culinary break through...

i am so proud of myself. i have done something utterly amazing. no, i have not solved world hunger, established a state of global peace, or found a cure for all disease. it is something infinitely better: i made a hollandaise sauce.

granted, it may not sound earth-shattering to you. but to me, it was a feat. i remember my mother repeatedly lamenting over her attempts at the elusive goo. she bitterly complained about how it would separate. no matter how many times she tried, she could never get it right. so for years, i passive-aggressively avoided making the sauce. what did i need with that yellow goop anyway? dumping it over asparagus was so passé.

for some strange reason, i decided to make it the other night. i can’t say what possessed me, but i am rather glad i did. while i admit the sauce needs as much attention as a high-maintenance trophy wife with a shopping addiction for luxury items, there are only a few ingredients that just need a little whisking.

i referred to the old stand-by, the joy of cooking, for its tried-and-true recipe. if the sauce congeals a bit before serving, whisk in about a teaspoon of warm water:

place in the top of a double-boiler or in a large stainless steel bowl set up as a double boiler.

3 large egg yolks
1 ½ tablespoons of cold water

off the heat, whisk the egg mixture until i becomes light and frothy. place the top of the double boiler or bowl over—not in—barely simmering water and continue to whisk until the eggs are thickened , 2 to 4 minutes, being careful not to let the eggs get too hot. remove the pan or bowl from over the water and whisk to slightly cool the mixture. whisking constantly, very slowly add:

½ cup of warm clarified butter

(to clarify butter, melt the stick of butter of medium-low heat. once melted, take it off the heat and skim off the butter solids.)

whisk in

1 to 3 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice
dash of red pepper sauce (optional)
salt and white ground pepper to taste

serve immediately or keep the sauce warm for up to 30 minutes by placing the bowl in warm water.

merry christmas!

you're invited...

i’m planning a holiday party for this weekend. if i had any sense at all, i’d worry more about what i was going to wear and not what i was going to cook. isn’t that what catering is for?!?

but, i am worrying about what i will cook. although, worry is not the right word. worry connotes something negative. i actually enjoy considering what would taste good, what things would go well together.

the dilemma of a party is all the work that goes into it. it’s not just the cooking. it’s cleaning the house, setting up the decorations, putting out the plates and wine glasses, or running out to the store because i realize i don’t have enough of those stupid wine glasses.

so what can i do to make my life a little easier, especially around this time of year? ask for help. i really don’t do that often enough. i take on the whole sha-bang from soup to nuts and wonder why i’m so stinking tired later on. this year, however, i asked guests to bring a dish and a favorite beverage. whatever i make will fill in the gaps. et voila!

i will make a few little noshes that don’t take much time. a charcuterie and cheese platter with toasted baguettes is always nice. although, i think i’d like to plan my hors d’oeuvres around a theme. each dish will have a focal point. goat cheese, for example. i love fresh goat cheese. it goes with so many different things. drizzle honey on it. pair it with sautéed mushrooms and thyme. figs, figs, figs. need I say more? frankly, i’m salivating already…

another consideration for this time of year is roasting or stewing. these are meals you can make ahead and put in the oven, keep on the stovetop, or in a crockpot. while the chicken thighs are simmering in their juices, i can take a shower and put on that little black dress that takes ten pounds of my ass. or while the pot roast is in the crockpot, i can set out the tableware.

regardless of what i end up cooking, the food will taste good and the conversation will flow. but only as long as i choose the right wines. hmmm…

thanksgiving

whatever happened to thanksgiving? it is such an underappreciated holiday. we break out the halloween gear in august only to transition to mistletoe and cheesy felt stockings the moment the candy has been put away. shouldn’t we at least acknowledge the fourth thursday in november?

break out the cranberries! throw down your stuffing! slice me up a piece of that pumpkin pie!

but without a doubt, the pièce de résistance is the turkey: a perfectly browned, over-dry bird that would fell a herd of bison with its tryptophan kick. whether you go whole hog on the turducken like a john madden wannabe or you forgo the weight gain and stick with the tofurkey, the bird is king.

