Coming to My Senses

Our latest Cook the Books Club selection, Coming to My Senses, by Alice Waters, which I am hosting this round.

And, I kept hoping that she would!  In the end.  As far as her personal life went at least. Rather radical as far as politics and morals, (what she termed "serial monogamy") though an accurate glimpse into that particular time and place.

 For the restaurant concept, as Alice remarks in her Afterword, "I knew very well that I was running a counterculture restaurant, and that Chez Panisse would never have happened without that movement.  I couldn't have done it in the real world; the idea of having only one menu was preposterous by mainstream standards, and I never could have borrowed money from the banks.  But everybody in the counterculture felt that if you did something really well, however unorthodox, if you stayed true to human principles, you could succeed.... Our place didn't look like other places.  We bought used furniture and put mismatched vintage glassware on the table.  We hired women as cooks and waitstaff in a fine-dining establishment, which was practically unheard of at the time.  The women and men we hired didn't have long cooking resumes but were smart and talented and believed in the vision."

From the Publishers: 

"The long-awaited memoir from cultural icon and culinary standard bearer Alice Waters recalls the circuitous road and tumultuous times leading to the opening of what is arguably America's most influential restaurant.

When Alice Waters opened the doors of her "little French restaurant" in Berkeley, California, in 1971 at the age of 27, no one ever anticipated the indelible mark it would leave on the culinary landscape - Alice least of all. Fueled in equal parts by naiveté and a relentless pursuit of beauty and pure flavor, she turned her passion project into an iconic institution that redefined American cuisine for generations of chefs and food lovers."

I had a few laugh out loud moments, for instance when, a decade after the restaurant had been opened she "filmed an episode with Julia Child for one of her shows ... I was pitting olives with my fingers, and she said in that fluting voice of hers, "Oh! Is that how you pit an olive, Alice?  How fascinating"  And the recollections of how she picked her staff and collaborators, "I looked for another person who could cook - I was way too afraid to shoulder all of the cooking myself.... and Tom, ever the great connector, said "Oh I'll find somebody for you ... and he found Paul Aratow, an aspiring filmmaker who was the cameraman for Agnes Varda's documentary on the Black Panthers.  Paul was a really good Italian cook, and he did help me.  I believed in his instincts."

There was just so much food inspiration, but I was especially taken with her love of salads, Alice even went so far as bringing one as her special dish to New York for a big fete featuring the "twenty-five best restaurants in the country.  (We were number seven!)." P.103.  She brought a composed salad, on a special plate donated by James Beard.

As I do love salads,  that was my inspiration and featured dish for this post!  Some of its story involves a long diatribe on the subject of Sacha Inchi, a plant I'm growing, also known as the Peruvian Peanut, which I will save for another time. Or, why wait, just check out the above link. However, I just can't resist -  this nut is actually a complete protein!  You notice the small brown object on my fork in the picture?  That's one, and I will do a post on the plant soon.  As it's one of those tropical plants and probably not of general interest, still I find it fascinating!  Just look at the shape of it!

You harvest them when they turn brown, then dry, roast and crack them open, a whole process to get at the nut inside.  Similar in some ways to the process of chocolate or coffee. But worth it in the end.  They are good, and a nice replacement for where you might use peanuts.

Anyway, back to the salad.  Not a totally "composed" recipe, but more as I tend to do, throw things together!  With an oil and vinegar dressing, also thrown together, I usually add some shoyu, sesame oil and a bit of Balsamic vinegar.  Hoping it all works out well.  This one did!

As far as I recall, it had shredded cabbage, slices of small sweet pepper, cherry tomatoes, ramen noodles, shredded carrot, some fresh greens, basil and of course, the toasted Sacha Inchi nuts.  

The deadline for posting your contributions is September 30th.  Be sure to add your link in the comments at Cook the Books Club.  I'll be including this post at Heather's Foodies Read Challenge, and Weekend Cooking, hosted by Marge, the Intrepid Reader and Baker.

