Category Archives: Food

Cooking techniques, Food, Recipes

Glorious beets

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I cooked twice this week, guys! And there were home-made leftovers a third night, and tonight Ben was out so I had takeout, and tomorrow we’ll be en route to Florida. That is a big improvement over the last…..long time.

Tuesday night I had to do a work call a bit late, so I ran home beforehand, scrubbed a few beets and roasted them (wrapped in foil at 400 degrees for about an hour, per Bittman) while I was on the phone. After the call I pulled the beets out, hurried over to City Hall to vote, and then came home to finish up.

(Raw)

We stopped in Hanover at the Coop on the way from Stowe a few weekends ago to buy sausages to freeze–we can’t find any here that are nearly as good! Ben grilled a few for dinner that night, and I boiled some israeli couscous until it was a bit under-done, drained it, sautéed garlic in olive oil, and then sautéed the couscous in that for a bit so that some of the pearls were a little browned. I was to experiment with the timing so they get a little crispy…

(after draining)

I wore gloves to peel the beets, doing my best to avoid turning the whole kitchen into a mock-up of a murder scene, sliced them up and put them in a big ziplock. Then I made basic vinaigrette, poured that in with them and turned the bag around a big to dress the beets. When we were ready to eat I sliced some cow’s milk feta (mild and tasty) and layered that with the beets, topped with a grind or two of pepper. Next time I think I will serve them plated separately as a salad course instead of a side to the sausage and couscous, but it was a very delicious dinner and Ben was particularly impressed by the neon pink hue that the beets dyed the feta.

Food, Recipes

Simple food

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Another nice product from TJ’s: Nieman Ranch vacuum packed ham steak. It’s fully cooked, so you can just heat it up on the stove quickly and serve it. Monday night I served that with home fries and instant applesauce:

Potatoes:
I cut up two big russet potatoes, first in thirds lengthwise, then into thin slices. I heated a couple tablespoons of butter with a bit of olive oil, then tossed the potatoes in and covered them. After a few minutes I stirred them around and covered again, though not all the slices ever got to get crusty and brown. Lots of salt and pepper, keep the lid off for a few minutes to crisp things up, and serve hot.

Applesauce:
I’ve written about this before, but applesauce is so, so easy. Peel your apples, cut them up (toss or compost the cores) in small pieces, put in a pyrex or something with a little water, and microwave. Check every two minutes to see if the apple is super soft, it usually takes about 6-8 minutes for two apples in my weak little microwave. Mash up the apples as much as you like, mix in a little cinnamon,and call it a day.

Comforting and easy, though not very pretty!

City Life, Food, Good stuff

Good stuff: Trader Joe’s mâche

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I haven’t really done this before, but I thought I’d start mentioning products that I really love once in a while. I’m inspired to begin the product plugging because a few weeks ago I want wandering helplessly through Trader Joe’s (I don’t know why, by grocery shopping turns me into a confused, helpless little thing; it’s pathetic), trying to remember why I was there, and I found myself standing in front of the refrigerated part of the produce section, eyes slightly glazed. I quickly unglazed when I spotted this (only not opened):

Mâche!!! And for half the price of one of those “mesclun plus mâche” mixed plastic boxes at Whole Foods! I love mâche, it’s my very favorite salad green. It’s also called “Lamb’s Ear,” because the delicate little leaves are shaped like, um, lamb’s ears. Somewhere deep in my psyche resides a Best Salad Ever, made with mâche, but sadly at the moment I can’t remember what else was involved, because I was so excited about the tender little greens. The leaves are bound together at their bases in little clusters–they are darling, as well as delicious:

We ate pizza one night, and then lovely salads of just the mâche and my plain mustard/sherry vinegar vinaigrette.

Salads in winter taste so good.

