what else to do with a batch of p nut brittle, besides munching it all plain

Garnish your soup with it! tremendous.
Acorn Squash Soup (approx 4 servings)

Oven to 350
Halve an acorn squash, with a spoon remove seeds from middle til clean.
rub each 1/2 with a pat of butter, a sprinkle of brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon.
Bake, 45 min, til a knife easily pierces the skin.
Set aside to cool.
In a pot, saute in a few T olive oil
1 sweet onion
1 T grated ginger
1 clove garlic
1 t sage
1 t crushed red pepper.
add:
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
the squash, (peel out flesh and toss the skin)
and add 2 1/2 cups of chicken stock
Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 25 min, or until carrots are soft.
Puree mixture in food processor or blender
add back to pot, check seasonings, adding salt and fresh grd pepper to taste.
Add 1/4 c half and half

to serve:
serve in cup with dwollop of greek yogurt sweetened with a dash of maple syrup, and chopped peanut brittle

(also served with green chopped salad and creamed mushrooms on toasted baguette bits.)

Layered Grilled Veggie Torte

Friday evening and a Movia Pinot Nero

I had read much about Ales kristancic's Movia winery in Slovenia. He seemed like such an interesting cat, I became really intrigued. Realistically, our budget does not allow for too much extravagant behavior of any kind, especially of the wine buying kind, BUT I decided one day to pick one bottle...(the 2004 Pinto Nero, was what I located, as it turned out) as a special treat. I was saving it and saving it....and then Friday night it was hot and steamy and I felt a bit naughty and thought, what the heck, living is for the now! And all the other sorts of rationalizations we do before we induge in something we think we maybe better not.
Now, I've not too often in my life felt wine "experiences", I mean, as of late, esp with all the budget wines we've been consuming, they sort of go down pretty much as an after hard work, take the strain of the day away panacea and not much more.
But this wine...it was so delicious and unctuous - it was almost hard to describe. Tommy had not returned hom from work yet, and I was just sipping and sort of wafting about the apartment in wonder and joy and easing into a hallucenagenic tranquil and beautiful sort of delirium. (which was most probably brought on by high intense heat and humidity, as well as the wine). I kept thinking of Man Ray and David Lynch-ian images, vampires, blood, black velvet, fabulousness, all sorts of beguiling other stuff...maybe Slovenia subliminally reminded me of Transylvania? I don't know, but it was such a delectable experience. I see a note I wrote from Friday - it said, Cinnamon, Coffee, Chocolate...it was quite a sexy wine and I'm glad my intuition told me the moment was ripe for it.
Now, I am trying to locate more, or more Movia wines in general. If anyone has a clue let me know. Where to buy them in Chicago, because they seem to have vanished...like vampire..........

The Killer Chicken Recipe - Ga Kho

Caramelized Chicken –
Way to go, Ga Kho

* 2.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
* 3/4 cup brown sugar
* 1/3 cup fish sauce
* 1/3 cup rice vinegar
* 1/3 cup water
* 4 cloves of minced garlic
* 2 tbs grated/finely minced ginger (finely minced lemongrass is ok too)
* ! lg shallot, minced
* 2 tbs fish sauce for marinade
* 1 tbs brown sugar for marinade
* 1 jalepeno and 2 thai red chilis (optional) minced (then don’t touch your eyes or they will look like this -x x !)
* 2 green onions, sliced about 1/2 inch
* freshly cracked pepper
* roasted sesame seeds (few TBS) or roasted peanuts would be good, too
* 2 tbs cooking oil
Assorted fresh herbs to toss on top, Basil and Mint – kept in sprigs

Marinade the chicken with 2 tbs of fish sauce and 1 tbs brown sugar for a few hrs. In the meantime in a small bowl make the sauce by combining 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup water, rice vinegar, and fish sauce and mix until dissolve. Add the ginger, shallots, and garlic and set aside.

Heat a large pan on high with cooking oil and add the chicken with the flat surface of thigh facing down. Allow to sear without touching them for a minute or so and then pour in about 1/8 – ¼ cup of the sauce. Try not to move around the chicken as you want it to sear and caramelize. The sauce will start to thicken and the chicken will brown after a few minutes. Check to see if it's nicely caramelized, You are looking for nice sticky dark spots of caramel all glued to the chicken bits), then turn the pieces of chicken over and pour in the rest of the sauce. Continue to cook until sauce is reduced to nice thick consistency and just as you turn off the heat, toss in the chiles and green onions. (or, I prefer to add the chiles and cook them with the sauce – if you want them crunchier you can add them late)Transfer to serving platter lined with rice, and generously top with roasted sesame or peanuts, fresh cracked pepper, and the beautiful herbs.

