I Scream!

It's that time of year, the crocus are blooming and everything else is starting to shoot up through the ground. Most days feel like spring and that makes me think of ice cream! Of couse, since it's Lent, I'm not consuming, but that doesn't mean that I can't make it for others. I dusted off the old Braun ice cream maker and pulled the bowl out of the freezer where it had been chilling since early fall. I like to make a coconut ice cream (crack on a spoon from Ms. Stewart), peanut butter with fudge ribbons running through it and chocolate sorbet, but I thought I would try something different.

I put together one of my Asian soup bowls for friends (noodles, spinash, mushroom in a miso broth with lots of garlic and ginger) and decided to experiment with a chai ice cream for dessert. It couldn't be simpler or more delicious.

Recipe: Chai Ice Cream
3 cups heavy whipping cream
2 cups Chai concentrate, like Oregon Chai

Combine and refrigerate until well chilled. Process in ice cream freezer according to manufacturer's instruction. I garnished mine with a fortune cookie and a couple of pieces of bittersweet chocolate. I think it's probably best after a couple of hours in the freezer, but I'm going to experiment with the recipe a little.

Mangez!

Chai Ice Cream

Chai Ice Cream
Originally uploaded by kitchenknife.

Super Target Tamales

I don't usually go to Super Target as I find it somewhat overwhelming, but last week I found myslelf there as a matter of convenience. Trolling the food aisles for a little this, a little that, I stumbled upon a new product: cheese and green chile tamales. Unless you have fantastic Mexican mama making them at home for you, vegetarian tamales are rare and difficult to find. I dream nightly about the ones you can get next to the Santurio de Chimayo at Leona's Restaurant in New Mexico. Sitting under the trees on a picnic table, it's pure heaven. (Apparently, they're now available through the mail, so I know what I'll be ordering next week. Who knew?) Of course, Anna's mother's tamales are fantastic, and at the Wild Oats market, they used to have tamales in the deli section. Used to. As in not any more.

Needless to say, I was extremely excited to find vegetarian tamales in the freezer at Target, the store brand even. So I rushed home, heated one up in the microwave and piled on the pineapple salsa. Pretty darn good, in my opinion. Tuesday night I decided to dress the tamales up a little bit and make a meal around them, something I decided to call Tamales Rancheros. I also have a recipe for tamale soup my grandmother used to make using canned tamales (ick) that I think I'll try with the frozen ones.

Recipe: Tamales Rancheros
(serves 2)
2 frozen tamales, prepared according to the directions on the box. If you have real, homemade tamales in your freezer, then lucky you.
2 eggs
1 16 oz. can black beans
1 avocado, sliced or diced (your preference)
2 small tomatoes, diced
Bottled salsa of your choice
cilantro
green onion

While the tamales cook, open and rinse the black beans, slice the avocado and cut up the tomtato, cilantro and green onion. Fry the egg over easy. Plate the tamales and open up the corn husk so it spreads over the plate. Top each with an egg, some of the beans, half the avocado, some tomato and a dollop of salsa. Sprinkle cilantro and green onion over the top.

Mangez!

Comfort me with Tomato Dumplings

Every once in a while, everyone gets a craving for some comfort food. It's usually something your mother or grandmother made when you were young, probably something warm and carb-heavy. Definetly delicious. For me, that thing is dumplings.

When I was growing up, my mom made the best chicken an' dumplings on the planet, hands down. I know I'm prejudiced, but one taste, and you'd agree. She started with homemade chicken stock in which floated the lightest and tastiest dumplings ever. But the chicken, blech!. I never liked the big pieces of chicken that came with it, but I had to finish it before I could get some more of the dumplings on my plate. Of course, after becoming a vegetarian, chicken an' dumplings were completely out of the question. And I missed them.

So several years ago, mom started making tomato dumplings for me. This was never something she made while I was growing up, but was something her mother would make for her when she was a child. The tomato broth was just watered down tomato juice in which those same light, delicious dumpling are cooked. At the end, she would stir in a little cream or milk. Simple and amazing.

