The First Food

While purusing the Washington Post's top cookbook picks this year , I came across Anne Mendelson's Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk through the ages.Having explored one facet of dairy yesterday, I couldn't help but share what sounds to be a facinating read. Not only does it explore the relationship between humans and dairy through the ages, it includes delicious sounding recipes. We American's really are limited in our understanding and use of, as Mendelson puts it, the first food.

Oatmeal with Grated Apple

so delicious, not a drop left. Look at my adorable Marimekko mug though. It's love.

Waking up to one of the coldest, brightest mornings this Month, oatmeal seemed like the perfect way to start the day. Plus, I can attest to it still sticking satisfyingly to my ribs as we speak :) While we do resort to the instant oatmeal on weekdays, the weekend offers a perfect chance to really savor the real stuff. This recipe comes from Mirelle Guiliano's French Women Don't Get Fat, memoir/cookbook. Though I've always appreciated French cuisine, I never found it accessible until I read this book. I've since gone on to explore more French cooking to my great delight. This cookbook still has my favorite recipes for poached pears, pumpkin pie, French bread and a whole host of other things. Including oatmeal. I reduced the recipe so it makes enough for two and also sweetened it a bit.

Oatmeal with Grated Apple
adapted from French Women Don't Get Fat

1 c old fashioned oatmeal
1 3/4 c water
pinch of salt
1 medium apple, coarsely grated
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/3 c milk
1/2 tsp butter
2 Tbs brown sugar
sprinkle of cinnamon (optional)

Combine the oatmeal, water and salt in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil. Add the grated apple and lemon juice and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the milk, sugar and butter and cook for 1 minute. Serve immediately. Add cinnamon if desired.

Caramelized Onion Chicken

When trying to decide what do do with the chicken in the fridge, I came across this recipe from Cooking Light. I was a little wary of any dinner that called for jam, but this turned out scrumptiously! It's rather red, but totally delicious. Paired with green beans with a drizzle of walnut oil and shallots and roasted Yukon golds, it made for a delicious meal!


Caramelized Onion Chicken
from cookinglight.com

1 pound chicken breast tenders
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup sliced onion
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon bottled minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, and sauté 2 minutes. Add chicken to pan; sauté 8 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove onion and chicken from pan.

Add jam and remaining ingredients to pan; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk. Return chicken mixture to pan; cook 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 3 ounces chicken and 1 tablespoon sauce)

Red Shrimp and Mango Curry

I've been running a low on cooking inspiration lately, so I thought I'd seek out some new cookbooks. I picked up Nigella Lawson's new Nigella Express cookbook and have been very happy with it. It's perfect for tasty, healthy, quick meals you don't mind making even when it's been a long day, your hungry, exhausted and desperate for dinner. Now. Tonight's experiment was red shrimp and mango curry - I didn't have Thai red curry on hand, but had another curry paste and plenty of red curry powder and it turned out fairly well. It's probably better with the real deal but this was fun and tasty.

one day, the kitchen lighting will be as good as the food made in it...

Red Shrimp and Mango Curry
adapted from Nigella Express

1 scallion, finely sliced
1 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 Tbs curry paste
1 13.5 oz Lite coconut milk
1 c organic chicken stock
2 tsp fish sauce
2 1/2 c sweet potato, cubed
7 oz shrimp
1 c mango
1 tsp lime juice
3-4 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro

Fry the scallion in the oil for a minute then add teh curry paste
Whisk in the coconut milk, stock and fish sauce and bring to a boil. Tip in the sweet potato and simmer partially covered for about 15 minutes until tender. Tumble shrimp into pot and let the sauce come to a boil. Add mango and lime juice and cook for another minute or so until the shrimp are cooked through. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and serve over plain rice.

Winter Pear Tart Frangipane

This recipie comes from one of my most dog-eared cookbooks - Sundays at Moosewood. Even if you're not vegetarian (although some of the recipies include fish) it is a fabulous resource for regional cuisine. Each region has it's own section - and the regions are as diverse as Sub-Saharan Africa, Finland, Japan, and the US South. Although tonights stuffed peppers and Gateau de Pommes de Terre did not go over so well with Mr. Pleasant (good thing to know over 4 years into a relationship that one's future husband does not care for stuffed peppers), the dessert was more of a hit. The Pate Brisee is inspired - it's melt-in-your mouth with just a hint of lemon that compliments the pear and almond beautifully. I wasn't sure what to expect - most pate brisee does not call for egg. I thought it might be heavy, but no! Beautifully buttery, crumbles delectably. I might try this a la Julia to compare the versions, but this was a delightful end to a cold, blustery January day.



