November Comfort Food

I have two recipes to share today: a soup and a saute. Both are indicative of my feelings for this time of the year: not terribly cold, not warm. It's the time of year for comfort food that's not too heavy but still warms the soul. A general note about both recipes: I used cast iron pots and pans, so "medium" heat here is the highest I can use for these pots.

Tuesday Miso

This miso soup is part of a series of variations on miso soup that I am working on. Tuesday's soup is light and vegetarian. It's great as an appetizer but still has enough going for it to stand on its own. South River Miso Company is a miso I discovered at Whole Foods. I especially like the Sweet Brown Rice Miso for it's lighter flavor. Though it's lighter than typical miso it's still complex and gives this soup a bit of a different taste than a typical or traditional miso. 


1 small red onion, sliced thin
2 pulverized garlic cloves, skin discarded
1/4 cup diced green pepper
1/4 cup sliced carrots
1/4 cup kale, frozen and thawed
4 cups water
1/2 cup tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
4 tbl South River Sweet Brown Rice Miso
Braggs Amino Seasoning

Saute onion, garlic, pepper and carrots in a small dutch oven on medium heat until onion is translucent. Add kale and water and bring to a boil. Cook 5-8 minutes, until vegetables are soft. Add tofu and miso. Turn off heat. Add Bragg's to taste, stir to fully incorporate miso and serve.

Lamb Saute

I found a rare find at the grocery store today: ground lamb! I grabbed some before thinking what I would use it for. I thought a nice saute would be wonderful for dinner, so here's the result. NB: Tonight I realized that I bought olives with the pits in them and was too lazy to take the pits out, but I note in the recipe that this should be done.  


1/2 pound ground lamb
1 small onion, diced
2 celery sticks, diced
1/4 cup carrots, sliced
1/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 6oz can chickpeas, drained
Handful of olives, pitted and sliced, plus a little of the liquid
Salt and pepper
Ground Fennel
Paprika
Dried Basil

Season lamb and saute in skillet on medium heat until brown and crumbly. Remove from skillet and set aside. Reduce heat to  medium-low (3). Saute onion, celery, and carrots 8 minutes. Add peas and cook 1 minute. Add chickpeas and olives, season and continue cooking 5 minutes. Add lamb and the liquid from the olives and cook an additional 5 minutes on low heat (2). You may serve this over couscous but it's optional.

Beating the Summer Heat

So when it comes to warm weather, I'm a coward in the kitchen. Last week we had record-breaking heat, and I didn't make anything more elaborate than iced tea. A pity, I know, but when the apartment is registering 100 degrees, it's hard to motivate oneself to do much of anything.

This week the weather is back to normal and to celebrate I tried something new: chorizo and barley. Hmmm, a strange combination, I know. Summer to me cries out for salads, pilafs and grilling. Anything beyond that is rather exotic for hot weather. This dish falls under the "pilaf" category. My intention was to make sausage and peppers over barley, but the majority of my peppers seemed not to survive the heat wave. Left with only one orange bell, I had to improvise. So, I combined onions, garlic, the bell pepper and broccoli with the chorizo, then tossed it with the barley.

A note concerning the chorizo. This was purchased at Whole Foods Market, and is really a nice chorizo. I discovered the magic of Whole Foods Maket meat last month and cannot be happier with it. Even "inferior" cuts of meat are amazing when purchased there. The price always makes me cringe, but when I bite into it, it all seems worth it. I don't usually have good things to say about non-stick pans, but when I combined the two, no oil was needed and the excess fat was easily discarded. The chorizo definitely made this dish. The only seasoning I added was salt to the veggies.

In retrospect, this was a good idea but needs some consideration. Item one: read directions before cooking barley in a rice cooker. It's not the same as cooking rice, even though they are the same shape. I did manage to get the barley to a toasted consistency (I'll not say it was burnt because I rescued it before it got to that point). I also failed to season the barley, which is a carnal rule (SEASON EVERYTHING!) and I'm ashamed that I forgot. Also, this would have been better with more peppers and fresh broccoli. I give this spontaneous dish a "B".