however, the meat of the turkey without dressing or seasoning can simply be an adventure in blandness. it’s dry. it’s beige. it’s frankly lackluster in the protein category. the best way I have found to make a really good bird is to brine it first and then roast it after searing it for half an hour at 500 degrees.

below is a recipe for brining and roasting your turkey from the food network’s alton brown. it’s a good guideline, but you don’t have to include all the ingredients. if you don’t like ginger, don’t put it in. the key is the salt, stock, oil, and water. that’s the base brine. whatever else you add depends on your own taste.

1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey
for the brine: for the aromatics:
1 cup kosher salt 1 red apple, sliced
1/2 cup light brown sugar 1/2 onion, sliced
1 gallon vegetable stock 1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon black peppercorns 1 cup water
1/2 tablespoon allspice berries 4 sprigs rosemary
1/2 tablespoon candied ginger 6 leaves sage
1 gallon iced water Canola oil

combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stockpot, and bring to a boil. stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

early on the day of cooking, (or late the night before) combine the brine and ice water in a clean 5-gallon bucket or cooler big enough to hold the turkey. place thawed turkey breast side down in brine, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area (like a basement) for 6 hours. turn turkey over once, half way through brining.

a few minutes before roasting, heat oven to 500 degrees. combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes.

remove bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. discard brine.

place bird on roasting rack inside wide, low pan and pat dry with paper towels. add steeped aromatics to cavity along with rosemary and sage. tuck back wings and coat whole bird liberally with canola (or other neutral) oil.

roast on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F. for 30 minutes. remove from oven and cover breast with double layer of aluminum foil, insert probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and return to oven, reducing temperature to 350 degrees F. set thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees. a 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. let turkey rest, loosely covered, for 15 minutes before carving.

happy thanksgiving!

taste buds?

i think i’m missing the mommy gene—or is it some bizarre enzyme?—required to make creative food for your kids. you know those moms—the ones that put plates of uniquely disguised healthy food with the uncanny resemblance of a lady bug. “here ya go, sweet pea. here’s your brussels sprout caterpillar. look how expertly mommy made use of the toothpicks and chewing gum to keep it all together!”

frankly, i wish i had the time to think about ways to make food attractive to picky eaters. especially with my middle daughter. if it’s not a white carbohydrate, it doesn’t cross her lips. i’m sure i could dutifully puree cauliflower and put it in apple muffins. but by the time i pureed the cauliflower, i’d probably just end up making soup.

my only hope is that one day, when they’ve had enough bad cafeteria food and a metric ton of ramen noodles, they’ll realize that my risotto with chanterelles wasn’t half bad. and the roasted asparagus with the balsamic glaze was rather tasty too.

i wonder, though. at what point do your taste buds mature? i remember loathing asparagus as a kid. now i like it. and you couldn’t get me in the same room with a beet. admittedly, i merely tolerate beets now. but, if you add some fresh goat cheese, beets are a relatively pleasant experience for me.

well, whether my taste buds are maturing or i’m simply on the path to a bowl of pre-masticated food as an octogenarian, i’m going to enjoy what i do eat and hope my kids come along for the ride.

pb&j

a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. it’s perfect. simple ingredients in between two pieces of bread. add a glass of milk and that’s all you need.

is there a genesis to the peanut butter and jelly sandwich? oh, probably. perhaps it dates back to the ancient egyptians who used it initially as part of their embalming technique only to discover it made a great snack. or maybe it was found quite by accident because there was nothing left in the house besides a roll of stale crackers and moldy cheese. with that choice, i think i’d go for the sandwich too.

actually, the peanut butter sandwich dates back to the early 20th century in its widespread use. while bread and jelly have been around for hundreds of years, peanut butter didn’t become a real hit until the 1904 st. louis world’s fair. with the marketing of peter pan and skippy peanut butters in the 20s and 30s, pb&j became a lunch box staple. by world war II and the ensuing rations, peanut butter and jelly was a meal for many people tightening their belts. it was cheap and satisfying.

