A Jewel of a Trip

I had a rough meeting at work the other day.  I needed out of the office so I decided to take a trip to the local whole foods to look for cranberry beans.  Well, when I got there they only had canned cranberry beans.  That didn't sound fun at all so I decided to take a stroll and see what I would come up with.  My bag included ...

Pita chips for lunch
Two cans of San Marzano tomatoes - which are destined for a puttenesca sauce and homemade pasta
One quart kumquats
One pomegrante

Satisfied with my trip I went back to work.  But the real satisfaction came when I got home.  I showed the kids what I got and you would have thought it was an early Christmas.  The cheers over a fresh pomegrante filled the kitchen.

Pomegrantes are an activity in our house.  Peeling them open, getting the seeds and then refereeing all the kids grabbing the jewels as if they were real jewels and the one with the most had their college fund all secure.  It is a messy and time consumming affair, but it is the longest they sit at the table and they are devouring one of the most nutritious fruits known to man.  No more satification than that. 

Now, off to make cookies.

Two days until Christmas - fingers crossed I get that camera!

This little piggy went to market

I'll take some italian sausage...hold the beans

I found those sneaky cranberry beans. They were right under my nose. The only problem is that they are not called cranberry beans. At least not in Italian. In Italian circles they are called Borlotti beans. I found them at the Baci Market in Little Italy. And what a treat, because Baci is a really fun, tiny grocery with an amazing meatball sub, and home made Italian sausage.

Here is Baci and Michelle, the cashier, holding the beans. In my grocery bag...sausage, caper berries, fresh mozzarella, frozen home made ravioli, a big jar of Nutella and a little noodle called corallini (which I suspect will find its way into Borlotti Bean Soup in the next week). The other ingredients have no bean association, but make me happy!

Beautiful Music

Megan Moore Murphy (co-inventor of the poop bar) is as ingrained in my childhood as popsicles and delivering papers.  And that's why I can forgive her for teaching my boys this wonderful jingle,

Beans, beans the magical fruit
The more you eat the more you ....

You know the rest.  Let's just say the Keels boys are looking forward to this battle and all the singing opportunities that come with it.  Not to mention the other thing.   They might consider that singing too.

Do you see a pattern here with me and Megan Murphy?

Come out, come out wherever you are....

Tricia and I decided this month to battle with Cranberry Beans. Sounds festive, right? Not sure they are really holiday food, but they are pretty. And they do have cranberry in the name and I love that. But, there seems to be a sourcing problem.

I have seen these bean fresh in my local market many times, but didn't know what they were. But they aren't there now which means that dried will have to do...except I can't find those either. Tricia says her Whole Foods in Columbus has them but Chicago...No. No cranberry beans to be found. Is it a regional thing. Do people in Columbus like cranberry beans more than people in Chicago? Is it just a supply and demand issue? I don't know.

So stay tuned on this battle. I've got the Beano, just can't find the beans.

Mushrooms, take stock.

At first I thought ... I don't have time for Battle Wild Mushroom ... I have a turkey to roast.  You see, I am not the culinary giant when it comes to this holiday.  I usually just let Megan do all the work.  But this year we had guests to our house and the turkey was my doing.

So I needed to get this mushroom thing off my plate so to speak.  I made a soup ... I know .. I know.  I think I have a soup addiction really.  This had loads of mushrooms, shitakes, porcinis and creminis with cabbage, ginger and chicken broth.  It was good in that rustic kind-of soup way that I like.  The kind-of way that makes me feel like some little old women in Italy just made the same thing.  It was really just a means to an end of checking Battle Wild Mushroom off my list.  And using that cabbage that wasn't going to make it much longer.

But lo and behold, these things kept showing up.  I put a boat load of creminis in my stuffing.  Not very creative, but classic.  It was great.  Meaty even.  Enough to keep the theme alive .... in my head at least ... on thanksgiving day.  But the best discovery happened the day after. 

The turkey stock.  I started it like I do all stocks really.  Telling my kids to get out of the kitchen.  Just kidding.  Seriously though, the left over turkey carcass.  Pretty sure it was Judy's best friend (See February's post).  The turkey wings that no one ate.  Onion, carrots, celery, couple cloves of garlic, parsley.  Water of course.  The usual suspects.  And then I remembered, I bought a pack of mixed dried mushrooms at the start of the month.  I had been scared to use them because they did have oyster mushrooms in them and I just wasn't convinced I wasn't going to have a drink (See Megan's PSA at the beginning of the month).  But knowing Oyster mushrooms are more expensive than the others in this medley, I figured it probably meant there was one in the whole mix.  So I took a risk, threw in the pack, poured a drink.