Naan for A Bakery in Paris

 

Well, I'm a bit under the wire on this one.  I could blame it on my stressful life at the moment.  Anyway, our latest (deadline today!!) pick for Cook the Books Club has been this very well written and inspirational novel, A Bakery in Paris, by Aimee K. Runyan, which juxtaposes the lives of two women of the same family, from different generations, both set around, yes, a bakery in Paris.

From the Publishers:

This captivating historical novel set in nineteenth-century and post-World War II Paris follows two fierce women of the same family, generations apart, who find that their futures lie within the four walls of a simple bakery in a tiny corner of Montmartre. 1870: The Prussians are at the city gates, intent to starve Paris into submission. Lisette Vigneau--headstrong, willful, and often ignored by her wealthy parents--awaits the outcome of the war from her parents' grand home in the Place Royale in the very heart of the city. When an excursion throws her into the path of a revolutionary National Guardsman, Théodore Fournier, her destiny is forever changed. She gives up her life of luxury to join in the fight for a Paris of the People. She opens a small bakery with the hopes of being a vital boon to the impoverished neighborhood in its hour of need. When the city falls into famine, and then rebellion, her resolve to give up the comforts of her past life is sorely tested. 

1946: Nineteen-year-old Micheline Chartier is coping with the loss of her father and the disappearance of her mother during the war. In their absence, she is charged with the raising of her two younger sisters. At the hand of a well-meaning neighbor, Micheline finds herself enrolled in a prestigious baking academy with her entire life mapped out for her. Feeling trapped and desperately unequal to the task of raising two young girls, she becomes obsessed with finding her mother. Her classmate at the academy, Laurent Tanet, may be the only one capable of helping Micheline move on from the past and begin creating a future for herself. Both women must grapple with loss, learn to accept love, and face impossible choices armed with little more than their courage and a belief that a bit of flour, yeast, sugar, and love can bring about a revolution of their own.

I was inspired by all the bread, how necessary, how central It became, especially for those people in line to get a loaf in difficult times, and often unable to get any.  Since I usually have sourdough on hand I made a very easy flatbread, called naan.  What was especially nice is that the little balls of dough can be kept in the fridge for a few days, and then rolled out and cooked on the skillet when needed.  Several were used for a side with various meals.  I stuffed one with chicken salad, and made one into a small pizza for one.

Servings: 8

Ingredients: 

               ½ cup (125 g) sourdough starter discard (unfed)

               2 ½ cups (300 g) all-purpose flour

               ½ cup (120 g) milk (dairy or plant based)

               ¼ cup (60 g) plain yogurt (dairy or plant based) I used kefir)

               1 tablespoon (15 g) olive oil 

               1 ½ teaspoons (7 g) sea salt

               

INSTRUCTIONS

• • Mix the dough: Mix the wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add the flour and salt to the bowl. Use your hands to incorporate the ingredients until they are well combined and there are no dry bits left in the bowl. The dough will be stiff. Cover the bowl with plastic and let rest at room temperature until doubled in size. In my 68°F ( 20°C) kitchen, it takes roughly 8 hours. Warmer kitchens will take less time, colder kitchens will take more time.
    Divide and shape: Turn the dough out onto your work surface and use a bench scraper to divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, about 78g each. Shape each piece into a ball and cover them with a kitchen towel. (At this stage the dough balls can be stored in a covered container, in the fridge for up to 3 days before cooking.)
    Preheat skillet: While the dough is resting, preheat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes. If you are worried about sticking, feel free to oil the skillet, but I find it's not necessary.
    Roll dough: Working with one ball of dough at a time, use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a round shape with a ⅛" thickness. Use a little flour if necessary to prevent sticking. The dough rounds should be about 6" in diameter.
    Cook naan: Place the rolled dough into the skillet and cook for 2 minutes. Flip the naan over and cook on the second side for 1-2 minutes. Flip the naan one more time and watch for the dough to puff up with air. Once it is full, remove it from the skillet and repeat with the remaining dough. Serve hot or at room temperature.
    NOTES
    Store the cooked naan at room temperature in a plastic bag for up to 3 days.
    If you store the dough in the fridge to cook later, allow the dough to come to room temperature before cooking for best results.
    Freeze the naan in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months.