it’s the simple things that have the greatest longevity. peanut butter and jelly are the perfect combination. like romeo and juliet. milk and cookies. burgers and fries. apple pie and ice cream a la mode. oddly enough, it’s the most fattening foods that seem to be paired up. maybe that’s what broke romeo and juliet up. it wasn’t two warring families and a bottle of poison. juliet’s ass got too fat to fit in her jeans. must have been the pb&j…

fall finds

i went to the farmer’s market in the parking lot of the fairfield theatre company yesterday. it was chilly, more than a little overcast, and drizzly. i didn’t expect much on a day like that. i thought it might be slim pickings.

instead, i found a still-bountiful display of vegetables and other produce. i went home with my prizes: fresh artisanal bread, mesclun salad greens with edible flowers, fresh pea shoots, heirloom tomatoes.

(i kicked myself for not picking up the “hen of the woods” mushrooms. however, they were being sold for $18 a pound. another time—perhaps one not so economically tight.)

while at the market, i kept thinking of an excerpt from barbara kingsolver’s animal, vegetable, miracle. she had gone to the farmer’s market near her family’s farm in virginia. it was a windy, cold, drizzly november day without much promise for a farmer’s market. yet, she went anyway. when she got there, she didn’t find an abundance of produce. but, she did find fresh honey, fresh walnuts already shelled, and a host of other little morsels to take home and make a yummy meal. she had gone with an open mind and no expectation.

i went to the market yesterday with the same mindset. sometimes, life gives you little surprises. you just don’t know until you get there…

everything organic

organic. it’s the biggest buzz word these days. in fact, i think it’s topped low-carb. organic this. organic that. no matter what you put in front of people, if you tell them it’s organic they think they’re eating well. have some more pork rinds—they’re organic!

just recently i had the pleasure of having REAL organic food. it was fresh; it was easy; it was fast. i helped host an event this past weekend at the fairfield theatre company (http://www.fairfieldtheatre.org/), fondly known as the ftc. the food was all donated by health in a hurry, a local organic food shop. they make and prepare only organic foods and all of it served on the go.

if you’d like to check out their web site, as i hope you do, it can be found at http://www.healthinahurry.net/. the owner, sue cadwell, started out as an environmental activist and ended up a vegetarian chef with her own shop and catering business. it opened four years ago as the vegetarian answer to fast food. it’s the culinary idea of a sleeper movie—you don’t really know about it until you try it and realize it’s a gold mine.

for the event this past weekend, we wanted food that fit with the overall atmosphere. the ftc hosts a farmer’s market in their parking lot every sunday. our event would overlap it. so obviously, a lunchtime offering of corn dogs on a stick was out of the question.

the food we had was delicious—organic or not. in fact, the label doesn’t even matter. good food is good food. she offered a grainless tabouleh salad with cucumber and tomato. there was a lemon curry rice salad with just enough curry to give it a kick, but not so much it was overpowering. even tofu—and i’m not big on tofu—was breaded and served as a pseudo-mozzarella stick with homemade ketchup. the kids gobbled ‘em up!

there were mini-health burgers made with lentils and brown rice with carmelized onions gently spooned on top. ordinarily, i probably would have turned up my nose at them. i have to confess: i’m a meat eater. i don’t want to think about what happened to the animal before it came to the butcher shop. ignorance IS bliss—and i’d like to keep it that way. that said, these are little burgers i wouldn’t mind eating any time.

organic food has found its place in the mainstream and i think it’s here to stay. this is one fad that may not be so bad. although, i wish i could say that for mood rings…

garden?

i’ve been thinking about starting a garden. ok, maybe not right this minute, as we’re on the heels of summer and heading toward colder weather. but maybe i can start planning on what i’d like to put in a garden for spring.

i love the concept of having things that bloom regardless of the season. it’s almost like doing the wave at a baseball game—something’s always popping up. but that takes planning—and a little know-how. my time for planning is spare. and the know-how part…well, let’s just say i’m a little lacking.

