molecules open, and you get what is called the "Maillard Reaction". This is a culinary term for the chemical reaction that happens when food begins to brown or toast. This is why the cheaper pasta often looks more yellow.  This  makes it attractive to the eye, but, when cooked. loses flavor, and because some of the original water is left in the noodle, overcooks more easily. (Again, cafeteria spaghetti)

Bronze cut pasta is more likely to be slow dried, at temperatures closer to 104 degrees. This takes much longer, up to 30 hours, but the pasta retains more of the nutty flavor and aroma of the durum wheat. It's also much lighter in color than the quick dried stuff, but it makes it much harder to overcook. If properly cooked (al dente), you will get a tiny white spot, right at the center of the noodle, which is sometimes called the "white ghost". The pasta remains firm, the sauce clings to the surface, and all is right with the world.

Let's tie this whole thing up, shall we? Seems like an awful lot of talking about macaroni!

Good pasta begins with quality ingredients, is pushed through bronze die, and is dried slowly. Ergo, it tends to cost more. Have you tried any? It's totally worth it. Give it a go sometime.

Thanks for your time. Hope you learned something useful. I mean, that's what I strive for here on these pages. I'm going to get back into posting more often. It feels good to write again.

Now go get some good pasta and get cooking!

New Beginnings

Hi. Been awhile, I know. I've been busy, ok??
Sorry. Lousy excuse. I spent a large portion of my unemployed period doing..I have no idea what I was doing. Lisa got me started walking dogs with her, and I liked it. I got a job. It was very corporate, and I didn't like that. So I tendered my resignation, and decided to become a full time employee at Animal House. I walk dogs, scoop poop, feed dogs and cats, and otherwise perform tasks that were never part of either my studies at Georgetown or my culinary training.

But you know what? I am tan, getting fit, and really, really HAPPY. Yes, there are days when we have too many dogs sleeping over (last night we had 9) and some have accidents in the house, but we realize that we are doing something that makes us, the pets, and their owners happy. So we slop up the mess and move on. It's really hard to stay angry at dogs. They are all cute and wonderful.

What's that you say? Am I still cooking at all? Well, YEAH. I am doing a couple of things to keep my cooking chops up. The first thing is that I am doing some parties with a guy I met through Facebook named Paul Cullen. He lives down near the beach in Delaware. Used to be in the band Bad Co. playing bass. Nowadays, he's got an Italian food and wine business, where he comes to you house, creates a three course meal, matches wines, and then sets up his amp and entertains with his guitar while you enjoy your wine. I get to help him in the kitchen. (he doesn't let me sing with him, which is probably a wise choice.) We work very well together, and I am really enjoying when I get to do gigs with him. Hopefully, there will be many more in my future!
Here we are, making some beautiful food:

I'm still planning on teaching at Montco in the fall, too. You all know I love to teach.

Then...Lisa and I got this great idea. What if we offer a service to our pet clients where we have meals ready for them when they get home from vacation, or the work trip? I can shop, cook, and package everything, so no one has to worry about cooking when they finally get home. Great idea, huh?

I am also going to start doing some cooking class/parties. Grab a few of your friends, a couple bottles of wine, and I will come to the house, teach you how to make some awesome grub, and provide recipes. It's a really fun way to spend time with your friends. It can be dinner, or lunch, or whenever. 

I'm working on my website, which will link this blog, my Facebook page, and the site all together. It will have all the information you need to keep up with me, book a party, order some food, or just see some beautiful food pics and find some recipes. I will make a big announcement when it's ready to go. 

Look for another post very soon. I'm going to do some cooking this week, so hopefully there will be something good to talk about. Thanks for sticking with me. Great things on the horizon!

Go buy some tomatoes, some corn, some local produce before it's too late. Shop local, eat local, kiss a farmer and all that. 

Namaste, my friends.

Using my Noodle

Big snowstorm coming. Everyone puts on a pot of chili. They also go and buy up all the bread, milk and eggs, as if these will magically disappear, and they must eat French Toast before they surely freeze to death. But I digress. Back to the chili. The chili I didn't make.

In an attempt to amuse myself while barely surviving this period of unemployment, I spent some time wandering the aisles of one of my favorite places to kill time, Assi Market. This is a Korean market that also specializes in amazing fresh produce, fresh, AFFORDABLE cut to order seafood, and about every Asian grocery item you could imagine. There is also a spot that sells small wares, in case you decide you suddenly need a set of matching chopsticks or a rice cooker. AND they have a food court, with, as you can imagine, some of the freshest food around.

Back to the snowstorm. I didn't want to make chili. I wanted to keep it lighter, and do something new.
So I bought a sixpack of ramen noodles, some dried shiitake mushrooms, a pack of fried tofu, and bean sprouts. I had miso in my fridge, and plenty of other seasonings at home. I also had some wild salmon filets in the freezer. See the plan coming together yet?

When cooking with ramen noodles, always follow this important step 1. Open the wrapper, break the noodle block into pieces before cooking, and THROW AWAY THE SEASONING PACKET. Have you ever looked at the sodium count? Yikes!

