Stuff and Things

I haven't posted for a while and I have quite a few 'this and that, stuff and things' sort of info to share with you that are food related in some bizarre ways, so here goes:

I was in Minnesota for a conference and had several wonderful food encounters, including this fantastic painting by Severin Roesen at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. He is one of my favorite painters and I'm not sure why. I'm not a big fan of still lifes, but there is something about the way he depicts all of the fruits and vegetation. And I love the way he hides his signature in the tendrils of grape leaves. Amazing.

They also had this fantastic coffee service on display. I desperately wanted it! I love the long spout, almost like a watering can, so you wouldn't even have to reach to refill your guests cup.

And this china from Sèvres is my new favorite. I'll take service for twelve. The original, hand-painted set had almost 400 pieces in it. And those are scattered in museums and private collection around the world. The object at the back of the arrangement is for serving ice cream and everyone knows how much I love a food-specific serving piece.

Here I am at the sculpture park by the Walker Art Center, with Spoon Bridge and Cherry by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen in the background. I love their work and while this isn't my favorite sculpture they have ever done, it's is quite brilliant and has become an icon for the city. On the other side of the park, you get a great view of downtown.

I didn't just look at food art and antique serving pieces, I also had some good things to eat in Minneapolis/St. Paul, including this green coconut curry with mock duck at a little Thai place that was just down the street from my hotel. It was just spicy enough and made me very happy! You should definitely try Ruam Mit Thai if you are in St. Paul.

I had one of the best breakfasts ever at the Downtowner Woodfire Grill which is also right by the hotel. This is a breakfast place, per se, but a very nice restaurant that also serves a very excellent breakfast. I had the veggie version of Moe's Cajun Breakfast which was sauteed onion, pepper and mushrooms topped with hash browns topped with cheese topped with an egg over easy topped with their special Hollandaise sauce. This is a HALF order. Honestly. It was so good.

Back to Terre Haute, we had a lot of fun with Shane and Melissa who were visiting from Kentucky so she could help out with a program the Swope was holding. It also happened to be Shane's birthday, so we picked up a guitar-shaped, Elvis-bedecked container of popcorn from Big Lots. It's also a coin bank once you eat all of the popcorn! No joke.

Jonah made Shane a birthday cake: carrot with cream cheese frosting. We went with a big group to Mogger's for dinner and a few drinks, which was a lot of fun.

Of course, seasonal change means it's time to change up the bar and make it ready for fall. I had the worst time trying to decide to what to use, but eventually decided on the pheasant ice bucket, the Georges Briard glasses with gold leaves, a mix of cocktail glasses and some other gold accents.

And fall also means it's time to tea, so I made the first pot on Tuesday after I caught a chill.

Last night we went to Jimmy and Ellie's for dinner and to watch Top Chef. Jimmy made two bowls of Asian deliciousness, including giant rice balls that were super yummy--and spicy!

Great, now you're all caught up.

Recipe: Honey Gelato

Well, the weather in Indiana has turned cool and chilly, and my desserts thoughts have turned to warm and homey. Still, there was room for one for batch of frozen deliciousness before the snow starts to fall, so I created a honey gelato to accompany a Lebanese meal with friends last Sunday. The idea was baklava deconstructed: flaky, crispy cookies; slightly salty pistachios; and of course the honey gelato.

Recipe: Honey Gelato
3 1/2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup honey (use your favorite)
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a medium saucepan, combine 3 cups of the milk with the honey and whisk over medium heat until combined. Continue to heat and stir until the milk begins to steam and boil. In the meantime, whisk together the other 1/2 cup of milk with the cornstarch and salt. Once the milk has begun to boil, add the cornstarch mixture and continue to heat and stir until the mixture thickens--to the consistency of Remove from heat and strain, let cool and the chill until very cold. Process according to directions in your ice cream freezer.

To make a baklava sundae, combine three small scoops of the ice cream in a dish, add two crispy cookies such as Royal Dansk Luxury Wafers (vanilla) and top with chopped, salted pistachios.

