Girl in the Kitchen

Stephanie Izard, the girl of Girl and the Goat, just released a new cookbook which is as interesting to read as it is to salivate over. As I've read, I've discovered a fearless, spunky girl who uses traditional flavors connected to fond childhood memories and revitalizes them. Although I wouldn't call myself spunky, I feel like we connect with food in a similar way. We just wanna have fun!

The format of her book is actually very similar to the way I approach this blog: each recipe is preceded by a story of the recipe's conception or a childhood memory she attaches to certain ingredients. Not only that, but her writing style is so casual, it feels as though she's talking right to you.

I had to smile to myself when I got to a recipe for Fennel-Potato Soup with Butter-Poached Lobster and Blood Oranges (her chapter on soup is 40 pages long...A girl after my own heart). Her introductory paragraph was oddly similar to a narrative I wrote recently on this blog. I'll quote her here:

"I've never liked black licorice, so I thought it was strange that I fell hard for fennel while working at Spring restaurant -- the anise flavor is so much fresher than what you'd find in licorice. It adds a nice note to just about anything, but especially sauces, stocks, and soups. Now that I'm officially addicted to the stuff, I'm always trying to come up with new uses for it. I tend to think of it as an ideal partner for citrus, so I wind up using it more in winter when citrus fruits are at their peak."

I'm glad that we both share a love for fennel and a hatred for licorice. And if anything, this supports my claim that fennel+citrus is a match made in heaven.

I haven't made it past the soup chapter yet but I am already so excited to try some (or all) of these recipes! Unfortunately, for now, it's back to the research for me. It's going to be a long day!

Musical Aphorisms

I stayed up late last night working on an annotated bibliography for a research project I'm working on. The topic is Schumann's Three Romances, op 94. As I was flipping through the dusty library books I came across a collection of Robert Schumann's aphorisms for young musicians. It's interesting that these were written more than 150 years ago and still ring true. Schumann was a smart guy, if not a little crazy. Though, I think his craziness just added to his insight. There is also some element of truth in them for non-musicians.

"If you have finished your daily musical work and feel tired, do not force yourself to labor further. It is better to rest than to practice without joy or freshness."

"Seek out among your comrades those who know more than you do."

"Rest from your musical studies by industriously reading the poets. Often take exercise out in the open."

"All which is fashionable again becomes unfashionable; and should you cultivate fashion until you become old, you will be come a dandy no one respects."

"Behind the mountains there also dwell people. Be modest. You have never invented or discovered anything that others have not invented or discovered before you. And even if you have, consider it a gift from above which is your duty to share with others."

"Never miss an opportunity of hearing a good opera."

"The laws of morality are also those of art."

"Nothing worth while can be accomplished in art without enthusiasm."

"Art was not created as a way to riches. Strive to become a true artist; all else will take care of itself."

"There is no end to learning."

A Salad Template

Last night I sat down and ate a whole pint of grape tomatoes. Even as tomato season comes to a close, these little guys pack a lot of flavor, making them a go-to salad staple year-round.

My favorite salads usually have something green (not necessarily lettuce), tomato, some kind of cheese, and a vinaigrette.

Here's an easy vinaigrette recipe which you can adapt for just about any use:

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp vinegar
3/4 tsp salt
1/3 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
Whisk together first 4 ingredients. Slowly add the olive oil a little at a time while whisking constantly.

Easy enough right?


For a Greek salad, use red wine vinegar and add some garlic and dried oregano. Toss with coarsely chopped tomato and cucumber, sliced red onion, feta, and Kalamata olives.


For a Caprese salad, use balsamic vinegar and toss with fresh mozzerella cheese, tomatoes, and basil chiffonade.


For a mixed green salad, use either champagne vinegar or balsamic and toss with spring mix, goat cheese, dried cranberries, and tomato!

As you can see I like lots of goodies in my salad, and the more cheese the better!

In the Morning

I made a mix for all those brisk, early mornings when your coffee hasn't yet wiped the fog from your eyes.

A Recipe for a Happy Birthday

Since I just moved to a new city, I don't know too many people yet. But I was determined to have an awesome day anyway! Here's a little guide on how to succeed in having a happy birthday (or any day) when there's not much going on. Happiness is all about setting achievable goals for yourself, fulfilling simple desires. In other words, your 25th birthday should be just as happy as your 3rd, just without the crown and cake and mountain of presents. Unless that mountain included a bubble saxophone, in which case your life has been downhill since then.