Let me tell you ... that was the richest broth I have ever made.  You hear people say things have depth of flavor.  This was deep and rich and earthy.  Sometimes, I admit it, I need to add lots of salt to get my broth to taste like something.  Not this time.  A little seasoning was all it needed.

I went back to the store - Trader Joe's - and bought five more packs to have for the winter.  When you are addicted to soup ... you really have to think ahead.

Stuff it!

I was recently at the 2nd Annual Chicago Food Film Festival where I engaged in a conversation around the topic of whether to stuff the bird with stuffing, or to stuff elsewhere.

The gentleman I was talking to was of the bird stuffing persuasion. I, on the other hand, recognize that to get enough stuffing for 26 people, I would have to stuff at least five birds. This is not practical. As well, isn't there proof that will kill you?

Mixed up the stuffing today in a pan. After it is cooked, it will be lovingly stuffed into this fabulous tureen.

I'm Thankful for Mr. Hooper

I am thankful for our neighbors Jon and Charity Ross.  They deliver groceries to my door every Tuesday.  I completely look forward to this because a fresh bag of groceries that I was not responsible for picking out, delivered to my door along with neighborly banter about what our kids are doing in school, whose birthday party is this weekend or what we are making for dinner, is basically one of my new favorite things.  In a life of three kids, a full time job and a demanding blog ;), it is so nice to just receive something without having to put together a timeline.

Jon and Charity introduced me to the Local Matters program here in Columbus, Ohio called the Veggie Van.  It drops off bags of local produce ... well not all local because I got some oranges in today's delivery ... to area schools and their son's preschool is one of them.  I am grateful for the Ross' and that they so graciously have signed us up and stop by every Tuesday.

I started calling Jon our personal Mr. Hooper.  And there's nothing like getting a bag of groceries and 20 minutes in your week that resembles Sesame Street.  And for that I'm thankful.

P.S. I brined our turkey.  It was everything I thought it would be.

Curse of the Cranberry Chutney

It is a fact that every Thanksgiving I make a cranberry chutney. I often spend a lot of time and use a lot of ingredients to make something that will be perfect. Sometimes I add exotic fruit, sometimes booze, sometimes more savory ingredients. It is always the start of my Thanksgiving preparations.

The other thing that is consistent with my chutney is that it is NEVER actually served. Inevitably it ends up in the back of the fridge and isn't even noticed until Friday afternoon when leftovers start coming out of the fridge.

I think it is time to break the curse (not sure which of my family members gave it to me, but something tells me it the Italians). Anyway, I was able to discover a way to break the curse. It is 7 steps. And should be done at transition times during the day. How about now.

1. Fill the tub with water. Temperature should be comfortable for a long soak if the target is a living thing. -- it isn't it is Cranberry Chutney!
   
2. Open and hold up the container of sea salt.
3. Clear your mind and say the following words while concentrating on what they mean to you. Say them slowly, confidently, and meditatively: "In the names of my ancestors, my gods, and myself, I call upon thee, oh creatures of Earth and Water. Come forth, cleanse Cranberry Chutney of all evil and alien magicks, and restore them (me, it) to balance and health. By our wills combined, so mote it be."
4. Pour the salt into the water. Use a lot.
5. Keeping your mind in that calm and meditative state, submerge or wash the target (Chutney) slowly. If you are the target, get in the tub and simply lay back and soak. Relax. Let everything slip away.
   
6. Do this for at least ten minutes. When you are done, drain the water away down the drain and rinse it off the target (Chutney). It is absolutely necessary that all of the saltwater is washed off of the target (Chutney)!
7. When you are done, say the following in the same way you did step 3: "I thank thee, oh creatures of Earth and Water, in the name of myself, my gods, and my ancestors. Be released to your homes, doing no harm on your way, and return to me with glad hearts when next you are summoned. By our wills combined, so mote it be."

The chanting got a bit of a reaction from the family -- but this has got to work!!!

Five

Five days to Thanksgiving.

Can you believe my store was out of parsnips? Hmmm...maybe this blog is catching on. Not to worry....the store is getting me some for Tuesday. I am making Tricia's soup as the starter for our Thanksgiving meal. I made it all by myself a week or so ago. It was good, a little too thick and frankly too parsnipy. So for the big day I am going to use less parsnips and maybe add a little apple cider to the soup.

