Just Because ~ 2

Orange and Watermelon Swirl

Over time, ice cream cones have maintained a singular popularity. Despite that draw, there seems to be a teeny, tiny bit of guilt attached them. More than a just dessert, they are an extra special treat. Birthday parties, road trips, at the fair, on the way to the football game, and of course, just because. The fact that it’s 30°C was a real winner. Would it spoil my supper? Not a consideration. 

“A ‘treat’ is different from a ‘reward’, 

which must be justified or earned. 

A treat is a small pleasure or indulgence 

that we give to ourselves just because we want it.”

~ Gretchen Rubin

It's Real Cheese-y!

A trial run at a Jamie Oliver recipe ~ and it felt like I’d run a mile - ending with crossing the finish line #1! There was lots of chopping - fennel, leeks, garlic. Having never worked with either fresh fennel or leeks, I had to run back and forth from kitchen to you-tube, from kitchen to table to find all the details that a recipe doesn’t necessarily provide. Like how to clean leeks, and how to cut up fennel (Martha Stewart was my teacher on that last one), when to put in the various cheeses and how much - grated or pinched off in pieces - better known as flavour bombs. My son, Jason backed me up when I needed the pasta drained or when I needed a missing ingredient. The final taste testing was our supper - it was superbly delicious. The next test will be to see how it tastes in the morning - cold from the refrigerator; and secondly, how will it freeze with all the dairy in it. 

From:  Jamie Cooks Italy

            Lasagna ~ Leeks and Fennel

    Cheeses:  Parmeson, 

            Teleggio, (substituted with Havarti)

                            Gorgonzola, (substituted with Blue Cheese)

                            Ball of Mozzerella 

“Good food is a global thing and I find that there is always 

something new and amazing to learn ~ I love it!

~ Jamie Oliver

On an Afternoon Walk - In the Heat

Temptation ~ 

Bus stop steps to the right

No shade in this heat

Ice cream store one block to the left

Shade and delicious ice cream

Bus #10 pulled up!

Sigh…… Ice cream will have to wait.

“Get thee behind me Satan!”

~ P.C.Cast, Marked

Unless

Unless I can see what I do not know ~

it’s not true……is it?

Unless I can touch those that are too far away ~

I can’t be part of their lives ……am I wrong?

Unless I can smell what is behind the door ~

it’s not real……is it?

Unless I can hear the voices of others ~

I’ve forgotten them…….have I?

Unless I can taste the flavours ~

it’s not really nourishment……is it?

Unless I can see what I do not know ~

my faith may be shaken….. but not for long.

“This is why I read novels: so I can escape my own unrelenting monologue.”

~ Carol Shields, Unless

Silent Senses

Standing silently outside

I saw

Bees floating 

Flower to flower

Standing silently outside

I felt

Warm sun bare arms

Cool breeze ruffling my hair

Standing silently outside

I tasted

Slender beans

Tucked in leafy shadows

Standing silently outside

I heard

Gulls crying

From the rooftops

Standing silently outside

I smelled

Tall grasses drying

In the lengthening summer air.

Standing silently outside

My heart softened and grew strong.

“…and then I have nature and art and poetry, 

and if that is not enough, what is enough?”

~ Vincent Willem van Gogh

Breakfast?

*Rice crispies without marshmallows?!

Writing first thing in the morning 

before the opportunity for my growling of stomach to be satisfied had me take a *Google journey for the ‘without marshmallows’ part of these delicious treats.

Found: 
Rice Crispies without Marshmallows

honey sweet (or maple syrup), (1/2 cup)

depth with cashew butter 
(any nut butter will do, (1/2 cup)

crunchy with rice crisps cereal (4 cups)

spicy warmth of lovely cinnamon (1 tsp - more or less)

I could eat them all at once but one with fruit and coffee is my delicious treat while I write (fork and napkin handy) each morning.

“Everyone’s favourite breakfast dish can be prepared in a moment’s 

time with just a few ingredients and minimum effort.”

~ Marcus Samuelsson

Sustenance

Eating our daily bread is a privilege taken for granted ~

the memory fading

into cellophane, plastic and styrofoam.

But taste and aroma draw out

resilient memories of brushing garden soil from carrots and potatoes with a freshness longed for.

Eating our daily bread 

is a joy deemed precious ~

when we find freshness without

cellophane, plastic or styrofoam.

“We all eat & it would be a sad waste of opportunity to eat badly.”

