Cheryl be Jammin'

Well, not really, but "Cheryl be Jelly" might give off the wrong impression. Be Jellin'? Ok. Sure.

This past Saturday we went to Sapowsky's Farm in Granby (they apparently don't have a web site, so it's our secret spot) and picked a few strawberries. Ok. We picked 12 pounds, because Cheryl currently is wild about anything and everything strawberry. Like a kid with a fever, she is. If she starts wanting to watch reruns of the Strawberry Shortcake cartoons, I don't know what I'm going to do. The delicious results are that we now have lots and lots of strawberries with a variety of possible concoctions to be made from them. She made a great dessert with strawberries and custard and last night she made jam. Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure:

Cheryl always finds the very best

Fresh Strawberries!
I got to help

Cheryl with her haul

Strawberries IN YOUR FACE!

Cheryl's cupboard of jam. I didn't help with this part.

Jam & jam & more jam!

I realize that we should have taken photos of Cheryl while she was making her jam, but we spaced off there. Maybe next time. We tried the jam this morning with some muffins and we are happy to report that it is amazingly delicious!

day of shooting photos in the community for newspaper articles

Arrangement of a piece I wrote October of 2008 - Flatfoot Gumshoe: http://ping.fm/1uTvp

what's for dinner?

Only because I haven't posted in a long, long time & I don't want the one person who follows my blog religiously to feel abandoned - and because I'm using this as a reasonably plausible excuse to warm up by writing here rather than working on several other articles - I'm going to write about our dinner last night. If I can wake up or get enough coffee in my system to write coherent sentences with words that at least phonetically resemble the ones I'm trying to use. Honestly, I'm stumbling through this paragraph as I try to type what has already fleetingly passed through my drowsy head, but there is hope - I haven't had to resort to using the spell check so far. Hooray for small accomplishments and double hooray for more coffee!

We are starting to reap the first of the local seasonal produce here, which includes rhubarb and asparagus. The asparagus grows so abundantly here that they call it "Hadley Grass", presumably after the prominent farming township that gets to tag it's name and notoriety with the crop. If you like asparagus, you will love it even more when it comes fresh from the local fields. It really can't be beat, and for a very brief period Hadley goes into an orgy-istic asparagus frenzy, snapping up the fresh stalks and putting them into everything, including ICE CREAM. I kid you not. While I have yet to try it, they get points for culinary daring. Maybe someday this season I'll give it a try.

While asparagus does play a role in this post, I'm going to pass over it for a moment and start with dessert first.

Last night Cheryl made an incredible Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, and while strawberries aren't quite in season here, we were able to get some rhubarb fresh from the garden patch next to the farm. Since she made it, I don't have the recipe sitting on the top of my head at the moment, but I might be able to procure it for another post. All the better reason for you to come and visit so you can enjoy Cheryl's Strawberry Rhubarb pie or any of her other amazing desserts first hand.

For dinner I made a simple pasta with a garlic cream sauce and broiled asparagus. Here, approximately, are the recipes. For those of you joining me for the first time, be forewarned - I don't use measurements when I cook, and while I try to recreate a recipe with as much practical accuracy as possible, it is still an approximate. It works for me, which is why I'll share it, but you might get different results. That's the fun and beauty of improvisation. I recommend that you try out any recipe on yourself before using it for that great big dinner party you have having this weekend.

Garlic Cream Sauce

6 Tablespoons of Butter
5 - 6 fresh Garlic cloves, minced
1/4 fresh Onion, minced
1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh Sage, chiffonade
1 - 2 teaspoons Marjoram
1 pint of Heavy Cream
Salt & Pepper to taste

1 lb of pasta (we used linguine)

Prepare the pasta as instructed by the directions on the box, which usually involves plenty of water, some salt and a couple of teaspoons of olive oil. Bring the water, salt and olive oil to a boil and then put your pasta in it, being careful to make sure the pasta doesn't stick and clump together. Cook for about 5 to seven minutes until al dente or longer if you prefer.

Melt the butter in a sauce pan and then add the garlic and onion and let cook thoroughly. Add the cream, sage, marjoram and your salt and pepper. Cook it on medium to high heat until it begins to rise and thicken, making sure that it doesn't boil over. Reduce the heat to low and let it simmer, stirring occasionally, while the rest of your meal cooks.