While the tomato broth mom uses is good, I decided to fiddle with the overall recipe a little to up the sophistication and flavor just a bit. I developed a recipe for what I call "quick French tomato broth" which is flavored with onion, garlic and thyme. It's very good on it's own, but with a little more water or vegetable stock added, becomes the perfect vehicle for the light, delicious dumplings. The recipe for how to make the dumpling is below, but the key is to use a pot with a heavy lid that seals tightly. Once the dumplings are added to the broth and stirred around just a bit, cover them and DO NOT open the pot or raise the lid. Just let them be. If you decide you do need to peek at them, you'll end up with dumplings that are thick, heavy and unacceptable.

Recipe: Tomato Dumplings
4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2.5 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. shortening
2 cups buttermilk

Mix together dry ingredients and then cut in shortening with a couple of knives or a pastry cutter-inner thingy. Add buttermilk and mix with a spoon until combined. Pat the dough out on a floured surface until about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into strips, tear into pieces and drop into broth (you need about 7-8 cups broth) give it a quick stir and then cover the pan (tightly, see above) and let cook for five minutes. Voila!

I served the light, delicious dumplings (you get the idea) with the following:

Homemade pimento cheese spread (another Southern comfort food) with crackers and celery for a starter.

A salad of asparagus, mushroom and egg served with warm Meyer lemon vinaigrette which we had alongside the tomato dumpling, rather than before or after. The reason is, you put those dumpling in the pot and let them cook for five minutes and then they are ready to eat. You don't want to let them set on the stove while people are messing around with a salad.

Fruit and cheese plate featuring calmyrna and mission figs, blood oranges and grapes. Our chef at work gave me a tast of this unbelievable Stilton cheese with lemon rind, so I got a small slab of it and a good wedge of brie. I did buy a box of biscuits dipped in dark chocolate, just as a tiny finale--not for me though, still Lent.

Mangez!

Delicious and amazing...TOMATO DUMPLINGS!

Chocolate is a One Trick Pony!

On occasion, I impress even myself. Thursday night a couple of weeks ago, I was out of town for my Mom's retirement and I called home to Mitchell. He said, "Let's have a couple people over tomorrow night for dinner and a movie. I was thinking soup and salad." Well, that might sound all well and good to most of the world, but I usually spend weeks planning our gatherings, considering the menu, dishes to be used, music to be played and occasionally going so far as to draw out the table setting. I know, it's a little OCD, but that's me. But, regardless of the strength of the planning gene, I can still do spur of the moment with the best of them.

Of course, in addition to the dinner, I had also been asked to go out for a belated-birthday drink with Kim (our graphic designer) and some other people from work. We went to Larkspur, which has a nice bar and enjoyed some of their nibbles with our beverages. Ten minutes before six (guests coming at seven!) and I excused myself, jumped in the car and headed to the store. (No, I hadn't even been to the grocery store yet.) I sped through the store, flames shooting from the wheels of my cart and managed to get back to the car by 6:15 (guests coming at seven!) ran home and started cooking.

The menu:
Tapenade with celery, cucumbers, crackers and cherry tomatoes
A green salad with asparagus, oranges dressed with garlic, orange oil and ginger vinegar
Curried cauliflower soup with beans and onions

I started with tapenade so it would be ready by the time everyone got there. Chopped vegetables and put the cauliflower in the oven to roast. Cut up the asparagus and pan fried it for a few minutes in oil before adding water and letting it steam. Diced onions and sauted them in oil with garlic, added the roasted cauliflower and broth and the soup was as good as ready. At ten minutes after seven, Jessie, Barb and Katie arrived and it was all just about done. Amazing and fast. We opened a couple of bottles of wine and had wonderful conversation to go along with our meal.

Of course, dessert was the stumper. Since I'd given up sweets for Lent, making one of my show-stopping confections seem unsatisfying. In lieu of the usual elaborate fare, I decided to throw together a cheese and fruit plate. Food for Less, the grocery store around the corner from us, is fine for basics, but doesn't have anything exotic. I just got a container of marscapone, a slab of asiago, grapes, almonds, dates and dried apricots. The response was unbelievable! I usually spend days making something fantastic and sweet to end the meal, and here I just threw some fruit and cheese on a plate and everyone was blissing out. Katie said "Who needs chocolate, it's just a one trick pony anyway." I may not agree with that statement entirely, but I certainly learned my lesson on simple desserts.

