Nutty Family Vacation

You are wondering exacly what I mean..."nutty vacation" OR "nutty family? I am not going to answer that.

At the end of June, Tricia and I, and about 20 of our nearest and dearest family members are meeting up in North Carolina for our bi-annual family vacation. This trip is always a good time --sun, surf, food, drinks, crying, hitting, screaming, whining -- well mostly a good time.

Our brother-in-law, Mike (seen here) has created a face-to-face battle for Tricia and I.

Mike is our sister Lauren's husband -- and a take charge kind of guy. So it seemed only natural that he pick the ingredient. Of course we are battling for which one of us will get to have Mike, the ultimate sous chef, in our kitchen for the battle. Maybe we should call this Battle Mike.

No, Mike has given us our challenge and it is: Battle Pecans

So, pack up your nutcracker, and let's hit the beach!

I've been draggin...I mean dragon!

It is true I have been dragging a bit lately. The weather in Chicago makes me want to curl up in a ball and sleep for days. But since I can't do that (work, kids, life), I have been cranky. Really cranky. Just cranky enough to go looking for inspiration. And I found it. Its name is dragon fruit. Beautiful, pink, happy, bright dragon fruit.

And if this dragon lady exterior is not enough to make you happy. Check out the inside...

As one does when trying out a new food -- call the neighbor kid. Meet Alexis (or at least her mouth) . She will try anything I give her. She is my hero. And she gobbled up very sweet and kiwi-like dragon fruit and even took some home to share with her family. If only Alexis could make the sun come out...

Something borrowed, something black

The black was black rice, duh. The borrowed came from an amazing website, http://www.2gourmaniacs.com/. I was tooling around trying to find something that would combine kumquats and lychee. I picked up fresh lychee last week, and thought it should be used with my black rice...somehow. So I typed in kumquats and lychee and up came a beautiful picture of asparagus with a fruity, tangy, beautiful sauce. So...I stole it!

And glad I did. I actually added black rice to the dish and shrimp. I served the whole thing cold, which was nice on a hot (almost summer) day. Get a load of this.

I mean really, that is beautiful. It tasted great too. The sauce was so tangy and the textures of the rice, the shrimp and the asparagus all worked really well together. And bonus, I got to stack food, which I love.

I also did an appetizer. I made black rice sushi. Pretty basic, tuna, wasabi, rice. Presented it with ginger of course, but also some quail eggs and a beautiful dragon fruit. More on the dragon fruit in another blog. The presentation was really lovely and appetizing. The sushi was nothing to write home about. But to be fair, it was the first time I attempted sushi, so all told trying and succeeding with the black rice instead of sushi rice, to me, Big Win.

And here is my happy judge, Eileen and her daughter Jessie. Eileen was a great judge, not only did she stroke my ego and give me 19 points, but she also brought dinner for the kids. Thanks Eileen! You can bring my kids dinner ANY TIME.

I am pretty sure black rice is a keeper. I love this stuff. So stay tuned, I suspect it won't be long til I'm "Back in Black". (Sorry, I had to).

TMI

When I was 10 or so my friend, and then next door neighbor Megan Moore Murphy, and I decided to go into business together.  We created a candy bar.  It was made of caramel and chocolate and covered in nuts.  We called it - The Poop Bar.  I think that's enough to bring the story together for you.  (And no, I don't know why my mom didn't watch me closer.)  We had packaging and a jingle that explained this culinary delight wasn't real, just in case you were fooled by the uncanny resemblance.  We sold a few, but ate most.  My sons think this is the greatest thing I have ever done.  And yes, a memory I should have never shared with them in the first place.  And probably not with you either.

Well, after Battle Black Rice you will see why I had flashbacks.

Having shown you the photos, I will tell you, despite their appearance they tasted great.  I made the black rice risotto again but took it a step further by filling it with gorgonzola cheese, rolling it in bread crumbs and then frying it up.  They were great and filling.  The second 'dish' was black and white chocolate rice pudding.  I tried to make just black rice pudding but I couldn't get the consistency right.  So I made white rice pudding and then combined the black rice to it and added the chocolate.  It was rich and tasty.  These were just two dishes in the Italian Antipasto meal I prepared that was full of all sorts of pretty things.

All that to say no one thought twice about these dishes until I took photos of them.  But amongst the orange salad, caprese salad, roasted asparagus and grilled bread, italian meats and the wine, the meal and company -thanks Asa and Heather- was delightful.   But if I serve this again, I better call Megan Murphy and get to work on a new jingle.

The Cabbage is always Greener

I am feeling a little defensive after a visit with my sister Tricia this weekend. Seems upon reading my latest blog, she was disappointed by my cabbage rolls. In fact she said these horrifically offensive words “grey food”. That’s right, that’s what she said. Defensively I replied “I just have a bad camera, it wasn’t grey, really it was bright green, I swear they were fabulous and NOT GREY”. And then I went to the ultimate childish rant “your husband is a photographer, that’s not fair”.