This amount made enough for four meals. We are always big on leftovers for lunch.

Braised Asparagus

1/4 to 1/2 Cups Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Sesame Seed Oil
1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 - 2 teaspoons Sugar
Salt & Pepper to taste

Mix well.

Fire up your broiler. Take one pound of fresh asparagus & remove the woody stems by gently bending them. They will break at about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way from the bottom. Discard the bottoms. Lay the asparagus out on a baking sheet and evenly brush the marinade over them. You might want to leave a little in case you want to brush them again about half way through braising. Cook them in your broiler for about 3 - 4 minutes, rotating them at least once. You want to braise them slightly so that the are tender but still firm.

Serve with you pasta, either on top or on the side.

For dessert, get your spouse, your significant other or personal assistant to make you a really nice Strawberry Rhubarb pie. For a nominal fee, Cheryl just might be up for making it for you. Give her a call.

Bon Appétit!

Who wants Crack?

It's come to this: my wife makes crack, and now we are all addicted. What's worse, yesterday we went to a new church for Easter services, one that our friends Baird and Carol attend, and they invited us to share Easter dinner with their family and the pastor of their church. What did Cheryl do to contribute to the meal to celebrate our freedom from bondage and oppression? She whipped up a fresh batch of crack. All I had was to offer was a hard boiled goose egg. So much for the Living Waters program. With crack you just can't compete.

No, I don't mean crack or gimcrack or wisecrack or crack crack or any of the other superfluous associations you might come up with. This is, after all, a food and cooking blog, albeit one with a rather hazy objective at times, so you are forgiven any misunderstandings you may have. What she made was something called Chocolate Caramel Crack(ers), which are simply called Crack; you can find here at Smitten Kitchen. It's a fairly simple recipe although quite labor extensive for what you get from it - just like crack, I would assume - but well worth your trouble. It would make a nice featurette for the Double Wide Diner. Yes, I'm including it here for your convenience, but do check out the recipes found at Smitten Kitchen. If Cheryl reads it, well, it's got to be pretty good, and anytime you can combine kitchen with smitten or smite, then you are definitely onto something promising. She had to use saltine crackers in place of matzo because, with it being Easter and Passover weekend, we couldn't find any at our local Stop and Shop.

There is no truth to the rumor that the pastor is now addicted and will be using them at their communion services.

Chocolate Caramel Crack(ers)

4 to 6 sheets matzo or approximately 40 Saltine crackers or crackers of your choice
1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into a few large pieces
1 cup packed light brown sugar
A big pinch of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semi- or bittersweet chocolate chips (or chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate)
1 cup toasted chopped almonds, pecans, walnuts or a nut of your choice (optional)
Extra sea salt for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 11-by-17-inch baking sheet completely with foil, and then line the base of the foil with parchment paper, cut to fit.

Line the bottom of the baking sheet with matzo or crackers, covering all parts. [If using matzo, you'll need to break pieces to fit any extra spaces, which will be annoying because despite being perforated, it does not actually break in straight lines. I have some luck pressing a serrated knife straight down along a section between perforations, if that (hopefully) makes sense.]

In a medium heavy-duty saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar together, and stir it over medium heat until it begins to boil. Once it has begun boiling, let it bubble for three more minutes, stirring it well. It will thicken a bit as it cooks. Remove from the heat and add the salt and vanilla, and then quickly pour it over the matzo or crackers. You’ll want to spread it quickly, as it will begin to set as soon as it is poured.

Bake the caramel-covered crackers for 15 minutes, watching carefully as it will bubble and the corners might darken too quickly and/or burn. You can reduce the heat if you see this happening.

Remove from oven and immediately cover with chocolate chips. Let stand five minutes, and then spread them evenly across the caramel. An offset spatula works great here. If you’re using them, sprinkle the chocolate with toasted chopped nuts and/or sea salt. (The sea salt is great on matzo. On Saltines, it’s really not necessary.)

Once completely cool — I sometimes speed this process up in the fridge, impatient as should be expected in the face of caramel crack(ers) — break it into pieces and store it in a container. It should keep for a week but I’ve never seen it last that long.

Variations:

Since I'm a big fan of Graham Crackers, I would substitute them for the matzo or saltines. To me, that just seems to make more sense than saltines. Cheryl used pecans but almonds would work really well, and you might even consider using almond extract instead of vanilla. For bonus points, add some Amaretto and Kahlua. Heck, since we are so close to making S'mores at this point, why not put some marshmallows on top and braise them. Better still, lightly coat them in Amaretto and Kahlua and then ignite them.