Recipe: Lemon Goat Cheese Spread

Recipe: Lemon Goat Cheese Spread
I based this recipe on one I found on-line and served it as part of our Mediterranean dinner in Holland, MI plus at a Swope event the following weekend. It was a hit at both. It's delicious on thinly sliced French bread, but it would be equally good with some special crackers.

8 ounces soft fresh goat cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3-4 tsp lemon juice
4 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, plus more for garnish
4 teaspoons grated lemon peel
2 garlic clove, minced
9 teaspoons olive oil
White pepper

Place goat cheese and butter in small yellow bowl, mix with spoon until it begins to combine. Add the lemon juice to the cheese mixture and continue to mix until it is combined, smooth and creamy. Mix thyme, lemon peel and garlic in another small yellow bowl; season with white pepper. Mix half of thyme mixture into goat cheese. Add olive oil to remaining half of thyme mixture. Form cheese into 2, 2 1/2-inch round; flatten slightly. Place in center of plate. Spoon oil-thyme mixture over top of cheese. I used the extra thyme to make the cute little bird's nests around the spread. Garnish with a couple of lemon slices also, if you wish.

Farmer's Market

Went to the farmer's market for the first time in a while, and there was lots to choose from. I bought all kinds of heirloom tomatoes and cucumbers to slice with onions in vinegar. Someone also had RED okra, so I bought some of both to fry up in Oklahoma hushpuppies. Friends are coming for a 'down home' dinner tomorrow night.

Dinner O-K-L-A

Tonight, dinner with the parents was from the garden: fried okra, stewed okra, fresh tomatoes and squash with onions. That's right, two kinds of okra with dinner because I love it. Let's imagine a dinner of only okra dishes...

Recipe: Jessie's Onion Shortbread

Recipe: Jessie's Onion Shortbread

I didn't get to sample this while in Madison, but heard it was wonderful via Barb. Jessie says the photo is of a half-batch and notes the recipe splits pretty evenly. She baked it in her new Pyrex casserole we found while thrift shopping.

2 large onions, thinly sliced (Vidalia or other sweet onion, if available)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
8 ounces (1 cup) sour cream
1/2 tsp dill
1/4 tsp salt
8 ounces grated cheddar cheese, divided
15 ounces cream-style corn, undrained
1/2 cup milk
8.5 ounce package of corn muffin mix
1 egg, lightly beaten
hot sauce, to taste

Preheat the over to 325 degrees.

Saute onions in butter until soft. Stir in sour cream, dill, salt and half of the cheese. In a big yellow bowl, combine the corn, muffin mix, milk, egg and hot sauce. Put corn mixture in a greased 10-inch baking dish. Spoon the onion mixture evenly over the corn mixture. Top with the remaining cheese. Bake for 30 t0 40 minutes.

Ingredient: Harvest Grain Blend from Trader Joe's

Friday, Ellie and I took the afternoon off and made a run for Indianapolis. Tori Amos live in concert was the impetus for the trip, but we also had a blast shopping at Trader Joe's, Target, Whole Foods and Sur la Table. (I bought square biscuit cutters. Ellie thought they were unorthodox, but I was thinking of them as a time-saving device: you can cut all of the biscuits at once and don't have to pat the dough back out!)

I know you're all dying to know what Tori had for dinner, but I have no idea. I'm imagining she dined on something light and delicate, light sauteed greens with some sort of seasonal vegetable. Maybe broccoli? On the last album, she sang:

"Eat your greens
Feed your head
Mind the doubts
they harvest them
Broccoli
Feed your head
Their ideas
are fried in fat."

So I'm going to stick with my answer and assume she doesn't keep in good enough shape to jump around on those pianos by dining nightly on fried chicken. Now, what she wore is another store, I can tell you that:

• Cork platform, black satin, peep-toe stilettos.
• Gold leggings.
• An orange dress with purple details, including a stripe that ran down the back. It was short in the front and long in the back (a mullet dress?) with long sleeves and puffy shoulders.

