Fun weekend

made maki rolls, veg, and then biking to the zoo next morning to see the scary Cheetah cat.

Toffee Favors

Pistachio, and vanilla w/ Flower decos

one of my favorite corners

For Tommy, if you are homesick this week. I love this corner of our house, it makes me so happy. Got the tiki a new plant friend, too. I love that it will be winter soon but in our living room all the plants and tiki are back lit just like a beach in Hawaii by night. I love plants. They are my favorite kind of pet.

What you can do with a 2ft cucumber / Carol's premiere garden party

Shake up refreshing icy batches of cucumber mint martinis.....

make a sugar syrup by placing one cup sugar and one cup water in a saucepan, bring to boil, boil for 5 minutes, set aside to cool
Squeeze in the juice of a fresh lemon.

in food processor (or w mortar and pestle) whiz about 6 slices cucumber with about 4 large sprigs of fresh mint

in cocktail shaker, fill with ice. Pour in 2 shots of gin, about 4 T of the sugar syrup and the cucumber mash. Shake it all up

strain into 2 martini glasses.

Enjoy. repeat as many x as necessary. frolic in garden w girlfriends.

eat w bruschetta w white bean dip, artichokes and mint

3rd anneeversareee

Went to check out GT fish and Oyster

Mango Mousse, Tommy met the Mango man on Clark st!

Mango mousse, mango gelee, vanilla sauce, dried peach fruit flower, mango bits, sugar spiral

Mango Mousse:
1 1/4 sheets gelatin
3T sugar
1/8 c cold water
3/4 cup ripe mango puree, strained
1 1/2 t lemon juice

1 c heavy whipping cream

Soften gelatin in cold water, squeeze and set aside. Heat water, sugar, puree and lemon juice, stir in gelatin to dissolve. Strain into bowl over an ice bath to cool. When no longer hot, whip the cream to soft peaks, and gently fold into base. Pour into dessert cups or molds, or large bowl or tart, and chill at least 2 1/2 hours til set.

Heat Wave Pasta Primavera

Consumed during the doggiest day of summer. It was 100 degrees here and that doesn't include chicago humidity. We thought we were too hot to eat, but our tiny air box rocked out just enough cool to inspire appetites after both working long days. This ended up being my favorite primavera I've ever made, maybe it was the neat italian pasta I picked up @ Stanleys.

1 Zucchini, peel into long strips with a peeler
fresh young asparagus,(oh 1/2 a bunch)break at tender spot, chop into 1/2 pieces
2 plum tomatoes, diced
1/2 c sweet onion, chopped
1-2 cloves minced garlic
2 carrots, sliced thinly on an angle
1 t quality chicken stock bouillon, or about a cup of chix stock
dash of dry white wine
salt and freshly grnd papper
long pasta (any variey) about 8oz
pasta water, reserved
1/4 c half and half
Parmesean cheese, fresh basil leaves

boil pot of water, add olive oil splash and salt well, cook pasta til al dente, reserve water

saute garlic and onion in 1T olive oil,add carrots,cook a minute,add tomatoes, wine, stock,s and p. Lower heat and add about 1/2 c pasta water...cook a minute more,toss in green veggies,stir,turn off heat and stir in half and half. Now, grate in about 1/4 c Parmesean or Pecorino cheese. Toss w tongs, if you need more liquid add a bit more pasta water. pour out onto platter and top w big chards of grated parmy and chopped fresh basil. Salt and fresh pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

This is so beautiful!!!

Roasted Veg Foccach

Back in the kitchen again, with the hanging garden out back!
Roasted off some eggplant, tomato and red, yellow and orange peppers - made the "5 min" dough (my fav bread recipe....1 1/2 T yeast,1 1/2 T kosher salt,3 c warm water,5 -6 c flour) made 3 baguettes for picnic sandwiches and for dinner tonight rolled some out into a disk on cornmeal, spread the topped with a blend of homegrown basil,some fresh garlic, salt and olive oil....finished with some parmy and fresh oregano (the herb garden is going nuts!).

kitchen complete!

pretty much...haha. Always a few details leftover.
The peppers are growing like crazy on the porch outside, all is beautiful.
First meal in new kitchen was arugula pesto pasta, and the juiciest strawberries, (scored the china bowl at a garage sale!) and a very dirty gin martini. Heaven on toast.

Oven Roasted Rataouille

If you don't feel like sauteing all those veggies - toss em on a sheet pan with garlic and olive oil,kosher salt and fresh grnd pepper and roast til caramelized/colored, around 45 mins at 400ish. The flavors are really really nice. Toss it with pasta, then, or just eat it, or make a pressed sandwich (stick rat in some french bread with some pesto slapped on and weight it down with a brick overnight) and take it to a picnic.
(Here I used 2 tomatoes (plunge into boiling water for 1 minute, peel off skin, chop into chunks before roasting), 1 zucchini, 1 eggplant, chopped, 1 sweet onion, chopped, 1 green pepper, chopped,(for traditional ratatouille) but any combo of veg you like I'm sure would be delicious. Oh and fresh basil! Rip some bits and toss them along with everything.

Ruth's garden picked sweetest Strawberry Gelato

Rose and Raspberry Truffles

not much cooking going down here

The kitchen redo is looking beautiful. Chalkboard wall, done!

Recipe for chalk paint: 3 T paint to 1 T acrylic glaze to 1 t powdered grout.

Christened w buddha today. We need some kitchen buddha-luck. Or little kitchen buddha helper people. Little Buddhas to carry all the floor tile upstairs (3 flights) would be dandy.

