Eating Dirt

Gone To Seed

 "It's just gone to seed", my mother would say, shaking her head and referring to areas of our town she no longer liked, when they had passed out of fashion or become unacceptable.  "Don't touch anything, its so seedy!" She would shout about an untouchable location, like the public bathroom at the playground. Now my lettuce and arugula plants are going to seed. They are bolting, shooting up and flowering. After dinner tonight I can tell you for sure that they are no longer good to eat. Tougher, less flavorful, a little more difficult to chew than I like my salads to be. But they make a nice bouquet.

The Free Dictionary (which appears to be the only one online where I can find an entry for this phrase without using my credit card) defines "go/run to seed" as an idiom with two meanings:

1. To pass into the seed-bearing stage. 

and

2. To become weak or devitalized; deteriorate.

Which fits. Just as people's bodies grow old and wear out after they pass child bearing age, so do plants as they propagate. It makes sense that I'm worn out and will whither and die, after they've sucked all the life out of me and I'm no longer useful. The children, I mean. Have I already gone to seed? I suppose so. My house is surely seedy, but my Mother bites her tongue and knits sweaters for the children instead of mentioning it.

So tonight's dinner was surprisingly well received - both my husband and daughter gobbled the salad with no complaints, and I ate it up too, noting its lack of perfection. As usual, my three year old son did not eat the salad. He never does. But the egg and toast? Just the thing.

 

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Eggs on Toast with Balsamic Vinegar (adapted from The San Francisco Chronicle, May 9 2010):

 

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 large eggs

 

2 slices toasted bread, about 1/2-inch thick

 

1 1/2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar

 

2 small handfuls of spicy lettuce (such as watercress, arugula or baby red mustard greens)

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

 

 

 

Add the olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot but not quite smoking (it will look shimmery), crack each egg into the skillet. Cook them about half a minute, then tilt the pan to roll the oil around, so that it cooks the top of the egg. Season the eggs with salt and pepper and cook until they are done the way you like them. 

Place a piece of toast on each plate, then remove the eggs from the skillet and put them on top of the toast. Pour the excess oil out of the skillet, wipe any remaining oiliness out of the pan.

Put the pan back on the heat, pour the balsamic vinegar into it, and let it cook for just about a minute. Add some salad to on top of your egg, then drizzle with the balsamic vinegar. Salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

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Happy Mother's Day!

I know, its a day late, but I like to drag things on. It gives me more time to enjoy. My family gave me the greatest Mother's Day gifts yesterday. Naturally, they revolved around food, so I have to share them here.

For starters, I got to sleep in until nearly eight in the morning. Thats a really big deal. Then I was greeted in the kitchen with coffee, and blueberry pancakes fluffing on the griddle. Blueberry pancakes are my favorite. I love their purpleness and the burst of tart I get from any still whole berries that have survived the cooking (or is it baking?)  process. They make what has always been a somewhat cloying and humdrum morning ritual for me (the pancake) into an extraordinary awakening. Really, its that good. Something as simple as a handful of berries can make my whole day.

And when my name is written in blueberry pancake, well, it doesn't get much better than that. Except maybe lunch. Actually, lunch didn't even compare, but was still very tasty and most certainly a recipe I'll add to our striped books - where we keep the best of the best. My husband found it in the paper that morning, and we just happened to have some eggs (as usual) some salad (as usual) and some reasonably fresh bread from the bakery (not the norm, sadly). The bread was fig fennel from Arizmendi Bakery which I thought would surely be grotesque with an egg and salad on top, but it was very good. Probably any crusty bread from your local bakery will do, but try this if you're looking to up the ante in your sandwich. 

My husband oiled and toasted the bread, fried the eggs (two eaten by each of our kids!) on our stovetop griddle, and tossed some salad I'd brought in. We ate it with lettuce, but I think, as the recipe says, that a little rocket (aka arugala) would be perfect. 