As usual, she looked like superhero goddess come to save us all. More photos here.

But food...

At Trader Joe's, Ellie bought several bags of the Harvest Grains Blend: Israeli couscous, baby garbanzo beans, orzo and red quinoa. Very exotic! I had to try it, so I grabbed a bag. It's easy to prepare, just simmer in a little vegetable broth and a bit of butter. But, I do recommend stirring it a little as it simmers, as mine sunk to the bottom and I had some crispy bits to contend with after I was done. It smelled delicious while cooking and I love the idea of baby garbanzo beans. How do they do that? Cut down in their prime.

After it was cooked, I made a simple vinaigrette and added pan-fried (vegan) Italian sausages, about 1/3 cup of dried cranberries and 1/3 cup of walnuts, then topped it with some fresh oregano that Jimmy brought us yesterday from his herb garden. Lunch tomorrow is going to be delicious! I will hum Tori as I dine on this delicious concoction.

Recipe: Fresh Blueberry Cinnamon Coffee Cake

One of my favorite things to bake in the fall is a Fresh Apple Coffee Cake. It's light and delicious, with the combination of cinnamon and apples hitting the perfect note during autumn weather. While sour cream and coffee cake is probably more orthodox, the cream cheese in this batter is what makes the texture and flavor of the cake so delectable. But what for summer? I wanted to remake the recipe to take advantage of the wonderful summer fruits now in season, so I chose blueberries. I think you'll find its the perfect thing to take to a friend's house for brunch or for Monday at the office when everyone needs a little pick-me-up.

Recipe: Fresh Blueberry Cinnamon Coffee Cake

1 3/4 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
2 tsp. vanilla extract
8 oz. cream cheese (low-fat is okay, but i wouldn't use fat free), softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose or cake flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 1/2 cups blueberries

Combine 1/4 cup sugar with cinnamon. Rinse the blueberries and pat them dry but not all the way: add 2 tbsp. of the sugar/cinnamon mixture and toss to coat.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. In a big yellow bowl, beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, butter, vanilla and cream cheese together at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture to butter/cream cheese mixture, beating at low speed until well blended. Fold in blueberries gently by hand, until distributed throughout the batter.

Spread into a 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out mostly dry. It's a little difficult to use the toothpick test, since the the blueberries can make little wet spots. Cool in the pan, then remove sides and transfer to a serving platter. I love my springform pan with the serving platter built in--I highly recommend it.

Recipe: Perfect Buttermilk Biscuits

Why mess with perfection? This is the buttermilk biscuit recipe my mother made and her mother before her and her mother before her. Who knows where it originated, but we can give credit to my Great-grandmother Allie Pierson. I posted her jam cake recipe before and a photo of her---not a very friendly-looking woman, but apparently a hand for baked goods. I'm sure Allie used lard instead of vegetable shortening, but we can all breath easier with that subtle change. Otherwise, these are the same as they have been for over one hundred years.

I remember my grandmother explaining how Allie put this recipe together, mixing the dough right in the pan and serving hot biscuits from the oven. These biscuits were a star of meals when I was growing up. I recall for most Sunday dinners, and some other meals, we had biscuits hot from the oven. Barbara always put them in last so that once everyone was seated and serving themselves, there was no delay in getting them from the platter to your mouth. If she was feeling ambitious or it was a special meal, we would have both fresh biscuits AND mashed potatoes. Otherwise, it was usually one or the other.

I also remember mom getting her feelings rather hurt after my brother and I started asking for canned biscuits. My mam-ma was a country cook who moved to the city as a young wife and mother, quickly embracing the post-war convenience foods of the 1950s. She would serve us canned biscuits for breakfast and I'm sure the added sugar and preservatives hit just the right note on young, under-developed palates. Of course, I know better now and would turn my nose up if you tried to serve me a store-bought biscuit, even if the NYTimes reports that purchased biscuits and rolls are now rather commonplace in the South. The work of carpetbaggers, I say.