i wish i were one of those people who had a knack for it. frankly, i’m lucky i don’t kill my basil. and i can never get my cilantro to grow. could it be that i don’t have a green thumb to save my life or is it just that cilantro is a really finicky plant? i think i’ll go with the latter. it doesn’t crush my self-esteem as much.

i have a couple of neighbors who have small gardens in their backyards. they don’t yield much—it’s not like they’re supporting themselves financially on the fruits of their labor. but it’s certainly enough to make a good dinner.

my father grew a garden in our backyard when i was growing up. i loved being able to wander in on a hot summer day and grab a snack. fresh sugar snap peas. sun-warmed cherry tomatoes on the vine that would just pop in your mouth. baby lettuces. zucchini. peppers. chives. the list goes on.

when we wanted to make dinner, we picked what was ripe, threw it into a pot, and that was dinner. it was also one of the best parts of summer for me as a kid. it may be the very reason why i love food and cooking so much. i grew up on the fresh stuff. no pesticides, just a little elbow grease.

so for now, i will fantasize about a garden and wait for spring again…

heirlooms

i think one of the best things about summer is the tomato. it represents the season perfectly: juicy, sun-warmed and red. they’re in abundance. big ones. fat ones. small ones. round ones. catch me near the stand and i’m like one of those creepy guys at a bar leering at all the hot chicks. ok, maybe not the best analogy. but you get the picture.

then, there’s the heirloom tomato. these little beauties have been a hot ticket for quite some time. when they’re good, they’re really good. but this year, i’m not sure i agree. i’ve been to my local farmer’s market the last few weeks and they all look a little…well, odd. and by odd i mean completely deformed, misshapen—and not in a good way. they look diseased rather than appetizing. is it me? is everyone else enjoying their succulent heirloom tomatoes and i’m just the schmuck who doesn’t recognize greatness when i see it? or am i the little boy in the emperor’s new clothes that points out the king is nude?

because heirloom tomatoes are open pollinated and not genetically altered, they are probably more subject to disease. that may explain their less than tasty appearance lately. but, as the saying goes, looks can be deceiving. the taste is what counts. anything fresh and unadulterated will taste markedly better than their counterparts on the supermarket shelf that have the overall consistency of the business end of a snow shoe.

i’ve highlighted this web site before. but if you’re looking to find local connecticut farms that grow and sell heirloom tomatoes, go to http://www.buyctgrown.com/. they list all the farms in the area and map them for you.

enjoy what the season has to offer. all too soon it will disappear…

august in connecticut is one of my favorite times of the year. the freshest produce is available at your finger tips. farmer’s markets are at their peak. and it’s corn season, baby! (or cahn as my husband likes to pronounce it in an obnoxiously nasal sotto voce.)

it’s the best stuff on earth. sweet, fresh, and just picked. pair it with vine-ripened tomatoes, which are also in season now, and you’ve got a vegetable symphony. (granted, tomatoes are technically fruit. but whatever.)

we had corn and tomatoes last night for dinner. sweet jesus, that’s good! all you need is a little sea salt—possibly some butter for the corn—et voilà! i could have cared less about the flank steak we grilled with it. i was more enthralled with how sweet those tight little kernels were between my teeth.

(although, i have often wondered: with all this biogenetic engineering, can’t they manage to create an ear of corn that comes with it’s own floss? i mean, really. if you’re going to screw with nature, can’t you at least make it convenient too? but i digress from the true, unadulterated husks of sheer goodness.)

a number of web sites, including http://www.produceoasis.com/ and http://www.buyctgrown.com/, inform you on how to choose the best corn and where to get them here in connecticut. obviously, rule number one is to avoid the store-bought. by the time it even reaches your supermarket, it’s a starchy, old thing best left hanging as an autumnal decoration for your front door rather than a meal time accompaniment. as soon as corn is picked, the sugar starts to break down into starch. you will want to get the ears when they are at their sweetest.