Now we're talking some serious crack.

Greek Seasoned Pita Chips

We were out having lunch with our friend Leighann and she shared with me how she had made Pita Chips using the Greek Seasoning. It was such a simple recipe and smart idea that I had completely overlooked the possibility of making these myself.

I'm winging this recipe, as I'm writing it off the top of my head using how I would approach it, so you may want to tweak it a bit or find an actual recipe for making pita chips.

12 Pita Bread pockets
1/2 cup Olive Oil
1 - 2 Tablespoons of Greek Seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Cut each pita pocket in half along the circumference so you have two thin pieces,
then cut them into 8 triangles.
Place triangles on lined cookie sheet.
Brush each triangle with oil mixture.
Sprinkle a moderate amount of Greek Seasoning over each piece.
To get an even layer of seasoning, I use a small hand held strainer to sift the seasoning with.
Bake in the oven for about 6 to 7 minutes until lightly browned and crispy.
Keep an eye on them as they can burn easily.

Serve with your favorite dip or with the Tzatziki recipe included with Greek Gyros.

Some variations:

Try using garlic infused olive oil.
Serve them with Greek Gyros.
Add fresh marjoram or Zatar to the seasoning.
Try topping it with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or your own favorite cheese.


Please thank Leighann.

Thanks, Leighann!

can you top this?

While I don't usually dream about food and I rarely remember much detail from my dreams, last night I dreamt that I made a pizza with 26 toppings. I only remember this detail because the toppings were alphabetical and apparently individual, although not precisely in order. The pizza I made was extremely long and folded over upon itself, and when someone requested a piece with artichoke hearts, I had to unfold it about half way to get it for them. So, as a rather simple exercise to help wake myself up (and prepare for lunch), I'm making an alphabetical list of pizza toppings just for fun. I imagne that much of it is going to be pretty obvious - A is Anchovies, etc. - but that is beside the point because, well, there really isn't any point to it to begin with.

Please join me and share what you would put on your pizza. In order to make it a little harder, I suggest that it might have a theme to it, so that the toppings don't clash and become something of a gastronomical gross out contest. Mine is going to have a Greek Gyro theme to it.



artichoke hearts
bacon
cheese
dolmathes (ok, I'm cheating here by considering slicing them into bite size pieces)
eggplant
fennel
garlic
hearts of palm
i
jicama
kalamata olives
lamb
mushrooms
n
onions
peppers
q
radicchio
soprasetta
tomatoes
u
v
water cress
x
yogurt
zucchini

I can't seem to come up with the remaining letters, unless I try items that don't really compliment the others, such as quince, or pharmaceuticals, like Xanax. I'm probably just overlooking the obvious. Any suggestions out there?

Do Try This At Home: Home Made Cheese

Following the last post on using our new Cheese Making kit, I'm offering up this test recipe for fresh home made cheese. It's a fairly simple recipe and it helps me meet my quota - at this point long over-due - of writing recipes that use my spice & seasoning blends.

Here is the recipe as posted on The New England Cheese Making Supply Company.

Queso Blanco

Ingredients:

1 gallon of milk
1/4 cup of vinegar (this may be cider, grain, or herbal vinegar.)

Heat the milk to 195 degrees F. Stirring often to keep from scorching. When the milk is at 195 degrees F., stir in the vinegar Turn the heat off and let the hot milk set for 5 minutes. The milk will quickly coagulate into curds (solid white) and whey (a clear green liquid.)

Line a colander with fine cheesecloth and pour the curds and whey into the colander. Hang the bag of curd to drain for one hour or until it reaches your desired consistency. Remove the cheese from the cloth. It will be a solid mass of curd and may be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator until ready for use. One gallon of milk will produce up to 1.5 lbs of cheese.

Queso Blanco may be cut into 1/2 inch cubes and used in a variety of dishes. It is uniquely suited for cooking because it will not melt. In fact, it is the only cheese which can be deep fried without melting. Added to such dishes as spaghetti, soup or Chinese stir fried vegetables, the cheese will take on the flavor of the surrounding food. By itself the cheese has a very mild and distinctly sweet taste.