Naan, it turns out is something I'll be making a lot more of.  If you're interested, but don't keep a sourdough starter, there are other naan recipes out there that just use regular yeast, and which would make for a faster result as well.

Be sure to check out all the various, and I'm sure delicious contributions when our Round-Up is posted in a day or so at Cook the Books.  I'll also link this up with Heather's Foodies Read for August, and at Weekend Cooking, hosted by the Intrepid Baker and Reader, Marg.

Long Title, Good Reading!

 

We at Cook the Books Club have been reading and getting inspired to cook from The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club, by Helen Simonson, hosted this round by Simona of Briciole.  

I enjoyed the book which provided a real as well as entertaining glimpse of life at that time, and characters with plenty of flaws, quirks and all the realities of human nature.  Here's a quick summary from the Booklist Review:

"Constance Haverhill is sensible and useful, but those admirable qualities aren't enough for her to live on in post-WWI England. Lady Mercer has Constance spending the summer at the Meredith Hotel in seaside Hazelbourne with her mother, Mrs. Fog, whom Constance nursed through a bout of influenza. A chance meeting in the lobby has her taking up with rebellious Poppy Wirrall, who spent the war years as a motorcycle courier and now runs a ladies taxi service with all-women drivers. Poppy's brother, Harris, lost half a leg in the war and longs to fly again. In an attempt to cheer him up, Poppy buys a decrepit Sopwith Camel and hires Harris' wartime mechanic to fix it up. Simonson (The Summer before the War, 2016) brilliantly captures the pains of a generation of young people at a crossroads in an England ravaged by war and a flu epidemic, especially of the women who kept the home front going only to be tossed aside when the men came home. Constance is a quietly lovable heroine, a woman who longs for independence but is stifled by society's expectations." 

The novel also captures the prejudices, snobbery and ignorance in general of the era.  A pair of visitors from India are scheduled to take part in the Peace Parade, but then eliminated due to their Colonial origins, as not being worthy of inclusion.  So, I decided to feature Basu and Pandora, who, is revealed, after putting aside his more ordinary honorific, to be the new young Maharaja of Kochi Benar.  Then of course there is a quite hypocritical turn around, a Royal welcome!  And he is able to help with the exciting developments and resolution of the storyline.  So, in remembrance, a delicious curry and cheese in their honor!

The curry is topped with a light cheese, Paneer.  I had most of a 1/2 gallon of  milk go off, as may have happened to you at one time or another!  So, of course I looked up things to do with it, and discovered the miracle of Paneer!  A very easy and delicious cheese. Here's the directions:

Gently bring the milk to the boil in a large pan, stirring regularly to prevent it catching. Once boiling, add enough lemon juice to get it to split. Remove from the heat and allow to stand for 30 minutes – this will help the curds separate from the whey. Strain through a muslin-lined colander, catching the whey in a bowl. Twist the muslin to squeeze out any remaining liquid. Optionally, you can tie and hang it up to continue draining overnight.  Once cool, chill the curds, setting a plate and something heavy like a tin of beans on top to press them down. After an hour you could stir-fry the paneer and it will crumble into a scrambled texture. Or leave it overnight so it’s firm enough to cut into cubes and fry.

When frying paneer, a non-stick pan is really helpful. Try not to turn the cheese before the sides have turned golden and crisp, or you might find it sticking to the pan.  I was surprised by how good it was.

Next, was to use it in a curry.  I found a recipe for a delicious Spinach and Paneer Pulao, from Delicious magazine.  That site doesn't allow you to copy and send.  At any rate I did make a few changes, i.e. instead of spinach I used Chaya, or Tree Spinach, a perennial tropical plant.  I do love perennials, they keep on keeping on!