Recipes:

Tapenade
Combine the following in a food processor:
1/2 cup pitted black olives
4 oz. kalamata olives, pitted
1/4 cup capers, drained and rinsed
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tbsp. (or more to taste) lemon juice
1 tbsp. olive oil (I occasionally use an orange flavored oil)
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Puree to desired consistency. I like mine pretty smooth, but with a little grain left in the mix. Serve with crackers, toast points, or French bread. I think that the sweetness of grape tomatoes is the perfect counterpoint to the saltiness of the tapenade.

Curried cauliflower soup with white beans
1 head cauliflower (about 2 1/4 pounds), cut into florets (about 6 cups)
2 tablespoons olive oil Salt
2 onions, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 tsp. garam masala
6 cups vegetable broth
1 15 oz. can cannellini or other white bean, drained and rinsed.

1. Preheat oven to 450°. On a baking sheet, toss cauliflower with olive oil and 1 teaspoon salt. Spread out, and roast until the florets turn brown, about 25 minutes.

2. In a large stock pot, heat over medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute. Add onions, and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in curry powder, garam masala, cauliflower, broth; cover, and bring to a boil. Uncover, lower heat, and simmer 5 minutes.

3. Using a slotted spoon, transfer 3 cups cauliflower to a bowl, and set aside. Put remaining florets into a blender or food processor, add 1 teaspoon salt, and process until smooth. Stir purée into broth in pan, add beans and reserved florets, and reheat if necessary. Ladle soup into bowls and enjoy.

Mangez!

Girls will be girls....girls will be girls! Always and forever... 

Tasty! 

More wine? More conversation? 

It's NIFTY! It's NUTTY!

The Nifty Nut House is one of those secret places that only locals know about. I think I lived in Wichita for at least three years before I somehow passed an unknown test and was finally given the information and directions. However, it is the first thing I tell people who are new to town. I'm sure they think that I'm completely bizarre ("Hi, it's so nice to meet you. Have you heard of the Nifty Nut House? You must go..."), but as soon as they make the pilgramage they become instant converts.

Of course the mainstay of the Nifty Nut House business (established in 1937) is nuts. They have every kind of nut you could want: roasted, raw, salted, plan, mixed, separate, etc. It's the reason they call it the Nut House. In addition, they also dip most of the aforementioned nuts in a variety of chocolates. Not limited to almonds or peanuts, the NNH serves up chocolate covered Brazil nuts (light and dark), dark chocolate covered pistachios and an array of bridge mixes. Of course, one of the heights of their confectionary wizardry is the double-chocolate-dipped peanuts the size of one of those $.25 gumballs. Absolutely, unbelievably amazing!

Besides the nuts and chocolate goodies, they have about every kind of candy you could possible want, including a great selection of sugar-free. They don't have on-line ordering, but you can call and they'll send you things through the mail--but not chocolate during the warm weather. Just ask and they'll fax you a list of products. (oh! And sesame sticks which they have in plain, cheese and sour cream flavors plus a sesame stick snack mix.) And if you're passing through Wichita (for whatever reason), it's worth pulling off the highway for, believe me.

Nifty Nut House
537 N. St. Francis
Wichita, KS
67214
Ph: 316.265.0571
Fax: 316.262.7431

Mangez!

Um, which door should I use? 

It's nifty, it's nutty... 