Step 1: Know there are people out there who love you
All this talk of the enjoying the simple things is great, but it would be useless if you didn't realize that being by yourself doesn't mean that you're alone. Aww, cliches. Anyway, due to the magnificent invention of Facebook, I could watch the birthday wishes roll in and know that I have friends who care about me. And my parents, of course.

Step 2: Pamper Yourself



I decided the day before that I was going to make myself breakfast on my birthday. I'm not a big breakfast fan - it's either too greasy or too sweet - but growing up my dad always cooked breakfast on special occasions, any time we had an excuse to be together in the morning. Favoring the savory over the sweet, I decided to make myself some scrambled eggs with goat cheese and parsley, one little piece of bacon (which was enough for me), and some chai.

My morning was spent relaxing with the tea and a good book.

Step 3: Look forward to the simple things
I made a plan to go exploring, which somehow ended up with me window shopping at a mall. The good news: I found a mall. Really, I knew it was out there, I just wanted to go out there and see what it was like. And then on my way back I stopped at Whole Foods for some ingredients for dinner. Turns out they sell hand-made earrings there and I bought myself a birthday present.

I also booked my mega bus tickets back to Chicago for fall break. Just another little something to look forward to.

Step 4: Eat Well
I picked out my birthday dinner days in advance and scheduled my exploring adventure around getting groceries at Whole Foods, where I found a $3 bottle of wine, with a cute label.



I'm no wine expert but it was a lot better than some $7 bottles I've had. I won't say it was amazing, but I definitely wasn't disappointed.

Here's a recipe like chicken cacciatore. Chicken with tomatoes and peppers:



Ingredients:
3 lbs. chicken thighs (bone-in, skin-on)
4 Tbsp olive oil
3 oz. prosciutto, chopped
salt and pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 large can tomatoes, chopped, with juices
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp chopped fresh marjoram
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch strips
1 large yellow bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch strips

Directions:
Rinse and pat dry the chicken. Season with salt and pepper.



In a large pot, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil and add prosciutto, sauteeing until it begins to become crisp. Add the chicken, skin side down and brown, about 5 minutes a side. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half. Add the tomatoes, juices, 1 clove garlic, and marjoram. Simmer uncovered until chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes.



Meanwhile, in another frying pan, heat the remaining olive oil and sautee 1 minced clove of garlic until starting to brown. Add the peppers and sautee until tender.

Add peppers and juices to the pot with the chicken and let cook for about 5 minutes.

Serve over pasta.

My Love Affair with Fennel, pt. 2

Last weekend I drove to Ann Arbor to help Jacob move. I didn't do much in the way of packing but it was nice to spend time with him. I decided to contribute by cooking Jacob and his two roommates dinner.

I've been kind of tired of my "usuals," so I looked up something new to try. By now you know that I love the recipe section of the Williams-Sonoma website. It's a gold mine for finding new recipes to try and for looking up things you might not be sure of, like cooking times on meat.

I settled on this recipe for grilled halibut with potato-fennel puree and we went to get the ingredients at Whole Foods.

Halibut is not a very cheap fish. Luckily Jacob's roommate was paying for the groceries. You can really use this recipe as a sort of marinade or rub for any white fish. If you're just cooking for yourself, splurge on one 6 oz. fillet. It's not that expensive if you're not feeding four people.

By the time we were done shopping it was pouring out! I ran to the car and picked up the others and we drove home slowly, splashing through the puddles. Unfortunately, when we got back to the apartment the power was out and as the stove is electric that put a damper on our dinner plans. We had a little party in the hallway where the generator kept half the lights on, and ate the cheese and crackers we had bought.

Finally around 11:00 the power came back and I got to work on dinner. We were all happy that the halibut we had just bought didn't have to spend all night in a powerless fridge. This was the delicious result:



This is another recipe which capitalizes on the fennel/citrus combo, using orange zest as well as anise seed. Chervil is also called for which is really hard to find these days for whatever reason. Chervil is a relative of parsley with, you guessed it, a hint of licorice flavor. I just used flat-leaf parsley instead. Also, as you can see I don't have access to a grill (especially not in the rain) so I pan-seared it with a little butter, about 3 minutes on both sides.

The potatoes are EXTREMELY addicting. I couldn't stop eating them. I didn't use mayonnaise like the recipe calls for. I know it's just egg and oil but I'm still a little wary of warm mayonnaise. I just used a little extra butter and half & half instead.