Family, Food, Recipes

Americana: Christy’s meatloaf

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I hated meatloaf as a kid. Too wet, too mushy. In fact, I can’t remember ever eating it until I started dating Ben and going home to visit his family with him. Christy, my mother-in-law, is the eldest of 8 kids, so obviously her mom had to cook in bulk. As a result, Mrs. Rio made meatloaf in sheet pans (or big pyrex pans, I guess), not loaf pans. I know it’s not rocket science, but to me it made meatloaf a totally different food, with a much better top-to-interior ratio and no mushy dampness. At age 24 or so I ate my first-ever meatloaf sandwich. Now I’m obsessed with meatloaf, though it has taken me several tries with Christy’s recipe before I got anywhere close to her results. This recipe is very, very approximate–I used about 2/3 of the can of tomato sauce this time, which improved the texture a lot (mine was always too wet), and I think Christy actually uses more like 1.25+ pounds of meat.

Christy’s meatloaf
“Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large mixing bowl, combine:

1 pound ground beef
1 egg
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce (any brand)
1 cup Progresso Italian-style bread crumbs Note from Kate: I tried it with organic italian breadcrumbs from whole foods and it was a bust. Stick to Progresso.

Mix thoroughly. I use my hands to make sure everything is well mixed – there’s nothing worse than biting into a clump of breadcrumbs… When it’s all nice and smooth, put the whole thing into an 8 X 8 ungreased baking dish (or pan or pie plate). Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the middle is no longer pink.

When I double this recipe, I use a 9 X 13 pan, and it works just fine. I bake it a little longer, close to an hour.”

I baked potatoes and roasted broccoli and we went for full-on Americana:

Very productive weekend, though I still didn’t cook much. Ben made cookies… We spent most of the time cleaning up the apartment and organizing things, so it’s feeling very fresh and nice right now. Photos to come, perhaps…

City Life, Cooking techniques, Food

Nicole’s New Year’s feast

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Once again I am posting erratically and cooking even less. This is, of course, weeks out of date. Still, I wanted to post the delicious meal that we enjoyed at our friend Kabir’s apartment on New Year’s Eve, prepared by his talented fiancée Nicole.

The men contributed to the meal by playing Nicole’s new Wii. Kabir also sported one of the feather-tiaras Nicole had bought for us girls (backwards):

Fetching, no?

Meanwhile Nicole turned out an absolutely perfect roast beef, accompanied by pureed cauliflower (so good; it was laced with a truly indulgent amount of parmesan!) and roasted brussels sprouts. I’m really hungry right now thinking about it.

I asked Nicole for the cauliflower recipe and she was kind enough to write in with the technique:

“It’s one of the very few recipes in my life that I’ve made up. For our NYE dinner I think this is what I ballpark did:
Start with 2 heads of cauliflower, broken up into tiny pieces (easier for the mashing part). I use at least some of the stem, so as to not be too wasteful, but try to cut those up tinier since they are tougher. Mince 4 or 5 decent size cloves of garlic, and saute in a large pot in olive oil, till just golden but don’t over cook. Add in all the cauliflower and enough water to just come to the top of the cauliflower. Add salt and pepper. Let simmer uncovered until the cauliflower absorbs almost all the water and is tender enough to be mashed.
Note: You don’t want to add too much water and completely submerge, because you don’t want to be stuck with overly soggy cauliflower, and you can always add more water as you go if you see it needs it. When the cauliflower is tender, mash it up using a fork or spatula, making it as creamy or lumpy as you like. I like the mash to be very moist at this point so it can soak up the next ingredients without ending up too dry. What you’re going for is a mashed potato vibe. Add seasoned bread crumbs and grated parmesan cheese. This is where I really start eyeballing, but I’d start with 1/2 to 3/4 c. each and work from there. I sauteed some sliced baby portabella mushrooms in a different pan in some butter and olive oil, and at the last minute stirred these in. You could also stir in a tsp of fresh herbs. This served 7 people healthy portions.”

Thanks, Nicole! The cauliflower was killer, guys. So good, and I’ll definitely be making a half batch soon.

Delicious: A fun meal with a great group; my favorite way to ring in the new year.

Family, Food, Travel

To the mountains

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On Boxing Day we all headed over to Eastern Oregon to stay at Sunriver, near Bend, and ski at Mt. Bachelor. We needed two cars, since Ben and I would drive straight back to Portland and Mom, Dad and Tom would return to Eugene.