Let's see if I can remember the steps in order...
Cook the ramen in boiling water until soft, drain, rinse in cold water and set aside.

Soak the mushrooms in hot water until soft. Remove the stem and slice into strips. Or whatever other shape you fancy. Don't throw that soaking liquid away! Pour it through a coffee filter (to grab any dirt that may have been on the mushroom) into a small sauce pot. Use this as the base of the miso broth.

Miso is really easy. Since I had the mushroom liquid, I added a bit of water and whisked in some miso paste until I like the flavor.

Salmon filets have been thawing. I marinated them in a little sesame oil and soy. Then I broiled them. (heading outside the grill is not an option at this time)
I diced to tofu small, and rinsed off the bean sprouts. I blanched a couple asparagus spears I had.

Then I put it all together. The salmon was topped with a shake of my sesame/seaweed rice seasoning, and I swirled a bit of Sambal Oelek into the broth for a little heat.

No disrespect to chili, but geez, this was good. And easy. And not expensive. And pretty. And..ok I'll stop tooting my horn and post a picture.

Next time I'll show you the awesome Indian food I made last night.

Peace.

Open Sesame

In an effort to keep from thinking about politics 24/7, I try to allow my brain to meander through the mundane. And during one of those travels in the trivial, the ol' thinker came up with this one:

"What does a sesame seed grow into?"

Then of course, I wondered why it has taken me so long to wonder that. Of course, the research commenced. So, if you never wondered or just really don't care what a sesame seed grows into, time to go back to CNN, or FOX, or wherever you get your political news fix and get back to being agitated.

Sesame is a flowering plant, native to sub-Saharan Africa. Wild relatives of the plant can be found in India and the Middle Eastern countries. It is now primarily cultivated in China and India, who supply most of the world with these little edible seeds that grow in pods on the plant. Sesame's ability to grow both in drought or monsoon conditions has made it a sustenance crop for poor farmers throughout history.

Sesame is one of the oldest oilseed crops, having been domesticated over 3000 years ago. It has the highest oil content of any seed.

An annual plant, sesame sports tubular flowers, that can be white, yellow, blue or purple. The seeds can also be different colors, from white and tan, to brown, red and black. The seeds are found in a fruit capsule, which when ripe, will naturally split to reveal the seeds, growing in lines. When the split capsules are as dry as possible, the seeds will be harvested, cleaned and hulled.

Sesame seeds appear in cuisines worldwide, and in many different forms. In the Middle East, seeds are ground into a paste called tahini, which is a key ingredient in hummus, and the sauce that tops falafel. In Greece and Sicily, cakes and cookies are made with ground sesame seeds, or topped with them. They show up in Indian, East Asian and West African cooking. The sesame, or as the Africans called them-benne-seeds were brought to America through the slave trade. To this day, benne sticks and benne cookies are staples in South Carolina. They are also found topping burger buns and bagels.

The biggest importer and consumer of sesame seeds, however, is Japan, where they are used in so many ways. They top sushi, salads and snacks, but the most popular use is as sesame oil. Toasted sesame oil is a staple of Japanese cuisine. It is mostly added at the end of cooking to avoid flavor loss and to keep from smoking and tasting rancid. Sesame oil is high in vitamins B1 and E, magnesium, copper, calcium and iron. It is also a source of fiber and good fat.

So now you know the story behind the lowly sesame seed. I know I feel better having this knowledge. And as a parting gift, I shall leave you with a recipe for Benne Wafers. You're welcome.

Benne Wafers
Preheat oven to 375. Line sheet trays with parchment and spray with nonstick spray.

1 c. toasted sesame seeds

3/4 c. melted butter

1 1/2 c. light brown sugar, packed

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. all purpose flour (I like unbleached)

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking powder

The easiest way to toast sesame seeds is to place them in a sauté pan and heat over medium heat, swirling constantly, until evenly browned. Remove and cool before using.

Combine all ingredients well. Drop by 1/2 teaspoonful onto prepared pans, leaving room between cookies. Bake for 5-6 minutes, or until just browned at the edges. Allow to cool. They will be very flat and crispy.

SAYS-A-WHO? SESAME!!

Keeping My Head Above Water

So, it's a new year, I am without a job, and I'm trying desperately to find something good to talk about. I haven't been cooking anything too spectacular, mostly bean stews and pasta. It's that time of year where all I want to do is braise things, make soup, and try to stay warm. In fact, I think once I'm finished here, I'll get back under the blankets and cover myself in dogs. We have four now. I know that sounds like too many, but they're pretty small. They bring a lot of joy to us. And so do the cats, I don't want to leave them out, but they're just not as snuggly.

My wife, Lisa, has a pet sitting/dog walking business, and for the holidays, I thought it would be nice to make some gifts she could give her clients. For the humans, I made some really rocking granola. It started as "hmm, what do I have in the house so I don't have to buy a whole bunch of stuff", then grew, as I realized a) how many clients she has (yay!) and b) how stinking good the granola was. Most people like granola, but don't take the time to make their own, thinking it will be difficult or time consuming. So they pay high prices for store bought stuff. Let me tell you, it's not hard to do, and home made always tastes a little better. Being the milk of human kindness that I am, I am going to share my recipe here. Ready?