I've been thinking about salad more than usual, after meeting Alice Waters on saturday. Her latest book, In the Green Kitchen, has a great opener on making salad, which I read again this weekend, after having a ball at the Edible Schoolyard's plant sale with my family. I pride myself on being able to make salad - I pull some greens out of our garden, whip up a dressing and toss it into something most of my family will enjoy (my son steadfastly refuses to eat anything green except kiwis, pesto and apples). But within the first few pages I'd discovered something new - combining garlic and vinegar kind of cooks the garlic a little bit, like a ceviche, tempering its zappy bite for a nice vinaigrette. 

So I swapped out my usual shallot/dijon/oil/vinegar/salt/pepper combo for garlic/vinegar, pause, oil/salt/pepper. And guess what?  It was really good, and my husband loved it. Far more than our standard fare, he said. If something as simple as waiting five minutes before adding the oil makes such a change in my dressing, I'm finally ready to stop washing my lettuces with the spray setting and swishing them vigorously like a small tornado.

Alice Waters warned me years ago, probably in her Chez Panisse Vegtables book, to be gentle so as not to bruise the lettuce, something I have been knowingly guilty of for years. It looks a little floppy, not quite as pretty as some other salads, and on close inspection has little lines all over the leaves. But does it really taste much worse for the wear?  I get a kick out of creating a tempest in my salad spinner and like to think it does a superior job of removing bugs and dirt. But after the garlic success, I'll give the gentle handling a try too.

But this weekend I didn't get a chance, because the kids also made me dinner.  Chili and cornbread, and for dessert - ice cream sandwiched between two homemade oatmeal cookies.  So decadent!

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Eggs on Toast with Balsamic Vinegar (adapted from The San Francisco Chronicle, May 9 2010):

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 large eggs

2 slices toasted bread, about 1/2-inch thick

1 1/2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 small handfuls of spicy lettuce (such as watercress, arugula or baby red mustard greens)

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Add the olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot but not quite smoking (it will look shimmery), crack each egg into the skillet. Cook them about half a minute, then tilt the pan to roll the oil around, so that it cooks the top of the egg. Season the eggs with salt and pepper and cook until they are done the way you like them. 

Place a piece of toast on each plate, then remove the eggs from the skillet and put them on top of the toast. Pour the excess oil out of the skillet, wipe any remaining oiliness out of the pan.

Put the pan back on the heat, pour the balsamic vinegar into it, and let it cook for just about a minute. Add some salad to on top of your egg, then drizzle with the balsamic vinegar. Salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

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Garlic Vinaigrette (adapted from In the Green Kitchen):

 

1 garlic clove, finely chopped or put through a press

 

2 Tablespoons champagne vinegar

4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

salt & pepper

In a small jar with a lid, combine the vinegar and garlic. Let it sit for at least five minutes. 

Add the olive oil and about a quarter teaspoon of salt and freshly ground pepper. Put the lid on and shake it up.

After washing and drying your lettuce, put it into a big salad bowl. Dress it with some of the vinaigrette, beginning sparingly and building up to the amount of dressing you like on your salad, tossing it with tongs as you add dressing.  When it is sufficiently dressed, grind a bit more pepper over the top and serve right away.

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Doughies!

These little lovelies are something sweet my friend Steph reminded me of long ago. Steph and I go way back, before even high school, and today we still try to get together to cook and eat dinner frequently. For many years it happened once a week and often featured chicken pot pie, but now that we have three children between us, not nearly as often.

Steph is the pie making queen, but I have to say that although she can whip up a crust in no time at all, my Grandmother wins out in the flakiness category. She tells me her secret is to make the ice water as cold as you possibly can. I've struggled with crust making for many years - honestly, I just don't like to do it. Its not a difficult thing, but more a motivational problem. Once I get going its actually kind of fun and I'm always surprised at how little time it takes. So I make mine well in advance. They keep fine in the freezer, wrapped in plastic, and my recipe makes enough for two quiches or pot pies (if you only do a top crust).