I followed the recipe as written above, except I made some changes. To start with, I used fresh raw milk, for the vinegar I used 1/4 cup of pear infused balsamic vinegar that we have on hand. While cooking it I added:

1 - 1 2/2 tablespoons salt (as mentioned, the cheese needs salt!)
1 - 2 tablespoons green thai spice blend
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon urfa pepper

That's it. It takes about half an hour to make and is ready to eat as soon as it is drained, but you may want to wait a while. We found that draining the whey so that it is firm gives it a better consistency for eating, and that chilled cheese is preferable over warm cheese.

Bon appétit!

Curd your Enthusiasm

For Christmas I received a cheese making Kit from, Alex, my sister-in-law, which was purchased locally through The New England Cheese Making Supply Company. It's proving to be a very handy and economical thing to have, even if it takes a few hours of preparation. We love cheese and probably spend far too much money on it, so being able to make it myself is going to be a plus. I first tested it out about three weeks ago, and boy o boy, did we have lots of cheese on hand! Being that it is made fresh, and you can get approximately a pound from each batch, and that it lasts roughly a couple of weeks, you need to really like cheese and have the creative ability to find plenty of uses for it, which includes sharing it with others.

My first batch was a bit bland for my taste. I followed the directions, which is probably my first mistake, but I wanted to be able to track down where things went awry, should that happen to be the case. My big mistake? Following directions.

I made three separate batches. The first was a very simple plain cheese which is made with fresh raw milk and lemon juice. That's pretty much it. We found raw milk at Cook Farm for $5.00 per gallon, which is a great deal considering that you'll get at least a pound from it.

Pour the gallon of fresh raw milk into a large, clean pot and gradually bring the temperature up to 165 degrees while stirring it. You can bring the temperature up 190 to help it coagulate better. Either way, make sure that stir it frequently and don't scorch it in the process. When it reaches temperature, slowly add the juice of 2 - 3 whole lemons, stirring to fully incorporate it into the milk. Remove from heat and let it set for 15 - 20 minutes. The curds should begin to separate from the whey.

Line a colander with cheesecloth and pour the curds and whey into it. The whey will strain through the cloth leaving the curds. You can save the whey and use it to make bread with.

Fresh curds

Press the curds into the cheesecloth, wrap them tightly into a nice travel bag and tie the top off with some strong string.


Then hang it somewhere to drain, preferably over the sink or some place where you won't mind getting freshly cooked milk liquid.

I used a book press to form the cheese into a bowl shape.

Just like this.

This is what it looks like after it is finished.

There you have it. It is ready for eating or for storing. It will need salt. I'm learning that you can add that in while it is cooking, mix it into the fresh cheese as you are straining it or add it later, before putting it into a container for storage. Either way, I definitely recommend giving it some salt.

Do Try This At Home: Thai Iced Tea Ice Cream

Here we are, in the dead of winter, making & eating ice cream. It's pure bravery & sheer delight. Once the chill factor eases off & our body's furnace kicks in & cranks up from burning off the sugar and fat, we can just rest and bask in the wonderfulness that is ice cream. Maybe we were spurred on by the unseasonal foolery of a slightly warmer weekend, which made us want to strip down to cut-offs and short sleeved shirts and go visit one of the many dairy bars we have around here. Ha! We get to call our ice cream stands dairy bars. Do you? Or maybe it is just the need of something good and comforting to reassure us that the real thaw will eventually come. Maybe Valentine's Day is to blame, with the sudden onslaught of Girl Scout Cookies being hawked at us from ramshackle, make shift bivouacs along the store fronts and a candy aisle version of the riches of King Solomon's Mines to be found inside. Either way, this week is turning out to be ice cream week. Hooray!

The new member of our family

Last Christmas Cheryl's mother, Kay, received a Cuisinart Ice Cream/ Sorbet/ Frozen Yogurt maker and she quickly enticed us with a sampling of it's amazing prowess, versatility and diversity. Ice cream any time? In the time it would take to drive to a nearby stand you can make your own? Hmmnn. I was still holding onto a gift card from Sur La Table that Kay gave me for my birthday, waiting for the right inspiration to arrive and guide me to a decision. Suddenly it all seemed to be so very clear and obvious. I fondly bid farewell to my Donvier with it's rugged plastic body and hand crank, leaving it unpacked in the miscellaneous items box in our laundry room. I secretly placed my order, counted the days and hours and minutes like a child with a spotless record awaiting Christmas morning and dreamt of long, lingering ice cream encrusted snow days. The Cuisinart mixer arrived last week, decked out like r2d2 in fire red street walking finery. We became instant friends.