On my way home from work today I stopped by the local farmer's market and had a look around. What a dismal experience! I used to love farmers' markets in the summer, but now I think I probably won't go back until the fall. Everywhere I looked, it was tomatoes and corn and lettuce. Two of my lost loves and one hated. True, I can enjoy a tomato from time to time, but I'm wary about paying $$$$ for a tomato and then find out that I'm too sensitive to enjoy it that day. Case and point: the half of a tomato that's been sitting in the refrigerator for the past 10 days. Staring at the mounds of corn made me think of last summer, when I was still able to live in ignorance and enjoy corn salad. Corn, black beans, mango and grape tomatoes: lovely combination. Add some grilled chicken and lime sauce and my meal is complete.

Well, c'est la vie. No use dwelling on the past. Now that I can return to the kitchen, I need to use up the rest of the produce that's salvageable and come up with some good dishes for the week. Enough with take-out! I will make them forget my voice, if not my phone number. Though I do thank them for staying open through such a horrible period.

And my apologies that there are no photos this time around; the battery on my camera died at the last minute. Oh technology...

Sweet Treat

Even though it's summer, I still think longingly of baked goodies, especially cakes and cookies. Sometimes a good slice of cake is in order to help wipe out all the problems of the day. I'm not talking about emotional eating, here, I'm just saying that there are time when I can get lost in a good dessert. When it comes to repertoire, I don't have that many desserts under my belt. Christmastime I bake Clove Cookies, Snickerdoodles or Candy Cane Cookies. Thanksgiving and Easter I bake Carrot Cake, other times I bake Chocolate Cake. I made an Upside Down Pineapple Cake for my sister once - it came out beautifully but I've never attempted it again. I've even dabbled in the poached fruit department, but that's been ages ago. Perhaps it's because I simply don't eat dessert that often, at least not as the last note of a meal. I'm always too full, and I don't like the thought of leaving the table with my mouth tasting of sugar.

For me, the British have it right when it comes to sweets. Take them in the afternoon with a cup of strong tea. Savor the combination of sweet and bitter. How delicious. A treat like the one pictured above, Hazelnut Carrot Cake, goes perfectly with a cup of Earl Grey. Instead of a traditional cream cheese frosting, I topped this cake with Nutella, granola and lemon-soaked apples. The richness of the Nutella gives a deep, earthly note to the cake, and the crispness/tartness of the apples cuts through the sugar. I love playing with texture, and the granola adds just the right amount to this piece. I made this last spring for Palm Sunday and it was a big hit. I love Carrot Cake, but with my dairy allergies, I had to give up the frosting. I think I prefer this version, anyway. It's not as shockingly sweet, and the flavors of the cake are allowed to be more of the focus.

I picked up Gourmet Magazine's cookbook and have been flipping through it. I can't believe how many amazing recipes are in there! I'm very excited for the weather to cool down so that I can try out some of the cakes, especially the Shortbread. I love shortbread; it's great in summer topped with fruit and yogurt. And again, it makes a great tea-time dessert. I'd also like to try making some more traditional tea-time treats, like scones. I've never made them from scratch, and I'd love to actually have some scones that aren't as dense.

Remember Paris

                Living in New York, I get to taste many different kinds of food, from Ethiopian to Japanese, but it’s been quite a while since I’ve dined at a French restaurant. I can’t even blame my recent bout with food allergies for my abstinence. The stereotype with French cuisine is always in my mind: heavy cream sauces, lots of meat, lots of fat, etc. These days I far more prefer lighter, leaner dishes that don’t make me leave the table feeling bad about myself.

                But for a change of pace, I decided to join a group of friends and take a trip to a spot in midtown I’d been to years ago: Les Sans Cullottes. They have a great price fixed menu that has a lot to offer. The meal starts with a literal rack of sausages and a basket of fresh fruits and vegetables, liver pate and creamy dressing. There’s even pickles and of course French rolls. And that’s merely the appetizer. Tonight I had the calf liver with onions for an entrée. It was amazing. Cooked to perfection, the meat was flavorful, the sauce delectable. Everything was cooked to perfection. I even enjoyed two glasses of the house Cabernet Sauvignon, which I usually don’t like. But when it’s French, how could it not be good? I’d forgotten that French doesn’t have to mean heavy. Sure, butter and cream are classics, but there is also a simplicity about French food that is both comforting and satisfying. I’m quite glad to see that this restaurant has survived the recession and has managed to keep its integrity over the years. Here’s to great food, great company and rediscovering great cuisine.