Speaking of pie contests - I just heard about the San Francisco Giants County Fair yesterday. Its too bad that our city doesn't have a county fair, or at least I don't think it does, but this sounds like the next best thing. 2010 is the second year for the fair, and this time CUESA, the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (they run the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, among other things) will host a program called Urban Eats that celebrates home grown produce and home made food. There will be contests for baked and preserved food, home food gardening, eggs, and more. I can't wait!  There will also be carnival rides and more crappy food than is usually served at the ballpark!  Hooray! The fair runs June 11-20 and will overlap with six Giants games, which I guess means run at the same time as. I'm so there.

Tonight for dinner we had ham and cheese quiche, with a salad. Doughies are what one makes from the leftover crust after the quiche crust is installed in the pan, so of course we had those too. I like the long, rectangular pans for purely pragmatic reasons - they fit better in the fridge, make a smaller quiche which means fewer leftovers and create slices that are easier to plop into a tupperware for lunches. Ours are 14x4.5", which feeds four or five. For any more than that I always make a second quiche, or just set out lots of bread. So its good to have two of these around.

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Ham and Cheese Quiche with Doughies (adapted from Joy of Cooking):

1 1/2 cups heavy cream (you can substitute whole milk, just increase the cooking time)

3 eggs

one pie crust

4 slices ham

1/2 cup grated cheese (jack is good)

salt and pepper

cinnamon (about 1/2 teaspoon)

sugar (about 1/2 teaspoon)

For starters, you'll need to roll out your crust. You can use a store bought crust, one from the freezer, one from someone else or one that you have just finished making. They all will work fine. Roll it until it is bigger than the pan it needs to fit into, then drape it over your pan. Gently press the dough down to sit on the pan, with the sides coming up over the edges.  Take a rolling pin and roll around the top of the pan - this trims the crust to make it fit just right. 

For the doughies, gather up the trimmed edges of the crust and roll them into a ball.  Using the rolling pin, roll the crust thin, then roll the crust up like you would a carpet.  Slice the dough carpet into 1/2 inch thick rounds, and lay each piece down on its side, on the cookie sheet, sprinkling cinnamon and sugar on top.

Next crack the eggs and pour the cream into a small mixing bown. Whisk it up, adding a little salt and pepper as you go. Chop the ham slices and add them to the bottom of the pan, then grate the cheese and put it in with the ham. Next, pour your quiche mixture into the pans. Its a good idea to put the pan or pans on top of the cookie sheet in case there are leaks, and it gives you a place to put the doughies. 

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. The quiche should be puffy and golden on the top, and a toothpick inserted into the middle should come out clean. The doughies usually need to come out before the quiche is done, so keep checking them. Pull them out when the sugar starts to carmelize on top and they turn golden.

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Mock Cesar Salad (adapted from Canal House Cooking volume 3):

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

2 anchovy filets, finely chopped

salt and pepper

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

juice of one lemon

5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano

2 medium or 3 small head of romaine lettuce, washed and chopped

In a jar with a lid, add the chopped garlic and anchovy filets, mustard, half the cheese and juice of one lemon.  Put the lid on and shake it up.  Just before serving, toss the lettuce with some of the dressing - this recipe makes more than you need.  Add the remainder of the grated cheese on top.

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Beet Soup

 

Mmmm....Beetalicious!

I started building a bean teepee with the kids today.  We stuck the ends of some eight foot sticks into the ground, then lashed them together at the top with string.  The plan is to plant beans - scarlet runner and trionfo violetto - at the base of each stick so that they climb and make a tent for the kids to play in and beans for us to eat.  This will be our third year teepee, though last year's was a bit of a dud.  