when picking out corn, keep in mind that the outside husk should look healthy as well. if the husks look shriveled or dry, if the corn silk looks like it’s in bad shape or it clearly has worm damage, discard it. you can pull back the husk to take a look at the kernels underneath to check for their freshness. however, there are a number of farm stands and markets that take a dim view of the customer that picks at their corn. really, do you want to take home a bushel knowing somebody else’s fingernails picked at the kernels to determine if it’s to their liking? a little unappetizing. usually, the staff at the market or farm are more than willing to help you out.

well, enjoy the corn season. get ‘em while they’re hot. because as any native nutmegger knows, corn season goes by all too fast…

can you grill a pie?

the question seems a bit silly, doesn’t it? in my last blog entry, i mentioned my quest for the perfect lemon meringue pie. i tried the recipe i got on epicurious.com.

for one thing, i found the recipe a little lacking in direction. it said to roll out the dough but not what to do with the dough before that—no mixing of ingredients or an indication that perhaps i should have gone with the pre-made pie plate in the frozen foods section.

next—and here’s the really fun part—upon pre-heating my oven, i discovered that it was on the fritz. of course. what better time for the oven to crap out than when i’ve got raw pie dough and lemon curd waiting to go?!?

so i had this brilliant idea (and by brilliant, i mean hair-brained). i had just finished grilling two angus steaks for dinner. the grill’s still hot. why not go for it?

first, i grilled the dough in the tin. not too shabby. it came out golden and perhaps a little dry, but not bad for a first try. after cooling, i filled the crust with the lemon curd and topped it off with the beaten egg whites. i popped it onto the grill grates at medium heat (all three burners) and set it for 15 minutes.

et voilà! a third of it was burned. the sides of crust were black and some of the meringue had black highlights like a bad day at the salon.

but, there is a bright side. the lemon curd set and, underneath those villainous blackened edges, the meringue tasted pretty good too.

i think i’m going to try it again. it’s heat, after all. i just have to learn how to tame it. and who knows? maybe i’ve started a new summer trend of grilled pie…or not.

pie

pie. peach pie. pecan pie. any kind of berry pie. steak and kidney pie. shepherd’s pie. quiche! it’s a three letter word with a lot of versatility. a little crust. some filling. add heat and voilà! sustenance in a pie tin.

in the u.s., we’ve got an active pie culture. you certainly see more of it in the south. then, of course, there’s the state fairs in the mid-west and the pie contests that pepper each one.

it may be because, in warmer climates, they have a longer growing season. but in new england in which the growing season is almost over before it begins, you don’t hear too many people hanging around the neighborhood asking if you want to come in for some pie. in fact, pie in this area is mainly associated with holidays: pumpkin pie for thanksgiving; mince meat pie for christmas.

to tell you the truth, i’m not much of a pie person. i don’t think about it when i am looking for a tasty treat. i’ll eat it if it’s there but i don’t seek out pie as a suitable end to a meal.

however, i had some pie just this past weekend. we had some friends over for dinner before we took the kids out to see the fireworks. they brought a berry pie. the crust was flaky, yet moist. the berries, along with some rhubarb i believe, were succulent and ripe. the top crust was a cut out of the nation’s flag (cute, huh?). i surprised myself by wanting to lick the plate.

it made me think of one pie that brings back memories: lemon meringue. my father’s mother made this pie. it was, frankly, the only thing she did really, really well. (she was not much of a cook. she boiled anything and everything beyond recognition into a nutritionless heap.) i would love to tell you that i have that fabulous recipe handed down from generation to generation in faded handwriting with dog-eared corners. but i don’t.

instead, to find the perfect lemon meringue pie, i searched online for a simple recipe. many of them called for added ingredients like ginger or a pecan crust. no, no, no. that’s all wrong. i just want a simple, straight-forward recipe. no frills, just the basics. there are some things you can’t improve on. sometimes, the original is always the best.