Winter Pear Tart Frangipane
adapted from the Provence Section by Kip Wilcox of
Sundays at Moosewood

Pate Brisee
1 1/2 C unbleached white flour
2 Tbs sugar
1/2 C chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg yolk
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1-2 Tbs cold water

Stir flour and sugar together (I used a food processor for maximum mixing in minimum time - you do NOT want to overbeat this) in a mixing bowl. Add butter and mix until mixture becomes crumbly. Whisk together egg yolk, lemon juice and 1 Tbs of water. sprinkle the liquid over the butter-flour mixture and continue to mix until a ball forms. If the mixture is crumbly, add the remaining 1 Tbs water. Roll out into 9 or 10 " pie plate or tart pan. Flute and chill.

Carmelized Pears

2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs brown sugar
1/4 c water
5 pears, washed cored and sliced

Heat butter and brown sugar in heavy skillet. Add the water (carefully! if too hot will splatter!) and stir briefly. Add the pear, and saute them for 10 minutes, covering the pan when not stirring. Remove from heat and set aside.

Frangipane
7 oz almond paste, softened
1/2 c butter, softened
2-3 drops pure almond extract
2 eggs
2 tsp flour

beat together the almond paste and butter. Add the almond extract. In another bowl whisk together the eggs and flour and then blend them into the butter mixture.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Smooth the custard into the pie shell. Arrange pears on top. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the top is golden and the custard is firm. If the crust browns too quickly, cover with foil.

Literary, culinary

First, my apologies for the long absence. It's been an exciting time - Mr. Pleasant and I got engaged! Plus, I got to spend a week in Paris - pity I didn't photograph my meals - they were fabulous!!!

But, back to the present - we have a monthly book club, and this month was Mr. Pleasant's turn to pick. He picked "A Year in Provence" by Peter Mayle. Not bad culinary reading. Inspired by the book, as we were hosting, we put together a French-inspired meal with our new Williams Sonoma Bride/Groom cookbook (courtesy of Mr. Pleasant's brother and sister in law). Not only does it have great, basic but delicious recipes but it also has helpful advice about setting up and stocking a kitchen. Sure, it could be read as one giant ad for W-S, but it really is a valuable resource. It was the first time we used it and we were very impressed with the results! As were our fellow bookclub members.

First up was a fabulous marinated goat cheese. So easy! It's great to be able to do things ahead and this even tasted better for it! Dinner was red wine braised chicken with a mixed green salad and my standard roasted potatoes. I was very pleased with the chicken, although due to some regrettably over-the-hill chicken legs, we had to substitute boneless, skinless breast at the last minute, but it turned out okay. The salad was a triumph too - I've never actually made a salad with different greens before. Sure, I've bought lettuce mixes, but never before have I bought greens like frissee, watercress, endives and arugala separately and really thought about how all the flavors would meld. It opened up a whole new world to experiment with. It was all set off nicely by a lovely vinaigrette and pomegranate seeds. It really does add a whole new element to a bookclub when you can have a literal taste of what you're reading!

Here is what we did for the marinated goat cheese. We doubled the amount of cheese with great results, by the way.



Marinated Goat Cheese
W-S Bride and Groom Cookbook

4 rounds fresh goat cheese, each 1/2 inch thick sliced from a 2 1/2" log
3/4 C olive oil
3 or 4 sprigs fresh thyme (used dried thyme)
1/4 tsp red chili flakes
2 tsp fennel seeds, lightly toasted (this is easy to do in a nonstick pan- heat on medium for a few minutes - careful not to burn!)
2 dried bay leaves

Place the goat cheese in a shallow dish (we found a pasta bowl worked well). Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with the thyme, chili flakes, fennel seeds and bay leaves. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 day and up to 3 days. Remove from the refrigerator at least 1 hour before serving.