Here is the menu for Thanksgiving Dinner.

• Parsnip, leak and apple soup
• Turkeys (one in the fryer, one on the smoker)
• Cranberry Chutney
• Brussels sprouts/cauliflower gratin
• Stuffing
• Mashed Potatoes
• Sweet Potatoes with Cranberry and bourbon sauce
• Kale with garlic/caper butter
• Mixed greens
• And of course rolls and butter and gravy.

Cooking starts tomorrow. Stay tuned for the play by play as I count down the days to Turkey Day.

Gobble! Gobble!

PSA: Don't Drink and Mushroom

WARNING: Do not eat OYSTER mushrooms and consume alcohol.

Did you know that some wild mushrooms, when consumed with alcohol, can be POISONOUS? Me neither until I woke up this morning with a wicked "hangover".

From Wikipedia about a toxin contained in OYSTER mushrooms:
A more unusual toxin is coprine, a disulfiram-like compound which is harmless unless ingested within a few days of ingesting alcohol. It inhibits aldehyde dehydrogenase, an enzyme required for breaking down alcohol. Thus the symptoms of toxicity are similar to being "hung over" -- flushing, headache, nausea, palpitations, and in severe cases, trouble breathing. Coprinus species, including Coprinopsis atramentaria, contain coprine. Notably, Coprinus comatus does not,^[17] but it is best to avoid mixing alcohol with other members of this genus.
It was a two-day mushroom/martini bender that took me down. I made some fabulous wild mushroom dishes. It is unfortunate however that I will never eat them again.

SATURDAY: Made a wonderful miso soup with noodles and wild mushrooms. It included shiitake and OYSTER mushrooms. Lots of them. See, ingredients on the left, soup on the right.

Washed that down with a gin martini on the rocks. Woke up Sunday feeling kind of icky. But was going to a flea market so didn't stop to think about why I didn't feel good. There was too much junk to discover.

SUNDAY: wild mushroom (including OYSTER) and thyme frittata. And again, unknowingly washed it down with a gin martini.

TODAY: Sick, sick, sick. A pretty big hangover with all the fixins mentioned above except trouble breathing.

I am just so happy it wasn't the martini that made me sick. That would have really been a tragedy. This is just a mere "poisoning". Whew!

Wild Mushrooms!

No build up to this announcement.  Just announcing it loud and clear.  I'll leave all the puns up to Megan, because she is such a Fun-Gi.

Let me tell you why this is so exciting.  Last week, I had a super ripe papaya.  I dashed it with cayenne pepper, a drizzle of honey and a squeeze of lime juice and had it for lunch (February challenge).  I made an Asian soup and thought to myself, this could use pink pepper corns (September's challenge).  I made an eggplant and potato curry and served it over black rice (May's challenge) instead of brown.  What's the point you ask?  The point is, this food challenge has made me a much better cook.  More confident for sure.  I am actually using the ingredients I am learning about in my everyday cooking without thinking twice.

So I'm very excited to work with wild mushrooms.  I want to be more confident with them.  I want to be forced to buy some of every type,  shitakes, morels, chanterelles, cremini, oyster, porcini, enoki* and see how and where to put them.  Cook them with wine, with cream, in a tart, who knows what.  But I'll know by the end of the month.  And then I'll use them all year round.

Still no camera.

*O.K. some of these are cultivated.  But I am going to do the best I can with the food chain that we live in. 

You think a half marathon is bad ...

Well, I agreed to road trip to Chicago last weekend to entertain the opportunity of No Chefs Allow as a radio show.  By Saturday morning, our departure morning, I was completely exhausted and overwhelmed by this agreement.  I was facing a piano lesson first, then a soccer game and then we were going to hit the road.  The soccer game got postponed, the laundry was completely dirty and I just didn't feel ready to take all three of our kids on a trip to Chicago without Chris.

I am usually up for a challenge, but on Saturday I thought the best idea was to cancel.  I texted Megan, 'Completely overwhelmed.  I don't think we can make it.'  She responds, 'Just get in the car.  Our future depends on it.'  So that's how all three kids ended up strapped in, the dirty laundry thrown in the trunk and the no-snack road trip began.  A half marathon was sounding like the better option.