i found this recipe on epicurious.com (everyone’s online cookbook). i’m going to try it and see what happens. perhaps this will be my new quest: the perfect lemon meringue pie.

lemon meringue pie
makes 8 servings

pie
pastry dough
5 large egg yolks
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons

meringue
5 large egg whites, at room temperature 30 minutes
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 superfine granulated sugar

pie shell
preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle.

roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 13-inch round, then fit into a 9-inch pie plate (4-cup capacity). trim edge, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang, then crimp decoratively. lightly prick shell all over with a fork, then chill 30 minutes.

line shell with foil and fill with pie weights or raw rice. bake until side is set and edge is pale golden, about 20 minutes.

carefully remove weights and foil and bake shell until bottom and side are golden, about 20 minutes more. Remove from oven and reduce temperature to 350°F.

filling
whisk together yolks in a small bowl.

whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a heavy medium saucepan. gradually add water and milk, whisking until smooth. bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking frequently as mixture begins to thicken. remove from heat and gradually whisk about 1 cup milk mixture into yolks, then whisk yolk mixture into remaining milk mixture. add lemon zest and juice and simmer, whisking constantly, 3 minutes. remove from heat and whisk in butter until incorporated. cover surface with wax paper to keep hot.

meringue
beat whites with cream of tartar and salt using an electric mixer at medium speed until they hold soft peaks.

increase speed to high and add superfine sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until meringue just holds stiff, glossy peaks.

assemble and bake pie
pour hot filling into warm pie shell and gently shake to smooth top.

spread meringue decoratively over hot filling, covering filling completely.

immediately bake until meringue is golden-brown, about 15 minutes.

cool completely on a rack, 2 to 3 hours. cut with a serrated knife dipped in cold water.

cooks' notes
• it is the nature of meringue pies to "weep" liquid after cooling.
• pie shell can be baked 1 day ahead and cooled completely, then kept, loosely covered, at room temperature.
• lemon meringue pie is best the day it is made but keeps, covered and chilled, 2 days.

clambake?

i went to a clambake this past weekend. it was run-of-the-mill and not too exciting from a culinary perspective. (albeit, it was fun and it marked the end of a season as president of a non-profit organization, but still. ubiquitous steamers. lobsters. corn that wasn't in season. rolls that barely passed as bread. you know the drill.)

the experience started me thinking. what would it take to have a REAL clambake? you the kind: beach front. fire pit. seaweed. i want the full monty of clambakes. what will it take to accomplish that in fairfield, connecticut? we're new england! ok, granted. many consider us just a suburb of new york, but that's beside the point.

i’m sure there will be a permit involved and all sorts of other town-related firey hoops to jump through. nothing short of police and fire safety will be involved. (if I invite the cops and the firemen and entice them with a great menu and enough wine, will it be less of a hazard?)

we shall see what we shall see. stay tuned for my quest for a real new England clambake…

grilled cheese sandwich

cheese. a six letter word that makes me salivate. soft. semi-soft. hard. whether the originating milk is cow, sheep, goat or even buffalo, the end result is tasty. it can be buttery to nutty in flavor. it’s porous to smooth in texture and comes in many different shapes and sizes.

some of my favorites are port salut, maytag blue, and any goat cheese I can get my hands on—especially if it’s relatively local and fresh. but my biggest forays with cheese, unfortunately, are determined by what my kids want to eat. so i am doomed to revisit the same menu which usually consists of either macaroni and cheese or grilled cheese. these are not exactly the dishes i would consider the pinnacle of culinary excitement. but both dishes provide sustenance for little mouths that, as i’ve described in my earlier blog, are pretty discerning.

when it comes to grilled cheese sandwiches, you’ve got to have the right cheese with the right texture. the cheese has to ooze from crisp, buttery toast when you cut into it. the melting capacity of the cheese along with evenly dispersed heat is very key. otherwise, you end up with coagulated glop between two pieces of bread. some choose cheddar. others swiss or gouda. even, dare i say, velveeta. i’m always fond of american cheese as the main ingredient. the bread can’t be too thick or too slight and it should be white bread. if you’re trying to get healthy with your kids and sneak in some fiber, try it on a different dish. some things are just not meant to be messed with.

