I have this to say...

...mixed baby greens with slivered
almonds, avocado and cilantro, dressed
in a vinaigrette of olive oil, rice vinegar, blood
orange juice and agave.

Unreal.

Vegetarian Potato-Leek Soup

More time, more flavor:
2-3 large leeks, whites and yellows sliced into quarters, float in a big bowl of cold water, swirling around to get all the dirt & grit loose. It will sink to the bottom, so you can lift out the leeks into a colander for one more rinse. (Reserve green parts for stock)

3-4 medium Russet potatoes, roughly peeled to remove any odd bits. Leave some skin on, mom says it's good for ya! Chop into irregular soup sizes, about 1/4-1". (Reserve peels for stock)

3 TBSP butter & some olive oil, or mix & match qtys. The idea is to melt it in a big soup pot, throw in the potatoes and leeks, with enough fat matter to coat them. Saute those around, with a generous sprinkle of salt, and some dried thyme, til the leeks begin to wilt. Turn flame to super low, cover, and begin your stock.

In another large pot, put the cleaned leek greens, potato skins, and whatever nice other stock thing you have around - yesterday I threw in 5 baby carrots, a big handful of parsley, a big sprig of fresh thyme, three fat fresh sage leaves, salt & pepper, celery seeds. If you have fresh celery, please do add it! Add enough water to cover, bring to a brisk boil. Let that cook, splashing a ladle of broth into the potato-leeks if they are looking thirsty. Let the broth simmer away, reducing itself for about an hour. Press the veg with a spoon a few times to express the goodness.

Put a colander over your potato-leek pot, strain in the stock. Stir & simmer until the potatoes are to your liking. Cook it long: the potatoes fall completely to bits, creating a creamy base with no chunks. A little less: you'll have a more brothy base with potato chunks.

You could opt to add some cream at the end, which is just decadent but really unnecessary. The potatoes make such a creamy goodness all their own!

Serve hot with your favorite toast, salt and fresh pepper.

Less time, fine flavor:
Prep leeks and potatoes as above, saute with the butter/oil, salt, thyme, pepper.
Add some store-bought broth or bullion, to cover plus a bit.

Cook it on down, serve it up.

BUH-BYE AMBER WAVES OF GRAIN...

So I've been on a no-wheat sorta low gluten kinda thing for one week. I've undertaken this torturous no beer, no bread, no pasta effort as an experiment to see if I might be wheat or gluten intolerant. Happy to say, one week in, I've dropped a dress size, am craving less sugar and alcohol, am feeling mentally sharper and sleeping more. BOMB diggity! This might be enough to keep me from snagging nibbles off the kids mac n cheese and pizza. I'm ain't promising anything, but just sayin'... yay.

Oktoberfest explored

Stein and I just returned from an impromptu and lovely Oktoberfest dinner at Sabi & Rick's. Sabi is a Slovenian transplant, and waxes nostaligic over central/eastern European food & culture. Sabi stirred up some lovely warm sauerkraut and a marvelous twice-cooked potato dish. Simple, satisfying, and extra mmm-y with a smear of whole mustard over top of each (I was substituting for the beer-boiled-brats and polish the rest of the partygoers were wolfing down hot from the grill on rolls with aforementioned mustard).

We had fun playing "find the polka" on Pandora (turns out Weird Al's dad was truly gifted), Sabi jolted my muscle memory with a few rounds of jaunty arms-about-the-waist polka across the linoleum, and I realized that that syrupy beer that confounded us the week prior when Chuck brought it over was the perfect counterpart to this hearty meal and the growing chill in Fall's approaching air.

Stein and I returned home at a decent hour, and with this warmness in my belly and heart I begin to wonder about my own roots in this corner of the globe. Ironically, the first person I think of when I consider my own German parts is my long-passed and never-met maternal grandfather, Carl Engle. Ironic, because he was actually adopted and we'll never know his true genetic family tree. But I consider him today, and wonder what it must have been like to serve in the US Military in WWII with a name like Carl Engle. No easy feat, I imagine. Here's to you, Carl.


And there's Mary Meehling, mother of Margaret Logue, my paternal grandmother. Mary was a solid midwestern gal, born 1890 in Clark County, Illinois. As delivered to my recipe collection, Mary's culinary legacy runs more to the fried chicken than the maultaschen.