Chicken Soup for the Soul

The subtitle of this post should be: "My Love Affair with Fennel, pt. 1"



So why am I so obsessed with that funky looking vegetable?

Beside the fact that it's in vogue right now thanks to people like Ina Garten and publications like Bon Appetit, I am fascinated by its subtle licorice flavor. I've never claimed to like the flavor of licorice (I steered clear of all black jelly beans in childhood) but I have always been a fan of the classic mirepoix - carrots, celery, and onion - which is somehow both hearty and delicate, and lends its fragrant flavor to countless dishes. Fennel is like a long lost relative, surfacing late in the game and finding that it actually belongs in this trio. All it does is add a little complexity, a little je ne sais quois, and an extra dimension to your cooking.



That's why I added it to my chicken pot pie recipe. And that's how I conceived this recipe for a chicken soup, which is anything but "old-fashioned." This recipe capitalizes on that hearty/delicate conundrum by using citrus to coax out the lightness in the fennel, yielding a vibrant soup you can easily eat 5 bowls of. It's been done...

This is definitely a weekend, or two-day recipe, but I save time by using the carcass of a store-bought rotisserie chicken. What a great way to use leftovers!

Ingredients:
1 rotisserie chicken or chicken carcass
2 48. oz containers chicken stock
2 bay leaves
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 yellow onions, one quartered, one diced
2 cloves garlic smashed
2 fennel bulbs, sliced, stalks and fronds reserved
5 celery stalks, 2 halved, 3 small diced
5 carrots, 2 halved, 3 small diced
2 potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 lemon
fresh shopped chervil, or 1 Tbsp dried tarragon
salt and pepper
pinch of saffron (optional)

Directions:
Put the chicken carcass in a large pot or dutch oven and cover with water. Add garlic, bay leaves, quartered onion, halved carrots and celery, fennel stems, salt and pepper, and as much chicken stock as will fit in the pot without it boiling over (just to help the flavor along). Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for about an hour and a half.



Turn off the heat and let cool. Strain the stock and reserve. Pick the meat from the chicken carcass and reserve. Discard the vegetables and the bones. This can be done in advance and will keep in the fridge.



In the same pot, heat the olive out in the pan and add the sliced fennel and diced onion, carrots, and celery. Saute until translucent but not brown. Add the reserved stock and supplement with more canned chicken stock. You want a full pot for your efforts. Bring to a boil. Add the potatoes and reserved chicken meat, and simmer about 10 minutes. When potatoes are tender, season with the herbs, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and saffron, if using.



Serve and enjoy!



The good news is that, according the article Bon Appetit ran, "fennel is prized by herbalists for its ability to alleviate stomach cramps and other digestive distress." So this soup trumps all other chicken soups when it comes to the perfect sick-day meal. Just have someone who loves you make it for you...you'll pay them back eventually.

My First Risotto

I've always been a pasta girl. Given the choice between pasta and risotto on a menu, I'll choose pasta every time. But I've had a recipe saved up for a day when I absolutely couldn't eat any more pasta. That day finally came and the rich creamy bowl of starch did not disappoint.

Images of Chef Gordon Ramsay reaming out the contestants on Hell's Kitchen for burnt or crunchy risotto made me nervous to make this on my own, but it ended up turning out ok! I was most afraid of running out of chicken stock, as I wasn't sure I had enough in the first place and it was evaporating away on the stove as I chopped the other ingredients.

My advice: memorize the instructions before you start. You don't want to be wondering what to do next as your arm is falling off from stirring for 20 minutes straight. Luckily the art of the perfect risotto is really a universal technique which is not dependent on the other ingredients or flavors. Williams-sonoma has a handy guide on their website.



Above you can see my new kitchen, and its very limited counter space. The stove is mini, about half the width of a normal stove, and perfect for dinners for one. Featured above are my two newest additions to my kitchen, both from anthropologie: the hand-made ceramic utensil jar, and quilted pot-holder.

Click here to view Porcini, Caramelized onion, and Sage Risotto Recipe!

With a dish like risotto that takes so much attention, I decided to make a side that didn't take much attention at all: roasted beets!



I made them the traditional way, roasted in the skins with a little olive oil and salt in a tin foil pouch. Roast at 375 degrees, for about 30-60 minutes or until tender. Maybe my oven is a little weak, and that's why it took so long. Let them cool and remove the skins. Re-season if necessary.