Eating (and drinking) my way through California

On a recent trip to California, I caught up with friends, did some light shopping and had several wonderful food-related experiences:

Friday night, after an opening at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, my friend Anna and I went to Soif, a little restaurant just off Pacific avenue downtown Santa Cruz. They serve a large variety of wine (and have a little store if you find something you like) along with an array of small plates, salads and main courses. While we waited for our table, we both had a small glass of fizzy wine as an aperitif. I tried a prosecco and Anna sampled a California bubbly, both very tasty. With dinner, we shared a Chenin Blanc flight which was very fun to compare. The food was delicious, we had: a mushroom gratin in a creamy sauce (sour cream? creme fraiche?) that had me wanting to lick the plate; Brussels sprouts browned in butter; thinly sliced eggplant that was very lightly fried; roasted fingerling potatoes with aioli; and the very best thing--goat cheese encrusted with pumpkin seeds in a pomegranate reduction--rich, sweet and tart at the same time.

Saturday we headed to San Francisco, but stopped at Half Moon Bay on the way up on historic California Highway 1 for a little shopping. I can't remember the name of the place we ate, but I had an egg salad sandwich that was very spicy (lots of strong mustard or horseradish) and a chocolate eclair for dessert. The pastry case was impossible to resist, so I also got a hazelnut ring (to go, along with an almond horn) which turned out to be a sugar cookie topped with a chocolate-hazelnut ganache in turn covered in dark chocolate. We stopped by the Palace of the Legion of Honor and walked around the park on the way into the city. Plus, being the supreme-museum geeks that we are, spent quite a bit of time peeking over the construction fence at the new de Young. (Herzog and de Meuron ROCK!) By the time we reached our hotel, we were beat and ended up eating at Max's which was just up the street. I had a grilled cheese sandwich with Brie, Gouda and Swiss cheese (and tomato) that hit the spot. Afterwards, we wandered the street for hours looking for a place for a cocktail and ended up at the High Tide which provided several hours of entertainment in it's three booth/naked woman painting over the bar/decor not updated since 1963 sort-of-way. Pool table, juke box, sassy Korean bartender. Need I say more?

Sunday morning we slept in a little (too many Manhattans at the ole High Tide) and then went to brunch at Greens, which is probably one of the most celebrated and well-known vegetarian restaurants in the country. It has a peaceful view of the harbor and good service, although our waitperson seemed a bit down (Anna guessed that she may have had a fight with her girlfriend that morning. Or maybe just hungover?). We both had a large glass of their freshly squeezed orange juice and good coffee. We decided to split our meals, and ordered them to come out in succession rather than simultaneously. The first was a root-vegetable hash that was topped with two poached eggs, meyer lemon sauce with a biscuit that rivaled my mother's (perfected by country women four generations ago) on the side. The hash was a sweet and savory mixture of vegetables and the creaminess of the egg yolk combined with the lemon sauce was perfect. For seconds, we had a light and airy wild mushroom omelet with a side of fingerly potatoes. Anna told the waitress that no matter how closely she followed the recipe from the Greens Cookbook, her roasted spuds were never as delicious as the ones we were served. The waitress said "They're fingerling potatoes," which we followed with a 'duh' look to each other. (Isn't fingerling an odd name for a vegetable? Doesn't is seem slightly perverse?)

One of the most interesting, and fun, experiences of my trip was a visit to VinoVenue. Located just around the corner from SFMoMA, it's the perfect place to replenish your body and mind when suffering from museum fatigue. I first read about the place at Cooking with Amy and then there was an article by our local wine expert Elizabeth Stevenson in F5, the Wichita weekly. Basically, its an automat for wine: you pre-purchase a little card that enables you to go around and sample over 100 wines, most of which are priced between $1-$2 for a 1-ounce pour. If you find something you like, you can buy it right there in the store. Anna and I sampled about 8-10 wines and had a great time comparing them in addition to clever conversation. Lots of fun...

Of course, all the food was wonderful, but I'd say breakfast on my first day there was the most memorable. Shirley, Anna's mother, was on her way out the door and said "Fix whatever you'd like for breakfast." I said, "I'll just have some toast or something" and she responded, "Let me show you where the vegetarian tamales are." !!??!! Magic words! I scrambled a couple of eggs, heated up the (delicious, amazing homemade) tamales and was instantly in heaven. Shirley is the tamale queen!

Mangez!

La manse de Castillo

Anna at the Aquarium...

The Thinker's rear...

The new de Young...

Me at SFMoMA.

Greens. Ah, heaven!

VinoVenue