there are some classic additions to the standard grilled cheese that can't be beat on an empty stomach: add some tomato and some bacon and you've got a little party going on in your mouth. ham is always another great choice. that was actually a staple sandwich i made for myself in college. it got me through a number of all-nighters and a couple of times when the meal choice at the cafeteria was less than inspirational.

for a blog on food, this doesn’t seem like the ideal topic. although, i found the entry of "grilled cheese sandwich" on wikipedia. it was pictured with a nice bowl of tomato soup. so if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me.

but shouldn’t I discuss the finer points of shitake mushrooms or something involving demi-glace or shaved parmesan? maybe so. but in the end, tasty food is tasty food. my own childhood memories include a steady diet of grilled cheese sandwiches. so perhaps that makes me a connoisseur of sorts. or maybe it just means i like cheese and bread. together. and hot.

what's for dinner, mom?

my children are picky eaters. whose kids aren’t? as one who enjoys cooking, getting healthy foods into small bellies can be a challenge. i have a good friend who found a solution for her finicky little one. she purees vegetables to thicken batter. “have one more bite of these yummy apple cauliflower muffins, sweetie!”

while that sounds like a great idea, it’s also extra work. i don’t think there are too many parents who would sign up for that. so how can you get your kids interested in good food? better yet, how can you get them to eat it?

a new york times article, dated october 10, 2007, discussed a recent study that showed a child’s finicky eating pattern may have more to do with his gene pool than anything else.

“researchers examined the eating habits of 5,390 pairs of twins between 8 and 11 years old and found children’s aversions to trying new foods are mostly inherited.” great, have a healthy serving of guilt. it’s all your fault, mom. you and your bad DNA.

(for the full article, go to www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/dining/10pick.html)

there are a number of web sites that give you tips and techniques. the majority give you a finite list. but the gist of it is, don’t get too discouraged, be patient, and, more to the point, don’t use dessert as a weapon.

too often i find myself doing that very thing. “if you have three more bites, you can have some oreos…” it works, but I am telling them that dessert is the best part of the meal and not what is actually on their plates.

there is one thing, however, that i insist on. i will NOT make separate meals. a neighbor of mine was lamenting how her kids had such varied schedules with after school activities that she ended up doing just that: making three separate dinners for three separate kids. when i make dinner, that’s all there is. you don’t want it, then i guess you’re goin’ hungry!

as a parent, you should not be your child’s short order cook. you are not mel shouting at flo and alice to pipe down or i’ll pop you one. (i realize there are only some who will get that obscure reference.) i enjoy cooking, but i don’t enjoy it when it’s less about the food and more about personal preferences from the seven and under crowd.

here are some links that give you tips on how to deal with those early high-maintenance diets:

www.mayoclinic.com/health/childrens-health/HQ01107
www.ucsfhealth.org/childrens/edu/pickyEaters/index.html
www.askdrsears.com/html/3/T030800.asp
www.foodnetwork.com/food/lf_kids/article/0,1904,FOOD_16382_3075893,00.html

happy cooking!

viognier

today is my birthday. so i think i’ll focus on wine. (wine not?) i’ve listed a few favorites in the sidebar. these are wines that i consistently buy and love to have on hand.

the wine i’ve recently gotten into is viognier. it’s a cranky wine and hard to grow. it apparently originates from the dalmatian region in croatia and was brought to italy and then on to condrieu in the northern rhone in france. while it also appears in the u.s. and parts of canada, australia is now one of the biggest producers of the grape.

it grows best in rocky soil. but in terms of yielding a good crop, it seems to be more like the high maintenance trophy wife than the practical librarian of the wine world. you have to pick it just right otherwise it craps out.

i won’t pretend to be a sommelier by any stretch of the imagination. i am no wine guru. but i can tell you what i like and why.

viognier is a fun wine to drink. it’s light. it’s fruity. it pairs well with light dishes but has enough backbone to stand up to spicy ones. it’s easy to drink. it’s not too heavy or overpowering but has a solid depth to it. it’s something a little bit different than your average over-marketed bland sauvignon blanc or a horribly over-oaked chardonnay. and it doesn’t need to be chilled beyond recognition to make it drinkable.