~ Anna Thomas, screenwriter

Taste of Thanksgiving

Taste of Thanksgiving

Surprisingly, he was a very good cook. I say ‘surprisingly’ because a stereotype had taken over. As soon as I saw him striding towards the back door ~ grubby overalls, an old leather, sweat stained stetson that sat back on his dirt stained forehead, work boots he had to leave outside because they were covered in sloppy mud ~ I had him pegged as someone who expected his supper to be on time and only to his liking.

Then he came downstairs after cleaning off the dirt and dust of a farmer’s active life in barn and field. Granted, even though he ‘cleaned up real good’, I was still curious to see how he could cook a turkey better than my own mother. I didn’t know how good his mother’s turkey cooking skills were so would have to wait for the taste test at supper. I didn’t have to wait that long to see how he moved in the kitchen. It was as though his movements had been choreographed - from refrigerator to cupboard to stove and back, chopping bacon, onions and mushrooms, deboning the turkey, brining it in buttermilk and putting it all together. Later that evening when friends and family were gathered round the table, the Taste was truly Thanksgiving.

“People don’t want other people to be people.”

~  Gene Wolfe,  Shadow & Claw

Kitchen Possibilities

Coming into the kitchen I could see possibilities. They were well hidden but I knew they were there. How many times have any of us spent time opening cupboards, the refrigerator, kitchen drawers with a blank stare? What’s there? “I’m just cooking for me. I guess it doesn’t matter what’s there. But the refrigerator is kind of empty. I’m hungry but there’s nothing interesting there.” Or “It’s just the two of us ~ maybe we could try a new restaurant ~ but we’ve already used up our eating out budget for the month.” 

Now, I love preparing food, cooking food, serving food but I have often been stuck in an old entrenched ‘meat and potatoes with a vegetable’ cuisine that had little imagination and, consequently, often little taste. My mom always used fresh or frozen peas from our garden, but going to other kid’s homes I sometimes was served peas from a can - rather gray and unappetizing. Also as a youngster, I learned to cook but usually had mom or any one of my sisters to guide me and tell me the next step. Consequently I didn’t have to use my imagination much and I’m not certain it was encouraged.

No matter. That was a very long time ago as I am now in my seventh decade of learning. In relation to the kitchen, I am still learning to trust myself. To be brave in the face of spices and flavourings. And ok if it is just me, but when cooking for others I freeze. Afraid that what I prepare and serve will be too much or too little. There are so many real food issues, food fads and food warnings floating about like too much oil on top of the goodness below that it is easier ~ and blander ~ to play it safe. 

I got curious about what I have ~ not what I don’t have in my kitchen ~ while watching TV being a couch potato. Food shows. I love them. Guy’s Grocery Games. Chef’s Table. Chopped - especially with kids competing with one another. How has it made me curious about the contents of my own refrigerator and cupboards? Contestants or experienced chefs have been challenged by game show requirements or by life experience, while growing into experienced chefs. They have all been challenged to work with what they have, purchasing as few ingredients as possible, and to create a delicious meal or dessert. (Dessert is not one of my strong suits.)

I would be much remiss if I didn’t give kudos to my friends and family who have traveled the globe and brought home their taste experiences as well as the rest of their journey. I have eaten many dinners made with their memories of Morocco or Asia. I have learned to be curious about the spicing and preparation of foods from several different areas of the world. I have dabbled in some of those cuisines, but am still much of a novice as they do not spring to mind when wondering what to cook for lunch or dinner.

I have created some not very good meals and some really delicious meals. Fortunately, the not very good meals have been just for me ~ unless my guests were being too polite to say otherwise. But even the not very good meals have been turned into soups with the addition of a little homemade chicken broth and different spicing. Now coming into my kitchen I do see possibilities much more easily. My kitchen is my place to play with my food. Doing dishes is the only down side to this tasty result of chasing my curiosity.

(p.s. - baking bread is my personal favourite - focaccia, whole wheat bread, naan bread, No Knead bread, scones, banana bread……..)

“The more you know, the more you can create. 

There’s no end to imagination in the kitchen.”

~  Julia Child

Taste the Rainbow

I have no photos of rainbows so just chose a beautiful blue sky. 

At a recent writer’s gathering on Friday evening, we were challenged by random selection of writing prompt’s: little strips of folded paper with just a line or phrase written on them. From that we were to write a poem with a ten minute limit. I received ‘Taste the rainbow….what flavours does your rainbow have?”  Poetic form is rather poor, however here is my piece, slightly edited:

Fruits of the Land

Taste the rainbow

Passionate colours of

  oranges and plums

     apples, apricots and lemons

There are still the colours of blues and pinks

   blueberries

      and crabapples

Colours that arc across the sky

   Colours that cut softly through clouds

      Colours that soften my heart on a summers day when

gentle rain mists in the sky and moistens the land below.