Of course we didn't finish today, just like years past.  But this year I've solved my problem of bean seeds rotten from too long in their pre-planting soak or dry and dead from too long out of it.  After soaking them in water for a few hours, we put our seeds in a little plastic cup and covered them with a wet paper towel - pre-sprouting.  Now we can take our seeds in and out of the house without planting as often as we want, as long as the paper towel stays damp.  And when we finally get around to planting them in the ground, hopefully they'll be ready to go.  

Dinner tonight was a really simple soup from - you guessed it - Canal House Cooking.  This is a good one to make a few days ahead, because it reheats well. We only had a pound of beets, so I had to sub in an extra potato (neither of which were russet).  It was fine, but I think more beets would be better.  And I happen to know that waxy potatoes can make things gummy, so stick with a russet if you have one around. Red beets would probably be better too. Our soup was just a bit...pale.  Salad was on the side, essentially the same Niçoise-esque item from last week.  My kids turned their noses up at the soup, but they did eat the tuna, deviled egg and leftover pizza on their plates.  

In other news, I found a wonderful book today while stopping by Crissy Field to check out the early evening light.  Its called Back to Basics: Traditional Kitchen Wisdom and is a collection of old school how-tos (garden building, food storing, canning, winemaking, beekeeping) edited by Andrea Chesman, who I don't think I've encountered before.  She writes books, and a blog, all about seasonal cooking and making things easy for Mom - right up my alley!  Most of her books are about vegetables and grains (read vegetarian) and she has even got one containing 255 recipes for squash.  I'm so excited!  

However, my favorite part of the book so far - without having read it - are the beautiful watercolor illustrations.  I guess they are paintings by Bernard Chau, who is credited as "illustrator" on the copyright page.  I just can't find anything in the book that attributes the watercolors to anyone.  Is this what happens when you do work for Reader's Digest?  On his webpage, I see that Mr. Chau has more images of "crime" in his portfolio than "food". Huh.  Well, I guess thats work for hire - the art editor probably just set him up a still life and said "paint this".  I suppose I shouldn't be too broken up over it, I can't expect all artists to be Patricia Curtan, can I?

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Beet Soup (adapted from Canal House Cooking volume 3):

4 beets (2 pounds)

4 Tablespoons butter

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 large russet potato, peeled and chopped

rind from 1/4 preserved lemon (scrape out the fruity part inside the rind)

4 cups chicken stock

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 375°. Wrap each beet in aluminum foil and bake until tender (1-2 hours).  Unwrap the beets, and when they are cool enough to handle, peel off their skins.  Coarsely chop the beets and set aside.

While the beets are baking, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onions and cook until they are translucent and soft but not browned, about 10 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper. Add the potatoes, beets, preserved lemon and three cups of the stock.  Cover and simmer until the vegetables are soft, about an hour.  For a really smooth soup, let it cool and puree it in small batches in the blender.  (Really, you must let it cool.  Otherwise it will blow the lid of your blender and hot soup will blast into your face and all over your kitchen.  Its happened to me, its happened to the Canal House authors).  If you, like me, are a more impatient type who cannot be trusted to wait for the soup to cool, then just stick a hand blender in it for a while and call it good. If the soup is too thick, add the remaining stock in small amounts until you're happy with it.  Serve hot or cold.

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Voila! Salad Nicoise (or a salad with something for everyone - serves 4-6):

4 oz spring mix salad

1 7oz cans of tuna (chunk light if you like less mercury)

assorted olives 

4 to six eggs

cherry tomatos (if they're in season)

1 avocado

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 Tablespoons champagne vinegar

1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard

salt & pepper

For starters, hard-boil the eggs.  If you don't already have a favorite way, try this one:

Put the eggs in a pot, cover them with water.  Bring the water to a medium boil (thats not wimpy, but not hard enough to crack the eggs).  Let them boil for a full minute.  Turn off the heat, and let the eggs sit in the water until it is cool.  I've been told that adding vinegar to egg water makes them easier to peel, but I haven't tested this.  I have found that fresher eggs are harder to peel, so I like to stash some away in the back of the fridge to age for easier peeling.  I think too, that aging an egg for a day or two after boiling it makes the peeling easier.