First plantings!

The herb garden is planted....in one beautiful box w/Fennel, Purple Sage, Rosemary, Mint, Chives, Parsley and Oregano.

Very beautiful salad

Raw kale salads, who knew? all of the sudden they were everywhere and now I can't eat enough of them. Thanks to my friend Nicholas who turned me on to the brilliant combo of avocado with - yields the perfect mix of soft and creamy and crunchy.
Yesterday that's all I had in the house, and it's one delicious salad.
My favorite so far, though, is to add garbanzo beans and feta, with the kale avocado combo.
But whatever you have in your fridge will be good!
They key is to toss the kale with your vinaigrette and let it sit about 10 minutes - while the coating softens the leaves a bit.

Vinaigrette:
juice of 1/2 lemon (or lemon and lime is nice)
2-3 T white balsamic vinegar
3-4 T olive oil
Kosher salt/ fresh ground pepper (to taste)
whisk til opaque, toss liberally w/your kale salad.

Let sit about 10 minutes b4 consuming. Grind a grind of fresh pepper on top! Et Viola!!

It's a super food. I feel like Popeye when I eat this.

Scaccia Ragusana!

Was invited to Paella party and made this as a "tapa"
fed about 20+ when cooled and cut into squares with serrated knife

Adapted from recipe in the March 2007 Saveur, it is a recipe from Sicily
I added cheese to the amount - and also used a combo of Fontina, Sharp provolone and Parmesean, (they used Pecorino Romano)
They used 12 oz, pretty sure I added a bit more.....
Also I added a bit of sugar to the sauce, just a a tsp., and some red pepper flakes and some oregano.
This is incredibly delicious, and so beautiful......the dough, sans yeast, behaves almost like a homemade filo.

Steps - First, prepare dough, let is sit at room temp for about 30 minutes.
In meantime, prepare the sauce, then grate all cheeses. Then, roll, and fill your tart.
To see recipe more clearly, click on picture to enlarge, for rolling/folding steps. Before baking, I flattened whole thing out a bit. Be sure to bake on parchment paper on top of sheet pan. 500 degree (preheated) oven for 10 minutes, then turn down to 400 for about an hour.

I'm fairly sure one could stick most anything in here, add some cheese,and it'd be quite delicious!

*re the drawing, the dough is rolled out to a rectangle, and the dough itself is 1/16th of an inch think (or, very thin!)
Also, be sure to cover dough with plastic wrap or a towel while it rests, and lightly coat outside with olive oil, so it doesn't dry out...

Soup and Bread @ the Hideout, Mar 2, 2011

A really fun experience, once again, serving soup at the Hideout. After the first soup and bread date was snowed out, I was left with 70+ cheddar brioche rolls I had made, to go with the tomato cream soup. Since this was a few weeks later, and I had frozen them, I cut them into bits, tossed with more herbs and butter and olive oil and cheese and made croutons.
Kitty was serving soup as well, and her fabulous roasted red pepper goat cheese creation was a big hit.

Treasures Little Vietnam, Pei Mei

Can't wait to dive into this beautiful book I got in Chinatown, Pei Mei's Chinese Cooking....
and, to help, what a treasure I found yesterday in Little Vietnam around Argyle street! A round cutting board, with a groovy metal attachment for hanging, for 10 bux! And this sucker is thick. It's as if they sliced the tree right in the middle. I've never quite seen one like it, and certainly not this thick for so cheap. You may need one, too!

Heart Shaped Tart

This might be the best apple tart I ever made...the key seemed to be 3 layers and love. Twas the night b4 valentine's day and I met my old great friend Kathy at the Green Mill to hear the Slam. I laughed harder than I had in a very long time...when I got home decided to fulfill T's request of apple pie for V day, so at 11pm,and on a high from love poetry, I began.
First, Alice Water's crust recipe...so simple, and yet the flakiest crust ever. Worked beautifully in the open crostata format, as I wanted the heart shape. 2 cups flour, 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, tsp kosher salt, 1/2 cup ice water as needed. Add water til it just comes together. (by hand or food processor)

After making and retarding crust in fridge, roll out to a circle and cut out a heart shape. Spread the heart w/apricot preserves. Spread with a layer of applesauce (peel and cube 1 granny smith apple, boil in a sugar syrup (about 1/2 c water and 1/4 c sugar) a bit of cinnamon, until all is soft and puree in food processor, chill til cool). You can make this and the streusel whilst crust is mellowing in the refridge. (for streusel I just crumble together about a cup of sugar or brown sugar, t of cinnamon, t of salt, 1 stick butter and about 1/2 c of flour. Mix by hand till crumbly or in food processor, set aside.)
So, after the preserves, spread tart heart with applesauce, then line the heart rim with the streusel. Then, for second layer, take one more granny smith, peel and cube it into tiny cubes, and saute in butter (about 1 T) and some sprinkled sugar and cinnamon, til soft. Scatter that over sauce. So now the texture is this crispy crust, unctuous sauce, and a bit of apple pieces for texture. For the final layer, peel a granny smith and slice sideways into 1/8 thick slices, and fan overlapping in a heart shape or spiral. To finish it off, sprinkle entire thing around the edges with more streusel, and fold up the heart around the filling. Then chill the entire tart in the freezer for at least an hour. (or, as I did, overnight).
Preheat oven to 375, and bake about 30 mins, or until nicely browned. When cool, brush with melted preserves to make it shiny and sexy. present to lover and say here is your valentine tart my love. Then go see The King of the Moon and his Minions and get lost in the romance...

Pictures of Fish