Taste the rainbow for 

the colours of clear water

rinsing sun rays with the tastes 

of the fruits of the land.

“Let me, O let me bathe my soul in colours; 

let me swallow the sunset and drink the rainbow.”

~ Kahlil Gibran

An Un-Recipe

Scrambled eggs, for me, are a comfort food any day, any time, or any season. It can be a simple scramble with only salt and pepper with toast and marmalade along side. Or it can be just a bit more interesting - spiced up. On one of his TV shows, Chef Jamie Oliver demonstrated how to prepare spices before mixing them into anything. Melt a bit of butter in a frying pan, add the spices and heat until they are fragrant. I actually didn’t know that spices could be fragrant, but found the aroma of melted butter, red pepper flakes, curry and fennel to be quite delicious. For my more than simple, but easy, scramble, I add cooked rice, stirring around just to marry it with the spices. Before the rice gets browned, but when it’s heated through, I pour in the scrambled eggs. At medium heat, I cook the eggs until they are soft, but not browned.  

Comfort food nourishes body and soul. Preparing comfort food, or any food, often is part of that comfort and nourishment. Gathering accompaniments and creating a fairly decent presentation almost makes me feel like a chef. The aroma of cooking food, the anticipation of sitting down to the completed dish and finally the taste created for personal preference completes any good ‘Un-recipe’. 

“Recipes are overrated.”

~  Chef Jose Andres

Ingredients:

Eggs

Cooked rice

Spices (I use red pepper flakes, fennel and curry)

Salt and Pepper

(Optional - Mushrooms, or anything else)

Flavouring

Ounces of taste in tiny drops

fill up the cup

and flavour the stew

Just as gratitude

adds sunshine to a cloudy day

and nourishes heart and soul.

“The smallest act of kindness is worth 

more than the grandest intention.”

~ Oscar Wilde

The Second Loaf

A couple of weeks ago, I made my first loaf of No-Knead Bread. Successful and quite delicious. As it was disappearing at an alarming rate - still haven’t found the culprit - I made a second loaf.  I made some changes that I really didn’t think would make much different. But the texture and the taste of the bread were off. (By the way, this loaf also has disappeared. I did make a back up loaf - and again this loaf has disappeared right out of my kitchen. Whoever has disappeared them also used up my butter and my honey!) 

The changes were:

The yeast - I didn’t bring the yeast to room temperature before mixing with the flour.

The bowl - I used a much larger bowl

Rising - I had the second rise go on much longer and had it in the refrigerator for most of the second rise.

Ultimately, the second loaf was good bread, but just okay. So I made a third improved loaf  - I ate the last bit today and won’t make anymore until next week. Just have to try again!

“All sorrows are less with bread.”
~ Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Discovering No-Knead Bread

My first attempt at No-Knead Bread has been pretty darn successful! The crust is a little dark, but doesn’t taste burned. I had my doubts about the recipe and the dough. The recipe was far too simple - flour, water, salt and a 1/4 teaspoon of yeast. The rising time - now that was just weird. Eighteen hours for the first rise! And then punched down, let rise two or three more times! But I was determined - I wanted a bread that was similar to one I buy at the store. When I discovered this recipe online, and then the same recipe in a book I’m reading (136 Recipes that Saved My Life by Ruth Reichl) I had to try it. Strange or not. The dough was sticky and wet. I couldn’t see how it would amount to anything. Did I mention the temperature of the oven? 475 degrees. And the cast iron pot that the dough was to be cooked in was to be heated up as well as the lid. Getting the dough into this dangerously hot dutch oven was a challenge but I did it without burning myself. Baked for 30 minutes, the lid was to come off and the round loaf of bread I saw was nothing short of amazing. It was a beautiful caramel colour and I was tempted to take it out right away. But, I followed the directions and left it in without the lid for 15 more minutes. I really think it could have come out about five minutes earlier because it seems a bit too dark. It is delicious, though. Crusty, chewy and sweet although no sugar was added. Ruth Reichl says that the additional rising times make a difference to the flavour of the bread. 

“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; 

and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.”

~ James Beard

136 Recipes that Saved My Life - My Kitchen Year

By Ruth Reichl

Jim Lahey’s No-Knead Bread Recipe at leitesculinara.com