I am back home in my little office in Chicago and realize that I have been thinking about how bad my cabbage rolls look on our blog. I will not be removing the picture, however I do feel compelled to tell you.

“THEY WERE GREEN! GREEN! GREEN!”

On a roll...

Or more appropriately...in a roll. I give you the black rice cabbage roll! You may not be as excited as I am, but I will tell you I did not see a recipe for this ANYWHERE on the web. This might indeed have been the first black rice cabbage roll ever created (or could it be because this rice is "forbidden" no one is talking). I think not. I OWN THIS ONE!


Here is a breakdown of my creation.

Made the black rice ahead of time, like I had before. Soaked it in water for a few hours, then boiled for 20 minutes or so in vegetable broth. It was a little chewier this time than last, I think I didn't cook it as long. And I think chewy is better.

I added the rice to a bunch of mushrooms. Button, Shitake, and more. Some fresh chives, and lots of garlic.

Then I rolled them in Savoy cabbage leaves (which I blanched in boiling water for about 3 minutes). I didn't have any kitchen string so I just rolled them and snuggly placed them in a saucepan. Poured vegetable broth over the rolls and then threw in more mushrooms, garlic and chives.

They cooked for 20 minutes or so and smelled WONDERFUL! When they were finished, I took the juice and mushrooms and pureed in the food processor. The purea was a bit ugly. So maybe I will make more of a mushroom sauce next time. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you,

Forbidden Cabbage Rolls

12 years later ...

... my black rice is done.  So Margot and I walked to Bexley's Natural Market today and bought some.  It was actually a black rice mixed with mahogany rice.  Next time I will get the real thing, but this was good enough for practice.

Anyway, I decided to cook it risotto style.  Started at 4 pm.  The kids kept busy while I continually stirred and stirred and stirred and stirred and stirred; Margot learned to read, Atticus built the Death Star out of 2000 Legos and Adam completed his comic book series about Captain Vitamin.  O.K. I am exaggerating a bit, but it did take a long time. 

Truth be told.  It's good.  It has a bite to it.  So not only is it full of nutrients but I got a workout from the stirring and the chewing.   It has a nutty flavor and it's really filling.    I served it tonight with the Bolognone's famous Christmas Eve Orange Salad.  I'm glad I did.  It needed something acidic to brighten it up. 

I highly encourage everyone who is thinking of trying it to do so.  I think you'll be pleased.  Chris' words, "Dinner was really good.  Do you need more ice for your shoulder?"

Behold the Power of the Kumquat

One little fruit can pack a ton of sour that is for sure. And two of these people could eat sour skittles 24/7. Must be the taste of fresh fruit sour that turned them off. And then my dear husband who has no taste -- I mean really, his taste buds are not functioning at full human capacity, gave me this look. Whoa!

Aside from popping them in one by one and enjoying their sour, juicy, cruchiness, not sure what to do with them. I have been considering cutting them in half and putting them in with some bitter greens. Or maybe fennel and kumquat would be interesting...with black olives even better. A new take on my family's orange salad. I think I will try that.

In the meantime, I think this little fruit might work when say... someone forgets to do his homework... or maybe hits her sibling... it did keep their lips closed, if only for a moment...

Forbidden? Then I want it!

If I had known it was Forbidden Rice, I would have made black rice before. Who knew? Chinese emperors that's who. Seems they were a bit greedy about their black rice....until along comes Whole Foods. And now a peasant like me can buy a bag for just a couple bucks.

Sounds like making black rice isn't quite as easy to master as the plain old non-forbidden rice. It involves soaking the rice in water over night. Which I did "over day" today.

So now what? Well I'm not going to tell you. It is forbidden you know. All I can say is that while you are all fast asleep tonight I will be at undisclosed location cooking something completely forbidden. Shhhhhhhh.....

Brown is the New Pink

Well, that's what I say to myself when I put my daughter in her brown onesie and risk everyone calling her a boy. 

In the kitchen I say, Black is the New Brown (along with Burnt is the New Charred ;).  Black rice that is.  Its health benefits would make any carbo-anxious person (which I am not) think twice.   It is filled with the antioxidant anthocyanin, the same one found in blueberries.  So we know we are on the right track picking this one for May's battle.   We will be doing ourselves and our families a favor if we can master this ingredient in a way that will entice them to try it.  Plus, it turns purple when you cook it.  That's something Margot could wear with her brown onesie to look more feminine.  At 15 months, she wears most of her food anyway.

So stay tuned.  I am thinking I will create a papaya and black rice stuffed artichoke with a horseradish sauce.  Now where to incorporate Judy the fish?  (See previous battles for inclusion on this inside joke.)