Two things that Cheryl and I love are Thai Iced Tea and soft serve ice cream, and now we can have them both, whipped into one. No need to wait for the Spring heralding of Creamy Delights to announce that they have returned from hibernation and have opened their roadside stand, although the anticipation of that day is with us as well. My first foray into ice cream making was to try and merge the two, adapting a recipe for Thai Iced Tea that Cheryl has made popular around our house. You can find that here: Thai Iced Tea recipe
I just replaced the the water with 1 cup milk and 2 cups of cream, which I found in the Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from the accompanying booklet. So the basic recipe goes like this:

1 cup whole milk
2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup Thai tea leaves (we use a bulk brand from Trans)
Leave out the evaporated milk, unless you really want it in.

To dissolve the sugar, I warmed it with the milk and tea on low to medium heat, then added the cream and refrigerated it. Before adding it to the freezer cylinder I strained the tea with a fine mesh strainer. This will leave those wonderful, flavorful specks that make the colorful mixture fun to look at.

Ready to roll

A beautiful thing

Cheryl's portion

Assuming you have a Cuisinart mixer or something similar, put the mixture into the cylinder, place it in the mixer and turn it on. No, I'm not going to give you any more technical details; if you have an ice cream maker then I assume you are following me with this. In about twenty five minutes you will have a soft serve textured ice cream, ready to eat, or you can place it in the freezer to firm it up. But, really, why in the world would you do that? The ice cream is calling you with the promise of joy and giddiness and possibly a brief respite of repristination, if only for the moment while the ice cream lingers. Don't fret - there will always be more.

Goose egg omelette

Our wonderful new neighbors left us some fresh goose eggs for Christmas & New Years, courtesy of "The Ladies", Raquel & Dani, the resident geese who waddle about the farm's premises and keep the animals & random visitors in line. Here is a small slide show displaying our first foray into farm cuisine. I've been way long over-due in writing about this treat, so here it is. There will be more to come.

As you can tell, the eggs are freakishly huge compared to standard eggs. The yolk is noticeably denser and thicker than a regular egg yolk is - I had to mash it up with the white to incorporate it, then decided to use a little milk to thin it out.

I wanted to taste the egg, so I didn't use too much seasoning - a little salt & pepper with some herbes de provence that we have on hand. It seemed fitting because I was going to attempt making a "French" style omelette with the egg since that was pretty much the only recipe recommendation I could find when I searched for tips on how to cook a goose egg. The directions were pretty much to scramble the egg and cook it on low heat until it solidified into a light, fluffy disc resembling an omelette. Higher heat will vulcanize it, so leave it on low and take your time. Toward the end I placed some slices of Brie on it - again, keeping with the French theme of the meal - and then split it in half and served it with some fresh, toasted Parmesan Pepper Bread that we brought back from Zingerman's in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

It was a nice breakfast, with the egg being a little stronger in flavor than usual eggs are; one egg is all you need to make a nice breakfast meal. That left us with one more to try out, and I hear that there are eggs all over the farm, hidden like land mines waiting to be discovered.

the flip side

just call this "Discomfort Food".

There's always one in every crowd. Esquire has a feature here about The World's Worst Eating Contests. You really should consider planning your next vacation around these events so that you can participate in the adventure, or just to make snarky comments about the quaint and curious customs of our neighbors.

See how many of these you can stomach:

Madagascar Cockroaches
Yorkshire Pudding (?)
Deep-Fried Asparagus
Marshmallow Peeps (if mom were alive, I'd put my money on her. She loved Peeps.)
Vidalia Onions
Mice
Something called "Erotic Corn Dog Eating"
Peanut Butter and Jelly
Crocodile Eggs
Garlic

Most of these delights sound innocuous enough, but remember - you are likely to be eating over your weight in of these goods, and at retail cost, all in one sitting. Too much of even a good thing can spoil you off of it forever, if not a very, very long time. I once knew someone who discovered that it takes very little chocolate syrup and whipped cream, when used for aphrodisiatic foreplay, to ruin your taste for sweets...