I just wonder how particular cultural branches dominate a family tree? It could be that two world wars severed my family's ties with their German heritage, and the Irish limbs won that particular confrontation. But I know that many American families survived WWII with their Germanity intact. Perhaps the 1950's USA hofbrau + polka explosion was natural fallout from a decade of cultural repression? Controversial stuff, my friends!

And with that, I leave you with an audio treat...

Peasant food is sexy.

On tonight's menu:

Chanterelle, Leek and Potato Personal Pies
Wintry Brothy Borscht with Parsnips and Potatoes

It's Friday, I'm tired. If you are intrigued by the above descriptions, make a comment and I'll get my crap together and post the recipes!




Happy Winter Weather, my friends.

BORSCHT:
*recipe adapted from Crescent Dragonwagon's (I know, I know, just trust me)
Dairy Hollow House Soup and Bread Cookbook.
This borscht is the chunky variety, with enough broth to sop up with crusty bread.
Stunning to look at, fun to make.

3-4 large fresh beets, greens removed (+ saved for sauteeing later with garlic.. mmm)
Veg oil for rubbing beets
3-4 TBS butter
2 L yellow onions, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, peeled + sliced
1 parsnip, peeled and sliced thin
1 can (16 oz) tomatoes and their juice, chunky puree
4 C Chicken stock or well-flavored veg stock
2 TBS honey
1/2 C loosely packed fresh dill, roughly chopped, no stems
2 bay leaves
1 TSP ea. dried oregano + basil
1 TSP salt
1/2 h cabbage, cut into thin ribbons
12-15 small red potatoes, boiled til tender
sour cream + dill for garnish

Leave tails and top stem base on, rinse, dry and rub with veg oil. wrap each in foil, or put together in a snug-fitting baking dish, cover with foil, and bake @ 350' til beets can be pierced with a fork. (Baking this way keeps flavor concentrated in the beet flesh.) Let them cool while you:

Sautee onions in butter til soft, then add carrots, garlic, parsnip. Lower heat and sautee til veg are slightly limp, about 6 mins. Add tomatoes, stock, honey, herbs, salt. Bring to boil, turn down heat and cover, simmering about 40 mins. Boil the potatoes til tender and set aside.

Back to the beets: rinse in cool water, the skins should slip easily off, as well as the crusty stem cluster and tail. dice beets and add with cabbage, simmering covered until cabbage is tender, about 15-20 mins. Adjust seasoning to taste, serve piping hot with 1 or 2 potatoes in each bowl, garnished with sour cream and a dill sprig. Serve with a yummy slab of warmed crusty bread. mmmm.

Bizzy!

okninajustguiltedmeaboutnotkeeping
upwithmyblogbutcan'tyouseehowinsanemylifeisrightnow?
yes,thefestivalstartsinthreeweeksandibarelyhavetimeto
breatheletalonewriteafriggingblog.sothelackofspaces
inthisentrywillhavetoillustratethelackofspaceinmydays!
thatsaid,yes,letsdohavedinner!xofryer

Happy New Yeee--- oh crap, it's almost March.

So last Saturday I was making Aloo Gobi - ya know - deep frying cauliflower, as you do -- and had to banish all children from the kitchen as an explosion of oil-coated water globulets went flying from the pan all over me, my stove, my floor -- I had a 2nd degree burn the size of a sesame seed right under my nose. Invisible to the eye, yet excruciatingly painful. Pity me. But due to the fantasticness of the bar in our lovely ranch house, my pal Jennie was seated out of direct range of said oil splatters and witnessed the mayhem, which made me feel kinda fabulous, like I was on an ER-Food Network hybrid drama. The Aloo Gobi was quite tasty in the end, and I'm pretty sure contained no pieces of me. (Note: dry cauliflower off before tossing in boiling oil.)

Which brings me back around to Jennie's behind. I mean where Jennie's behind was parked when said drama occurred. On our fabulous new barstools!
I'm only bragging about them because we got them for free. And I'm in love with them. My husband is awesome. My husband is awesome, but I'm in love with my barstools. Is that wrong? Good score, hubby. All it took was an hour with a toothbrush and some harsh cleansers, and voila! good as new. Friends, come try them out.

OK - it's shamefully late, Edie's still up with me as she refuses to go to sleep without the soothing sensation of yanking the hair out of my head with her bare hands. Bless her. I love the little nutter. And her big nutter sister...