Anyone who knows Tommy knows his (tired) shtick about chicken. He's not too fond of eating birds. (Birds in the Brit sense, yes, but chickens, no).
"They're nervous", he says. They don't taste like anything...
Well, could be. BUt. This chicken was so insanely good that he was forced to eat all his chicken loathing words and admit that it was one of the best chickens we've ever had. Chicken caramelized in sugar, fish sauce, hot peppers....so it's crispy, juicy, salty, sweet, spicy, fragrant, tender...
It proved to be even tastier the next day at lunch - (we were sitting down together after a hard morning working on Tommy's current rehab job, I came by to help out) and we couldn't even chat we were so involved eating this chicken. At one point, Tommy said, "Man, I'm full but I still keep eating it".
We were sad when it was gone.
I found this recipe online from a few Vietnamese bloggers and had a hunch it'd be pretty authentic and good. It may seem like a lot of fish sauce but go with it, it works!! Also, should be noted that if you have all the spices and sauces already in your fridge, it's a good money saver, as chicken thighs are pretty cheap. And you can't really over cook a chicken thigh. They seem to just keep getting juicer and more flavorful. And this dish is perfect on white rice - the contrast of all the flavors and textures - forgo the brown this time.

We had this with some carrot and cucumber salad, grated into strings, and a vinaigrette made from rice vinegar, sugar, fresh mint, jalapeno...simple Thai fare. A Riesling would be a good wine choice.

Oh yeah and the p.s. piece de resistance! Apparently this is Mick Jaggers favorite dish! I read it in an article somewhere. And if Mick likes it, well hey then I've gotta see for myself. Anyway, Mick was right, and I imagine he's eaten lots of birds.

Seth's Birthday Part 2

Sponge Roberto

Seth's birthday Artichoke Spinach Pie and Caaaaake

That one little fraise des bois - what a perfect garnish for Seth's birthday party cake! Genoise soaked in Amaretto, with Mascarpone Whipped Cream and Strawberries.Hopefully the cream (though stabalized with gelatin) will not totally slide down the sides in clumps when the hot sun hits it....we shall see.

Chard tart

Found this recipe I'd written down because it was so nice - reposting for friends whose garden has abundance of Chard. Mario's Chard Tart:
Click on Recipe to enLARGE...

the only (lonely) survivor

So while the upside beans and tomatoes continue to go crazy, out of all the 4 strawberry plants planted, none but ONE little berry made it to redhood. Amazing little guy! Some beastly bug or other ravaged all the rest of the buds one by one. So sad.
Maybe the lone survivor is most delicious strawberry ever. Because he made it and no one else did. Like, survival of the juiciest?

today's bounty and mushroom love

Aren't these Oyster mushrooms beguiling? They have me transfixed. I must draw them before eating them. Aquired just now on hot and sticky walk to Andersonville farmer's market.
Meanwhile, today's bounty from our own little market! Many beans today!! Look Tommy!!

Now I must go and pit 200 tart cherries....

Pesto in Bassinuad?

Tommy called from France requesting pesto recipe, he's cooking tonight!

Today's bounty

I know this is not that thrilling....but it's thrilling me!! Beautiful beans...

the DIY topsy turvy update - or, it's fun to grow inverted foods!

The upside-down planters we made are doing really well! We ended up with 2 5-gallon plastic buckets, and drilling 3" holes in the bottoms. Growing peas (supposedly tri colore! But i only see green ones so far) and tiny tomatoes. So far both plants seem deliriously happy! it makes me happy just to go look at them. There are about 12 teeny tiny greeen beans already formed! And many tomato buds...and a few lil green guys. Hopefully the pigeons won't get em. Will chronicle the developments. I'm beginning to believe one doesn't need a huge garden to grow a good bounty!

ShEanDhIM with Ratatouille tart

Fun picnic @ Millenium...smore cookies and Rat tart....