How to eat a biscuit? There are many ways. I like mine spread with butter and jam, right on top of the biscuit, but other people prefer to split theirs open and dress the insides. Another treat that is très provincial is to mix molasses with softened butter and slather the rich, sweet spread over the biscuit. If you have gravy, that's another way to top these treasures and hot biscuits with cream gravy are the perfect accompaniment to a platter of scrambled eggs in the morning. My dad likes to tear up the leftover ones , put them into a mug and top with buttermilk and my brother will eat them cold from the fridge. But for me, there is no such thing as a leftover biscuit--they are either hot and fresh from the oven, or they are a treat for the dog.

Recipe: Allie's Buttermilk Biscuits

This is a double recipe and also the basis for my family's dumplings. I haven't tried it, but some recipes suggest you can freeze unbaked biscuits and bake from the freezer with a slightly longer cooking time.

4 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
2-4 tablespoons shortening
2 cups buttermilk

Sift the flour and mix with the dry ingredients. Cut in the shortening using a pastry knife, the food processor or you hands. And the buttermilk and mix well, but don't over mix. Pat out on a floured board or wax paper, then cut into rounds. You can add a dab of shortening to the top of each biscuit or spray lightly with cooking spray to give a less-floured look to the tops.

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.

Cookbook Collection

This blog actually started out (almost five years ago!) as a paean to cookbooks and a document of my obsession with them. After a while, it turned a corner and became more about food: what I was cooking, eating or feeding to others. I think it has a bit of a slant towards entertaining, but that's because I really enjoy and sharing tips and tricks with my readers. But, I think whether we are talking about eating, cooking, shopping, feeding or entertaining, the flowering of my thoughts still stems from cookbooks.

As mentioned before, one reason I pick-up a vintage cookbook is for the illustrations. Drool-worthy photography seems so integral to cookbooks today, but I think it's much more interesting to see how publishers made their tomes visually interesting without the ability to add a giant, color photograph to each page. That said, I have stacks and stacks of cookbooks, so I have to be careful about my choices. Right? But, when thrifting at the St. Vincent de Paul in Madison, I couldn't resist picking up a few treasures.

Next time you're over, we can thumb through a couple of my favorites and I'll show you the best of my collection.

Jet Room

We had our farewell breakfast this morning at the Jet Room, on the campus of the Madison Airport. You can watch the planes come in and go out while you enjoy one of the best morning places in town. Honestly, it was on of the best Benedicts I have ever eaten. Hands down. Get thee to the Jet Room!

Italian Sausages!

I have been experimenting with several of Isa Chandra Moskowitz's (doyenne of all things vegan) seitan recipes, from Veganomicon and other sources, but I must admit I'm smitten with her new title, Vegan Brunch. There are lots of wonderful ideas to choose from, including individual hashbrowns, Brazillian-style banana French toast and several delectable sausages. I couldn't wait to try the spicy Italian sausages, so I put them together this evening with a plan to have them for dinner this week. Once they were steamed, where they plump in their aluminum-foil casings, I couldn't resist trying one! Delicious. I can't wait to pan fry a couple and toss with some pasta or fresh veggies. Grab the book, make the recipes, enjoy!

Pizza Night

Last night, Dave made thin and delicious homemade pizzas. We had one sun-dried tomato onion and one veggie pepperoni onion, plus a dessert pizza with cinnamon and sugar. We started with a salad of butter lettuce, tomato and marcona almonds dressed with pistachio oil and vinegar. Wine was enjoyed and Dexter was watched after. A great Friday night with friends.

Daisy Cafe & Cupcakery

A fantastic brunch at Daisy Cafe, split an omelet and strata with Mitchell, then we quartered cupcakes and passed then around the table; mocha chocolate, chocolate peanut butter, strawberry almond and blueberry vanilla. The cupcakes rivaled those from Sprinkles of Beverly Hills! How do they make the cakes so light and the crumb so fine? Amazing.