In the end, it was worth it.  When we began discussions about how to approach the sample of the show we wanted to produce I was like a deer in headlights.  But then Jamie, the producer, asked what I would tell someone about a parsnip ... and the flood gates opened.  I've been Monday morning quarterbacking the entire experience ever since. (Not the road trip.  I'm blocking that out.)  Things I could have done to make it better.  Different uses of kitchen sounds to have going in the background.  How to introduce a caller.  Better one-liners.  Oh, the one-liners I should have used.

But the taping is over and it is what it is.  Click and Clack meets the parsnip.  I'd listen to it.  But regardless of that, we certainly cooked with it.

I only got one photo.  It's of the soup of which I highly recommend.  I highly recommend the bacon sausage too.  (Even if it requires an impromptu road trip to Chicago.)

Creamy Parsnip Soup
Heat about 2 tbsps butter in a large pot over medium heat.  Add about two leeks cleaned and sliced.  Cook these about five minutes until they are soft and then pull out a hefty scoop and reserve them in a bowl. 

I then added one can of chicken broth but you could probably skip that.  Add about a pound of parsnips, peeled and trimmed like carrots, and cut into one inch chunks.  Add two apples, I used granny smith, peeled and cut into chunks.  Add one potato peeled and cut into chucks.  There's a pattern going on here. 

Then cover it all up with water.  Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and partially cover it.  Simmer until the parsnips are tender.  If they are ... then the rest of it is too. 

You can use an immersion blender here to puree the soup ... but if you are cooking at Megan O'Connor's you will need to use the food processor.  If you are at Megan's, return the soup to the pot. 

Then my favorite part, add about two turns of the pot of heavy cream.  (Heavy cream makes me feel special.  As do leeks actually.)  Stir it in and then season with salt and pepper.  Then take the reserved leeks and saute them up with more butter until they are clearly brown.  Serving these on top the soup was key.  The smooth puree just needed a hint of texture.  Try it for Thanksgiving.  Megan's going to.

Friends, Family, Ups and Downs

Wow, what a weekend I had. I considered that I had taken on a bit much, but it was all so fun somehow it seemed worth it.

My weekend started with a girls night away in Wisconsin. What happened the next morning however was not as glamorous as a "girls night away" might sound. We gathered at a friend's house in Lake Geneva for a 13.1 mile run on Saturday morning. I was not at all concerned about the run as I have done a number of half marathons over the years and I actually felt like I was ready. I was wrong! The race was 13 miles of hills. Up and down for 13 miles. It was brutal. There were times that I was moving so slow up the hills I literally felt like I was running in place. And based on my time, I may very well have been. I finished but not without tears, regret and a sense of "how did this happen?". But the Ups and Downs soon were masked by a big fat lunch, lots of laughs and a road trip back to Chicago. Here we are after...ugh!

Saturday night -- Bob Newhart. Sold out. Yes, Sold Out Bob Newhart. The excitement of it proved to be better than the actual show, but I must say it did bring back memories of sitcoms and funny lines and the evening as a whole was fun.

And then Sunday. Tricia and her kids came to town on Saturday night so that she and I could record a demo for a radio show. Too funny. I suspect this effort will end up like our dreams of going on the road playing guitar (we both dropped out of our lessons). We had a blast. We recorded a segment on our Battle for the month -- the parsnip. And yucked it up the whole way through with my friend Jamie who was our producer, guide and engineer.

Following that, Jamie, Tricia, our cousin Jaime and I all started cooking. We made a meal with parsnips (Tricia do you have pics?):

Parsnip, leek and apple soup
Smashed potato and parsnip with fresh thyme
Parsnip Cake AND

We were lucky enough (through the generosity and talent of some friends) to also serve Bacon Sausage. You heard me...bacon sausage. Talk about delicious. One of my neighbors is the chef, and inventor of this amazing food. His company is called Big Fork. And he has a number of bacon sausages that are as wonderful as they sound...Aged Cheddar, Cracked Black Pepper and Maple & Brown Sugar, and the original which we devoured, Hickory & Applewood. Look him up, get yourself some of this wonderfulness. And tell him I sent you. www.bigforkbrands.com

Whew. What an amazing weekend. The friends and family being the highlight. The Ups and Downs causing me great physical and emotional damage.

What did I learn? Cooking is fun. Friends make it better. Hills are bad.