(on that note, i think it’s all too often that white wine is chilled to arctic blast and treated like lemonade. one good backyard barbecue after another and you’ll see your neighbors stumbling home from the 13% alcohol because the viognier was served as just another cold drink. the more the weather heats up, the colder the wine.)

enjoy trying these labels. they pair well with spicy dishes from chicken to fish to chinese take-out. some are pure viognier and others are blends with other varietals:

la campagne viognier/chardonnay 2006
yalumba botrytis viognier 2006
cantarelles viognier 2006
grange des rouquette marsanne viognier 2006

next time, we'll talk rosé.

farmer's markets

farmer’s markets. long before there were gigantic supermarkets with ample parking and a starbucks inside, the little wooden stand with just-picked produce was a staple element in any tiny town. but today, there is a grassroots movement that has built into a total resurgence of locally grown and organic food.

but here’s the thing: it’s often more expensive. so why not continue to buy your food with high fructose corn syrup and polysorbate 80? when it’s only 38 cents per metric ton, it's hard to justify a pricey pomegranate.

you want it organic? you pay for it. milk alone is one good example. but people are paying for it more and more to avoid the bovine growth hormones and anything else that might surreptitiously get into your cow juice.

there have been numerous articles about the benefits of fresh food. the rate of obesity has grown steadily over the years, especially in our children. high fructose corn syrup is one of the main factors in the size of our ever-growing posteriors. and not surprisingly, the rate of diabetes has grown with it. isn’t this enough of a reason to buy fresh, local foods?

a new york times article dated january 15th of this year detailed a recent study done at UCLA for the federally-funded woman, infants and children program. they monitored over 600 women who were given weekly vouchers in the amount of $10 to buy fresh fruits and vegetables from local farmer’s markets. the outcome was that “[a]fter six months, women who shopped at the farmers’ markets were eating about three additional servings of fruits and vegetables a day, compared to the control group. supermarket shoppers consumed 1.5 extra servings.”

the article went on to point out that the women liked the community experience of a farmer’s market and the produce appeared fresher than at the supermarkets.

so while it might take a few extra pennies, the farmer's market and the atmosphere it provides on a sunny weekend is probably worth your health in the long run.

an awakening

long thin strips of fresh pasta. tomatoes just picked off the vine and made into a sauce. fresh homemade cheese with truffles. the sweetest olive oil.

this was the best meal I’ve ever had. my husband and I took the kids to see my sister-in-law and her family who live in germany. a few years ago, we decided to meet them in italy. we had always wanted to go (really, who doesn’t?!?). the food. the wine. the art. the architecture. it goes without saying.

but it was on this trip that my own approach to food and cooking changed. i’ve always loved good food and wine. i’ve always loved to cook. but I became more aware of local and organic foods because of this trip. (yes, i know—not a new concept but still a good one.)

the country’s fresh food and simple style is what makes that one meal so memorable. there was no fuss, no muss. i didn’t need special equipment. i didn’t need to consult a cook book. i didn’t have to braise anything for more than 3 hours. (now, don’t get me wrong, braising has its merits. but it’s not something i need to do every day.)

while every meal we had in italy was a taste sensation, i vividly remember this one meal. it was the freshest. it was the simplest. that’s was so striking about it. it couldn’t be any easier.

it had been on a sunny day that we walked to the opposite hill from our villa. along a winding path among rows of grapevines, we bought all the key ingredients from a demeter. they sold everything they grew on the farm. we brought it home, put it in a pot, and ate only minutes later. beautiful!

so here’s to the enjoyment of the good life—here, there, and everywhere!