Shrimp and Grits

Prepare old fashioned grits...add at the end of cooking 1/4 c cheddar cheese and 1/4 cup of parm cheese....and if you'd like a 1/2 t chicken stock to the grits cooking liquid

For the topping
blend:
1 t paprika
1/2 t cumin
1/4 t cayenne
1/4 t dry mustard
1/4 t red pepper flakes
1 t salt

have
1# lg shrimp
2 celery sticks, diced
3 carrots, diced
1 shallot, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 yellow or orange bell pepper, diced (optional)
1 jalapeno, diced
1 c dry white wine or beer

Heat 3 T olive oil in pan, when hot, saute all veg except garlic for about 3 minutes. add garlic and spices, continue to saute for about 3 monre minutes. Add wine, bring to boil, add shrimp. Cover and simmer until shrimp are just pink, about 4 -5 minutes.
Stir in a squeeze of fresh lime juice and cilantro to garnish before serving....or lem juice and parsley

serve atop grits, swirling the liquid toward the edges of the bowl and the solids in the center. top w more fresh herbs...

slow tuscan loaves

Turned out incredibly well! A deep color and light and airy....the ingredients were simply
flour and water and a micro pinch of yeast - slow rise in the fridge with feedings over 3 days and final dough only added more flour, water and 1 t yeast and 1 t salt....

the round has added walnuts and white wine...kept the long loaf traditionally tuscan for olive oil dipping

sourdough part 2

Wasn't happy with the rise i got from my sourdough. It was vigorously alive, and then i noticed last night somewhere in the sponge stage it seemed to die down...i let if proof all nite but still no change htis morning. baked it thinking what the hey, see what happens. It had dropped into the 70's this morning and was the only good oven time. The rise sucked but the flavor and texture were still nice. So, improvise! Sourdough crackers for our picnic. Slice the loaves real thin w serrated knife...then bake for about 5 more minutes, like biscotti!
it was a sorta happy accident. i like the way these'd look on a beautiful rustic cheese tray.


Still have about 8 hours rise time on the Tuscan loaves....what a lovely way to spend a day off....

perfecting the homemade za and the new babydoll

Got my Infant massage teaching doll and we are enjoying the energy of having a (plastic) baby in the house.
Esp Tommy...

Also began 2 breads...one sourdough
(I have never had the patience to see through a sourdough, i usually toss the fermented mess on the 3rd or 4th day. But this time on only day 2 i had this beautiful risen mess of bubbly alcohol smelling goop....it just might work! it is in the fridge awaiting the final dough mix....there must be a wealth of happy wild yeasts a floating around in our kitchen... )

the second bread is a traditional tuscan loaf, that has only a pinch of commercial yeast but in most other ways is a sourdough....it does a two day slow ferment in the fridge and we are on day 2.

Will keep documenting developments....

Finally the best pizza we've made to date....the key was to crispen it on the over rack directly after it cam off the pan....and the addition of green olives, which gave it a salty zip and bumped up the flavor to new heights!

Simple Pleasures

The other night we just wanted a simple dinner - had seen a recipe for onion rings and thought, hey, onion rings and grilled cheese sandwiches sounds simple, decadent and delicious.

Now we must make onion rings everyday!!

Very easy - so tasty...light, crunchy, delicate, crispy!

Easy to prepare! Simply heat about an inch of veg oil in a pan til very hot....and have stack o paper towels for draining.
In one bowl pour some milk or buttermilk
in another pour about a cup of flour and 1/4 c corn meal, pinch o cayenne, salt and pepper
Slice a vidalia onion into thick rings (1/4 - 1/2 inch)
Dredge in milk, then flour mixture, milk, then flour mixture.
By the time you have finished the onion dredging, the oil should be perfect, turn it down a bit if it's smokin' and splattering.

Fry slices about 2-3 min per side, drain on towels. Keep warm and crispy on sheet pan in 350 oven til sandwiches are ready!
Perhaps not the most nutritious thing one can eat, but really pleasurable. And they'll make your sandwich shine!! Have some pickles too.

cookies for lawyers,infant massages, life and life

Returned from weekend trip - Infant Massage teacher certification went really well....cute babies a-gurgling everywhere.
Also laywer catering job went splendidly....hopefully more cookies will be ordered!
Tommy on large Hyde Park big rehab job....then off to France!
Things are a brewing!
Lovely dinner last night of steak and sugar snaps with sesame seeds to celebrate
(another day of living)

corn souffle and flatbread w/roasted tomato