It isn't Thanksgiving without the proper "turkey-ware"

I was kind of procrastinating thinking about Thanksgiving this year. You may think it is a little early to start procrastinating, but let me tell you about Thanksgiving at our house. This year we will have John's 5 siblings, their spouses and kids, and Aunt Ann Marie. This adds up to 26 people. And right now you are thinking..."wimp, what's the big deal"? Well, what if I told you that those 26 people arrive on Wednesday and leave on Saturday? Yes. Uh huh. That is Thanksgiving.

So, as usual, when faced with a lot of plans to make, I just choose not to think about it. This sometimes works. But mostly it ends up with me cursing myself, and a family running for cover from the Beast. But I was prepared to procrastinate anyway when much to my surprise I got a package from my sisters-in-law. Inside, turkey-ware. Turkey salt and peppers, turkey butter dish, and turkey napkins. "Couldn't resist how cute these were and how perfect with your dishes! Hope you don't have them already", read the card.

Well ladies, no worries, until today I did not have the proper turkey-ware for our feast. And not only did you remind me how much there is to do to prepare for our festive feast of a weekend, you got me moving. In fact, tonight I am trying out a new side dish and dessert using parsnips of course.

Thanks for the gift, for thinking of me and for getting me moving.

Step 1: Get turkey-ware. Check.

Confessions of an Ex-Photographer

I made mussels for the first time a couple weeks ago and I wanted to show you.  On Monday I made fresh ricotta cheese and I was completely ecstatic about the results.  I wanted to tell you all about it.  And yesterday .... don't get me started ... yesterday the kids and I had Brownie Fest 2011.  We made three types from scratch, super chocolatey, peanut butter and banana chocolate chunk brownies.  We were starting an espresso infused brownie when we realized we ran out of butter.*  I wanted to share it with you.  But I didn't.  Do you know why?

I don't have a camera.  I know.  I know what you're thinking.  "How can a girl who has owned and operated a photography studio for the past ten years, worked with the top of the line professional cameras and is married to another photographer who thinks his job description is buying new cameras NOT have a camera?" I am ashamed.  But when I left working at the studio and moved into a marketing job at a sales firm it turns out I didn't get to take one with me.  And my new job doesn't offer you one.  Insurance ... yes.  Cameras ... no.  The only camera available to me now is the one on my I-Phone 3GS ... I don't even have the I-phone 4.  And those photos just don't do it for me.  I feel trapped at my inability to actually adjust my depth of field, my ISO, my flash.  It is starting to depress me.

So I can't wait for Chris to get home from work today, sit down to dinner and ask me how I'm doing.  He will be completely shocked when I tell him I want to buy a new camera.  Oh how the tables have turned.

*Brownie fest was completely impromptu and fun.  I said,"Oh my, look at the mess we are making"  Atticus responded, "Who cares, we're all having a ball."  Perspective adjusted.

Say Cheesy!

What luck! It is National Cheesy Month. An opportunity for each and every American to look inside and discover their cheesy qualities. And let it all hang out for one full month.

I myself took a good look. Fortunately for me, I didn't have to dig that deep. So what do I plan to do in celebration?

1. Join the Justin Bieber fan club
2. Apply bumper sticker -- "if you're not a hemorrhoid, get off my ass"
3. KEGGER!
4. 24/7 Glee fest
5. Matching Disney t-shirts for the whole family
6. Road trip to Graceland
7. Play Farmville
7. Attend upcoming Bob Newhart show in Chicago

What fun. Bob Newhart is actually in town in just two weeks. And I've got great seats. And really he isn't cheesy at all. Just hilarious!

Enjoy the month. Don't let anyone tell you this is National Cheese Month. If they do they are just trying to be cool, foodie types -- yea..."real cheese balls".

Dear Parsnip

Dear Parsnip,

I know. It isn't easy for you. You sit among the produce, looking a little like a sickly carrot. Less exciting, less colorful. They call you rutabaga-like, bitter, overpowering. And I know you don't get much attention. You seem to move around the produce, as if they just don't know where to put you.

To that we say, "move over Mister Fancy Shmancy Carrot". This is Parsnip's month to get all the attention. Bring on Battle Parsnip.

This month, we plan to puree you, smash you, season you, roast you, and maybe grill you. You will stand alone and be forced to work well with others. You will have the opportunity to spice things up, to show off your personality, and be the life of the dinner party.

So, Parsnip, get ready for Battle Parsnip. Show us your stuff.

Sincerely,

Megan and Tricia