The changing views on the drive over:

We crawled over the pass at about 18 miles per hour, passing all the Semis putting their chains on and squinting through the driving snow. It was a relief to hit the Eastern side of the mountains and see the snow taper off! We got to Sunriver in time to relax a bit in the (very nice and very large) condo before dinner.

Mom had worked many hours to prepare food before heading out. She made a big batch of Osso Bucco a couple days before we left, and brought the makings for sauteed cavolo nero (Italian kale) and a risotto Milanese (with saffron).

Lovely kale! (Meticulously cleaned and chopped by Tom; we had the stems in omelets and scrambled eggs for lunch.)

Delicious, warming winter food:

The next day I fell down and hurt my back, so instead of driving into Bend for a fun dinner out, we ate pizza at home and watched Monster’s Inc. I really, really enjoyed it, but I was also on painkillers so maybe I should watch it again to be sure it’s really that funny?

On Friday the Davidsons got to town for *their* week of ski vacation. They came over for a big lasagna dinner–again, Mom had spent hours making huge sheets of lasagna before we got to town. Yum.

We played Taboo and visited until it started to get pretty late. Ben and I were leaving the next morning to drive (3-4 hours) back to Portland and fly home. The less said about the messy 18 hour travel day with a very sore lower back, the better. Instead I will focus on the stunning landscape we drove up Highway 97 and then through the Warm Springs Indian Reservation on Route 26. (It’s a classic case of forcing Native American tribes onto harsh, arid land, but the terrain is very gorgeous to look at.)

Family, Food, Home, Travel

Holiday feasting

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The holidays may be the only time of year when my family’s food obsession seems normal–after all, who *isn’t* constantly cooking around Christmas? Ben and I headed out to Oregon on the Sunday before Christmas and stayed a week.

Christmas Eve we always cook at the home of wonderful family friends, the Davidsons. The menu always varies: One year it was Chinese food (I think that was my favorite) and this year there was an enormous beef tenderloin. We started with lovely salads with cheese, roasted pears, and walnuts. Along with the beef we had broccoli two ways: spicy roasted and pureed; squash, beans, roasted potatoes and sweet potato fries. (Sadly all my photos of the food were horrible!) We pulled crackers and wore the paper crowns while we ate and played out miniature plastic instruments, or read fortunes with those little cellophane fish.

After dinner all the “kids” went for a little walk in the misty, cold night:

Christmas morning we slept in a bit, and then started to open our stockings while Tom made popovers and 40-minute eggs. There was also bacon. Soooo good:

Not long after:

I played around with a very cool new present, a portable photo studio with light diffusing panels and little lights. Maybe I’ll be able to use it for finally-well-lit food shots? Here’s a test with the awesome Polish crêche I grew up with:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Side note
The little hippie grocery store near my house has great produce. Non-Pacific Northwesterners, writhe in envy at the mushroom bounty:

(Note the “Mushroom Mountain” sign)

Doesn’t Romanesco Broccoli look like an alien world or an enchanted forest if you get up close?

More to come…

City Life, Food, Travel

Solo dinner in Lyon

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After finishing my meandering shopping trip, I went to the Rue Mercier, a touristy pedestrian street lined with inexpensive restaurants. I had fun reading the prix fixe options on every menu, then picked the smallest and most crowded one for my solo dinner. I sat at a tiny table next to the door, facing out at the people waiting for seats:

I started with what I think is called Cervelles des canuts; fromage blanc (which is a fresh farmer’s cheese that is something like creme fraîche crossed with cream cheese; I’d eaten it for breakfast with sugar and jam when I did home-stays in high school) mixed with fresh herbs and garlic and served with salad, dried ham, and a boiled potato:

I got a quenelle for my main course, though I had to beg off the cream sauce with shrimp. It was unbelievably light and fluffy, with a crisp outer coating (some sort of batter) and the faintest hint of fish flavor. It was served with rice and a potato gratin:

For dessert I had a crepe (pre-made, sadly; you can always tell) with honey. I think it was a local honey, it was very flavorful and not that sweet:

I finally cleared out; this poor guy had been waiting for my solo table for at least half the meal:

City Life, Food, Travel

Lyon, quickly

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After Paris I spent a couple days working in Lyon. The first night I got in late and just grabbed snacks for a belated dinner. For lunch the next day I stopped in a large traîteur on my noon walk, and picked up some little pastry rounds filled with terrine. What a brilliant picnic food! I ate them on a bench, feeling smug about the sandwich alternative. My other favorite snack food was a type of cream puff, without the cream, which I bought at a local chain called Les Trois Brioches. They sell donut-hole-sized beignets and the empty-puff things, which have crunchy sugar on top. I could eat an indecent number of those. The second night I went with my client to the famed Brasserie Georges, which is an enormous restaurant (it seats 450) and has been in operation since 1836. I can’t imagine that it’s the same space, though–it’s a cavernous art deco palace!

Starters were good–the salade lyonnaise is a classic, and my mom’s favorite: frisée with lardons and a poached egg (incidentally, they had used the plastic wrap method of poaching the egg):

I had the house terrine, which was very tasty, especially with the onion confit that accompanied it:

As main courses my dinner companion had the famous onion soup, which was great, and I had a lukewarm and mediocre sausage.

The next night I wandered around a lot, trying to do some Christmas shopping in the hour before shops closed for the evening. I spotted some interesting things (none of which I bought)…

Opinels, for mushroom hunters and a “My First Opinel”:

Reproduction 19th century tradesman’s clothes, at a uniform shop:

Children’s pirate gear at Bonpoint:

Preparations for the Light Festival (there was something to do with Mars involved?), including the enclosure in a giant plastic dome of a big statue in the central square:

City Life, Food, Travel

Simple meals, Paris

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Eeek, I’m still alive, just working! And this weekend I flaked out and was lazy during our snowed-in Nor’Easter day, instead of catching up on posts. Anyway, back to Paris…

On Saturday night we ate near the apartment (which was a great little studio in a perfect location–highly recommended). I had so-so boudin noir with apples and potatoes, and Ben had truly fantastic roast chicken. The best thing, though, was the starter: A strong chevre, broiled on slices of spice bread and pear. I am still working on my aversion to goat cheese but despite being a real bottom-of-the-barn stinky variety, I loved this. (Sadly I don’t have any photos.)

Sunday we made our way through the rain to Le Comptoir, Yves Camdeborde’s bistro in a hotel fairly close to our apartment. (When I met Daniel Boulud last spring he was giving restaurant recommendations and this was the first restaurant he mentioned in Paris.) On weeknights there is a crazily inexpensive prix fixe (booked up months in advance), but on weekends it’s just the bistro menu. Apologies for the photos, something went wrong with my camera colors.

I’m mad at myself–I love these simple metal bread baskets, and meant to grab one for myself, since I really do need a bread basket. I forgot, though: Next time!

I’m also in love with the shape of this carafe (and note the fun short squat water glasses!)–I was tempted to ask if I could buy one from them, but I didn’t want to carry it to Lyon.

This very dapper young man was flitting to and from his mom’s outdoor table, snagging his mother’s seared scallops and enjoying his pamplemousse presse. Later I saw him with a friend sitting in the window of the hotel lobby.

The small and cozy dining room:

Ben had roasted rack of lamb, served over roasted red peppers and sprinkled with almonds:

Ok, brace yourself for one of the worst photos ever to appear on this blog. I had braised beef cheeks, served with…elbow macaroni! It was fantastic, so tender and warm and savory, and the noodles were perfectly cooked and a nice change from potatoes, etc. It was great. And mine also was sprinkled with almonds, and then with some lemon zest, which freshened it up nicely. So good, I want to try this myself. However, this photo rots. Sigh.

I am very, very eager to try the prix fixe, and will definitely make a reservation the minute I find out I’ll be in Paris next. I highly recommend the bistro menu, too! Very reasonably priced and a cut above the average good meal in Paris, which…

Finally, Ben took this photo of me, and I love the light and my slightly unfocused gaze. Clearly I needed that coffee!