I want to try more paneer recipes now, it was really worth the little effort of saving off milk! And it makes you feel so productive and frugal!  

Keep tuned in for the coming Round-up of posts after the 31st of May at our Cook the Books Club site.

Also linking with Marge, The Intrepid Reader and Baker for Weekend Cooking, and with Heather for her May Foodies Read.

Be Ready When the Luck Happens, or Push on til it Does?

Our most recent Cook the Books Club selection (February - March) is Ina Garten's new memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens.  I was clueless as far as this author goes.  Having never read any of her cookbooks, or watched her on TV, etc., this was an interesting memoir as a commentary on the life of a celebrity, though more so for her fans, I'm sure.

Ina, as we read in her memoir, was shaped by a sad, difficult and actually abusive childhood.  You come to realize afresh that some people really should not have children at all.  Because of which upbringing, Ina Garten it seems was driven to assert herself in adulthood.  With her accomplishments and ambition in the face of obstacles, at times including her marriage, it was a wonder to me that her relationship with her husband, Jeffrey survived.  She was blessed indeed with that man in her life, and that they were both able to grow through it all.

I checked out several of her cookbooks for inspiration and have tried a few recipes, with mixed reviews.

One, an Oven Baked Asparagus Risotto, from her Go-To Dinners book was very good, delicious in fact.  and we both enjoyed it.  Loved the taste of saffron in there.

One of our last meals together, in fact.  This has been a very stressful and sad time for me.  So this post won't go on too much.  Bob went to heaven last Friday morning, after a long bout with bone cancer.  This was about done, so just finishing up here.  Cook the Book Club for this Feb/March edition. Apologies for being a day late!

All Things Bright and Beautiful - For Sunday Salon and Beyond

 

Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb Nance is a place where we get to share what has been happening in our lives.  And, it's been a few weeks since I've posted here.  Sometimes life gets in the way!  

A friend and I started things off with a bang, well at least a good view of the current eruption. Having some delicious Volcano House pizza while viewing is the Bomb! Especially after taking in an art exhibit and demonstration by a fantastic Pyrographic Artist!       

       

                Aloha Reef by John Mydock

Some mediocre books as well as a few better ones were gone through.  On the mediocre side, since I last posted here, The Last List of Mabel Beaumont.  Ho hum.

On the other hand, for sheer fun and breaking into frequent laughter, there was my catching up with Janet Evanovich and her Stephanie Plum silly series.  I'm caught up to here with, Game On: Tempting 28.

And, Alexander McCall Smith is always dependable for insight and wisdom, along with a good story. My latest read from his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, The Great Hippopotamus Hotel.

In the garden, my interesting subject is commonly called Lipstick Pod, otherwise known as Achiote, a tree from which I gathered some ripe pods to make a small batch of the oil.  This spice is used in Puerto Rican cooking as well as others, as a flavoring and coloring agent in things like tamales, mole sauce and ceviche.

I was making a batch of Gandule Red Rice.  A local favorite here in Hawaii.

On the table, thanks to Simona of Briciole, I made up some her recently posted warm salad, Radicchio and Red Grapes.  I love the contrast of bitter and sweet.  Though admittedly I added a bit of maple syrup.:)

Inspired by my current Reading: Be Ready When the Luck Happens, by Ina Garten.  This recipe came from her book,  Modern Comfort Food.  Roasted Sausages, Peppers, Tomatoes and Onions served with Corn Polenta.  Really a seriously good meal. 

And, Brews

My latest experiment with Kombucha, is a second ferment (where the flavors are added and carbonation happens) of cacao nibs, cinnamon stick pieces, vanilla bean pieces and raw cane sugar.  May it not explode!

Until next time!  Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Food for the Land of Milk and Honey

We participants at Cook the Books Club have been reading Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang.  The novel centers on an unnamed chef, 29, who is trying to survive in the wake of an environmental catastrophe which has wreaked havoc on the earth's biodiversity.  According to Publisher's Weekly...