My oven only holds two half sheet pans, so this is what I wrote the recipe for.

1/2 large canister rolled oats (you can use quick or original, but not instant)
2 cups sliced almonds (I use the unbalanced ones, I like the color on the skins)
1 cup unsalted sunflower seeds (shelled, please)
1/4 cup flax seeds
1 cup coconut oil
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup honey (organic, if you can)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 tsp. almond extract
dried cranberries, or other dried fruit of choice

Preheat the oven to 325. Line 2 cookie pans or half pans with parchment and spray very lightly with nonstick spray.
Combine all dry ingredients (EXCEPT CRANBERRIES) in a large mixing bowl, and toss to mix.
Combine oil, sugar, honey and extracts in a small sauce pan, and heat over medium until melted together, stirring with a whisk.
Spray a rubber spatula with nonstick spray and use to scrape all of the sugar/oil mixture into the dry mix. Coat and combine thoroughly with the spatula. Divide the mix between the two pans and press down to form an even layer of granola.
Bake for 24 minutes, spinning the pans halfway through the cooking process.
Allow to cool on pans, then break apart into a large bowl and add cranberries. Store in an airtight container.

I also made dog biscuits. Peanut butter and pumpkin biscuits. They were pretty easy, too.

5 cups whole wheat flour
4 eggs
1 can organic pumpkin
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 tsp. cinnamon

In a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, combine all ingredients. Turn out onto a board or table and roll to about 1/2" thickness. Cut out shapes using a cookie cutter. Bake in a preheated, 350 oven for about 40 minutes, until hard. Cool thoroughly before storing,

Everyone love the gifts. We bagged them up and made cute little ingredient labels. The best part, though, was all of the calls asking if the granola was for the dogs or the people. Sigh..

So that's pretty much what I've been up to. Try these recipes. Even if you don't have a dog, make some for someone who does and give them a gift. Or donate them to a rescue. You'll be a hero, at least in my eyes.

Send me good vibes in my job search, people. Please. And I'll keep looking for things to talk about. All my best wishes for a great start to a great year.
Peace.

Oh, Those Summer Nights

It happens every year. The summer comes to an end, and I have to say goodbye to all of the wonderful foods I wait almost 9 months for. (I just ended a sentence with a preposition, and I totally don't care right now.) The colors, textures, odors, and flavors of summer make me so happy. Bright reds and yellows, vibrant purples and greens, even little white eggplants. They smell like summer. They are fresh and crunchy. Raw, steamed, grilled...let me at those summer vegetables!
Being that my parents live on the Chesapeake Bay, there are also some other treats to savor. Like those Callinectus Sapidus-the wonderful Maryland Blue Crab. They are truly the beautiful swimmers of the bay. I had the pleasure of not just one-but TWO-crabfeasts this summer. Steamed spicy hardshells, local corn and tomatoes, and good beer. I wish I could share that experience with all of you that have never had it. Maybe the next blog site will have a "scratch and sniff" setting. Look at that beautiful thing!

I also got to make softshell crabs for dinner one night. For those of you who have no idea about what I speak (there, proper sentence structure), a crab has to molt-shed his or her shell-to be able to grow. It's really cool to see happen. Go google "molting crab" to see how they do it. Anyway, when they shed the shell, they are entirely edible. As they grow the shell back, it becomes harder to eat. This is a stage called "papery". They are still alive when you get them, and unless you are buying them prepared in a market, you have to commit their little souls to heaven and kill them yourself. I have prepared so many softshell crabs in my lifetime, but I have apologized to each and every one and said a little prayer for them. When I owned a restaurant, back in the '90's, I would serve softies every weekend of the summer season, prepared differently each time. I had customers who would call and reserve them so I wouldn't run out before they got there. It was a rare treat if there were any left at the end of the weekend. If there were, I would cook them up and we (the staff) would get to enjoy them. Softies are easy to cook. I prefer them sautéed, as opposed to deep-fried, although a fried softshell po'boy is a beautiful thing. You have to be careful when you cook them, though. They are basically balls of water being held together by a tiny bit of "skin". Know what happens when water starts to boil in oil? KABOOM. It's like flying shrapnel sometimes, so be aware if you are making them at home. Unless you like scars.
Here are my  beautiful softshells:

Fresh tomato slices on the bottom, basil-shallot beurre blanc on the top. Ermigard...

I guess it's time to start thinking about cooler weather foods, although the tomatoes and basil will keep coming for a few more weeks. The weather has finally started to cool off here, so I can turn my thoughts to chili, soup, and root vegetables. The Jewish holidays are upon us, so braised brisket and chicken soup beckon. Maybe this year I won't be as sad to see summer go. As soon as the winter solstice hits, I can start counting down to my long, sunny days and warm, starlit nights.

On that note, I think it's time for me to sign off and go make one more arugula salad with local tomatoes, cucumbers and fresh mozzarella, with dressing made from herbs in the garden. Sounds like dinner to me!

Eat well, and I'll see you soon.