Dinner @ Kushi Bar

Dinner at Kushi Bar was amazing. They serve an array of cocktails, many of them made with sochu. I had a Negroni made with Campari, citrus sochu, Canton Ginger and Izze clementine. It was the perfect starter to the Asian meal we ordered.
At Kushi Bar, they serve a variety of small dishes, rice bowls and salads. To start, we ordered: the rice balls, which were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a slightly sweet sauce; little skewers of mushrooms that tasted very meaty, almost like a fatty pork; and their sweet potato fried, thickly cut and served with a variety of sauces including a very spicy one.

For dinner, I had the inari rice bowl which was small bites of the tofu packets used to make inari, slighly sweetened rice, crispy bits of tempura and just the right amount of thin, delicate sprouts. I had never thought of using inari packets in other ways, but it was absolutely brilliant. Kushi bar should be on your list if you are visiting Madison.

Century House

The Century House in Madison, WI has a great furniture with many, chic designs. But, in my opinion, the true treasures are at their store next door stocked with all kinds of kitchenware, china and lovely decorative--mostly Scandanavian design. Tons of Marimekko, bambu and Heath ceramics. The store is in a old, modern house that would just be fantastic for living and dining. A must shop if you are in town.

Very Mexi-CAN

After a harrowing experience getting after the highway, we had a great lunch at Cancun. I loved the huitlacoche tacos, which were cooked with zucchini and served in double corn tortillas. Huitlacoche is a mushroom-like fungus that grows on corn. Everything was delicious, including the margarita...

Brandy Slush

Last night, Jessie and Dave greeted us with a cocktail--as any good host would. They have been telling us about the brandy slushes, and we finally got to experience them. The refreshing summer beverage is a mix of orange juice, brandy, lemon and simple syrup. It's frozen, hence the slush. Delicious!

Recipe: Mustard Potato Salad (for a crowd)

I put this recipe together for my friends Melissa and Shane, who left Monday for Kentucky. Stephanie and Jonah hosted a great good-bye bash in their yard and we all enjoyed burgers, salads, watermelon push pops and an array of pies. Yum. And sniff. I also made Mildred's Baked Beans, a personal favorite.

Recipe: Mustard Potato Salad

For the vinaigrette:
3 tablespoons favorite mustard (not yellow)
3 tablespoons Champagne wine vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
2-3 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper

For the salad:
6 pounds red potatoes, cleaned and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
6 green onions, thinly sliced
Faux bacon bits (Such as Bac-uns from Whole Foods)

Bring a large pot and a small pot of water to a boil. Blanch the onion for 1-2 minutes, then run under cold water to stop the cooking. Cook the potatoes, stirring occasionally, until they are just tender. About 12-15 minutes. Run under cold water to stop the cooking.

In the meantime, in a big yellow bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil and whisk until emulsified. Add the potatoes, onion, green onion, tarragon and Bac-uns if using. Toss to combine, then taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper. Chill for at least an hour, but overnight if you wish, to let the flavors meld. Then bring to room temperature, toss again and adjust seasoning.

Wichita Asian Market

I always love to stop into Thai Binh when I'm in Wichita--one of my favorite Asian markets. They've remodeled since I left the city and you never know what you are going to find! I was hoping to stock up on to-go soup containers they usually stock, which I use for ice cream when I'm taking it to a friend. Alas, there were none to be had. Oh well, we had lots of fun looking at all of the wonderful things and I did come away with a treasure.

What are these? Some sort of dock from another planet? Strange, beautiful and magnificent.

The decor items at Thai Binh are all about more, as in 'more is more, less is a bore.' It's certainly an aesthetic I appreciate.

I had been researching a substitute for fish sauce to use in Asian recipes, and several sources noted that it is possible to find a vegetarian fish sauce at some Vietnamese markets. Lo and behold, after careful look there it was on the shelf. So, now I have enough fish sauce to last me for....a decade? Who knows. It's still so high in sodium you only need a little. I haven't tried it yet, but I'll report back after I use it in a recipe.