When the eggs are cool, peel them, slice in half and put on each plate.  If you have kids who like deviled eggs but not plain old eggs, scoop the yolks out of the kids' eggs and, in a bowl, mix them with a bit of mayonnaise - usually one teaspoon per yolk.  Peel and slice the avocados, add some to each plate.  Add some olives, then some tuna.  Be sure to leave room on the plates for the lettuce, in the middle of all the other items. Slice the cherry tomatoes and plate them too.

Wash and dry the salad, then let it rest in the fridge while you mix up the dressing.  In a small jar, add the oil and vinegar, then a big pinch of salt and some pepper.  Put on the lid, shake it up.  Pour over the salad and toss it.  If it seems too dry, sprinkle on some more olive oil.  Its handy to keep some in a cruet just for situations like this.  Grind some more pepper over it, add it to the plates, and serve.  Be sure to put salt on the table for this one - I like to sprinkle it on the egg and avocado.

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Here we go or Spinach and Ricotta Baked Pasta

                           My "spinning" cheese grater!

Two months into the year and I'm making good on my new year's resolution to blog about my garden and what comes out of it (or doesn't). I like to eat, and I like to eat what I grow, so there you are. But I know that most people who have jobs and families are busy, and thus not interested in hearing me blather on about slugs and weeds. So, I offer a trade. I'm going to blog about what we eat in exchange for you reading about what we grow. Hopefully the two will meet up at some point.  

My husband, Jason, and I have been members of a CSA (aka community supported agriculture or farm share or whatever you want to call it) for more than ten years.  We make just about everything from scratch (not bread, because we have two great local bakeries, cheese, coffee, or mayonnaise, at least not usually).  So I like to consider the two of us pretty knowledgeable about cooking seasonally and locally. 

We have two young children who are pretty particular when it comes to food, and neither of us have much time, which means we're always searching for recipes that are delicious to us, edible to the kids, easy to prepare and use the ingredients we have. 

So you see the value of my proposition - I will blog our nightly recipe and hopefully it will meet all of the above qualifications.  If not I'll let you know, though you'll have to read tomorrow's post for its taste rating. I have to admit, I actually schedule dinners a week in advance once I know what is going to be in our produce box, so if I can figure out some way to pre-blog the recipes I will, in case anyone cares to cook along in real time.   Otherwise, I'll just put them up day by day.  I have a feeling many cookbook authors are not going to want me scanning and posting their recipes, but since I'm not making money off this blog, I'll go ahead and do it until they ask me to stop.  And of course, you are all welcome to go out and purchase the referenced book. 

Today's recipe is from Donna Hay's Off the Shelf: Spinach and Ricotta Baked Pasta p 22.

Its spinach season!  And boy do we have a lot of it.  So this is great, though its really a pain to blanch and squeeze the water out of spinach ahead of time.  This recipe also requires that you cook the pasta ahead, which is fine for me today since I have two kids at home with fever. Its amazing what I can accomplish when a dose of tylenol and Dora the Explorer keep my kids sitting on the sofa for more than thirty minutes.

The amount of rigatoni and spinach-cheese this recipe makes is daunting, so I divided it up into two sections, one to freeze in a couple of ziplocs.  I also used a spinning grater for this.  I have no idea what it is really called , but grating cheese is a pain in the ass without one of these for hard cheese or a food processor for medium squishy types.  Cook this until it smells good and starts to brown around the edges, it seems to act more like a flat souffle or dry quiche than bubbling and cheesing like a lasagne.

As for my garden, nothing exciting to report.  I weeded a bit today, then the kids scattered some seeds for red clover and planted a few fava beans, but later I remembered the area we planted gets no sun until mid june.  Why will weeds grow when there is no sun?

 

Photo by  Con Poulos