She had "chased complex flavors and busy kitchens since she was 19. But when the disaster decimated kitchen ingredients and shuttered borders, she was left cooking with years-old fish and bioengineered flour: "Chef had lost its meaning... like fresh." In a desperate attempt to change her surroundings, she takes a head chef position at a secretive food research community on the mountainous Italian-French border, which holds a surprising storeroom with the world's last strawberries, Parmigiano, and boar meat. Her transition to cooking for investors she cannot meet is difficult--she has no access to the outside world and she can't stomach the rich food. But she becomes preoccupied with Aida, the boss's mischievous 20-year-old daughter, who shows up to test her cooking. Aida and her father see their facility as the planet's last hope, and the chef soon learns that her role extends beyond food to enabling a world that caters to their ambition. Wrestling with her desire for both excitement and stability, the chef must squash the inner voice that asks, "Hadn't I meant to feed anyone else?"

Personally, I had a hard time identifying with this nameless chef who seemed, to me anyway, a very unsympathetic character. Her namelessness is symbolic.  Zhang attempts to tie everything up at the end.  Chef survives and, in the after years, has a daughter by some man, also nameless.  A theme of difficulty with men ran throughout the story.  Though the dystopian setup was interesting it really didn't get satisfactorily resolved. 

I went with "the years-old fish and bioengineered flour" or as the book says,"mung-protein-soy-algal flour distributed by the government", for my cooking inspiration from this book - a jar of Tuna Ventresca, which I keep on hand, in a Bechamel sauce, served over some rolls made with my stored breadfruit and tapioca flours - the bioengineered bread.

P. 98 “It wasn't tuna ventresca that drew diners to this community over others, nor was it heritage beef. It was the final bottle of a 1985 Cannonau, salt-crusted from its time on the Sardinian coast. Each diner had barely a swallow. My employer bid us not to swallow, not yet, but hold the wine at the back of the throat till it stung and warmed to the temperature of blood and spit, till we wrung from it the terroir of fields cracked by quake and shadowed by smog; only then, swallowing, choking, grateful, did we appreciate the fullness of its flavor.” Oh well....

                   Brazilian Cheese  Bread

Servings

12 to 16 pao de queijo

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups Tapioca Flour

• 1 cup Ulu (breadfruit) flour

• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

• 1 cup Whole Milk

• 1 ½ teaspoon Salt

• 1 Egg

• 1 cup Grated Parmesan

• ½ cup Shredded Sharp Cheddar

• Butter to grease pan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F oil baking sheet or muffin pans with butter.

2. Add tapioca flour, ‘ulu flour and salt to bowl and mix well.

3. Warm liquids (milk & olive oil) over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Add hot liquids over flour & salt mixture and mix well. The texture should seem like glue. Let cool for about 5-10 minutes so you do not cook egg and cheese when you add them in.

4. Beat 1 egg and combine. Mix for about 2 minutes or until it is well incorporated and has a sticky texture. Slowly add cheese until the mixture forms into a dough. You can leave a little cheese to add on top later on.

5. Add a few drops of oil into your hands and rub evenly. Scoop a spoonful of dough, make small balls and roll in your hands. Place the dough balls 2 inches apart on your sheet or add to your muffin pan.

6. Bake for 10 minutes. Then turn the sheet 180 degrees and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the balls for additional cheesy appearance & texture. Bake for an additional 8 minutes or until slightly golden. Be careful not to over cook, as the bottom of pao de queijo can easily burn.  

The rolls were a bit on the dense side, which is what you can get without gluten flour. This is a simple dish I usually have over toast.  The Tuna Ventresca in white sauce was very good.  It's a high end tuna, worth every bit of the extra.

Linking up with Cook the Books Club for this December/January book selection.  And with the February Foodies Read, hosted by Heather at Based on a True Story.  Our next Cook the Books Selection February/March, is Be Ready When the Luck Happens, by Ina Garden, and hosted by Debra of (Eliot's Eats).