Back in the game

So . . . it's been a while. Eighteen months to be precise. In that eighteen months since I last posted, a lot has happened, but I am now living and working in the Philadelphia suburbs, loving my job and my apartment, meeting great new people and missing Zingerman's terribly. [I know they do mail order, but who wants to pay $12 for a loaf of bread that's been sitting on a FedEx truck for at least 24 hours by the time you get it, when you can mosey into the shop at 9:55 pm and they'll give you one for free?]

Enough of the intro.

Tonight, besides stalking and ultimately failing to kill the Japanese beetle that snuck into my apartment when the screened door was opened (seriously - I can't figure out where it went and I'm worried that it's in my salmon cakes)* I made salmon cakes with a smoky paprika and lemon sauce to celebrate my return.

Now, fish cakes (and their relatives, shrimp, crab, scallop, tuna, , and even bean and tofu cakes) - lets just call them 'dinner cakes' - have always intimidated me. Their structural integrity seemed to rest on some magical balance of wet and dry ingredients that is only attainable through sheer luck. I hate this type of cooking. I made some black bean cakes awhile ago ( a year or more) that my dad said were delicious, but I couldn't eat more than a bite because they kept falling apart while I was trying to cook them, and they took forever to make, and the whole process was so frustrating that the mere sight of them made me sick to my stomach. That, and they looked like turds. It took me months to revisit this genre of entrees.

I learned some things in the mean time, though, which is the important part. First, black bean-based food stuffs look less like fecal matter when they're made from dried, not canned, beans. Second, there is a necessary balance of ingredients, but the rules to achieving this balance are simple and easy to remember (just the kind of rules I like!). [They are also very similar to the rules for making meatloaf, my hands-down second favorite comfort food.]Follow them, and you'll never need a recipe.

You need:

1. A main ingredient.

For dinner cakes, this could be some type of fish or seafood, or bean or bean product, a vegetable, or a lean meat - probably not beef, though (and really, why? Just make a burger.) You could even mix two of these things, if you wanted to get wild (or three! Whoa.) Estimate about 4 to 6 oz of meat per person, 6 to 8 oz vegetables, or 1.5 to 2 oz of dried beans per person (I have no idea what the conversion is in canned beans.)

Some ideas:

Crab (classic), Salmon (see below), other shellfish (shelled)

Beans - any kind (except wax or green.) Dried and cooked hold together better (and look more appealing) than canned. You could also use lentils.

Veggies - potatoes (classic), zucchini, carrots (shredded), mixed mushrooms (mmm. . .). Make sure when using vegetables that you get as much of the water out as possible.

2. A binding agent.

The binding agent works as an adhesive to hold your the cake together, similar to the work that fat does in a burger. It keeps your cakes (or burgers) from crumbling. It is usually eggs (or egg whites alone, which work just as well), or mayo (eggs and oil). In bean or veggie cakes, you can used mushed up beans, thinned with little water or oil, as binder.

3. A breading.

The breading assists the binding agent in holding everything together, by giving it something else to stick to. The breadings that I have used most often are breadcrumbs (duh) and rolled oats. For something a little heavier, you could use matzo meal, or try a grain like pearl barley, bulghur, or rice - or even couscous (see below). Grains add wonderful texture, but might not work as well with more delicate ingredients. You can also use flour, if you're boring.

4. Other stuff - optional.

This includes herbs and spices, veggies, what have you. Use whatever your heart desires. Just make sure that the volume doesn't exceed 1/4 (rough estimate) of the total volume of the other ingredients.

Once you have your ingredients chosen - prep them. Beans need to be cooked first**, same with grains - rice, etc. They should then be cooled to room temp, at least. Thaw any frozen veggies or meats. Chop your veggies and meats/fish, mince herbs and garlic. Squeeze as much water as you can out of your veggies. If you're using eggs or egg whites as a binding agent, beat them.

Add your main ingredient to a large mixing bowl. Add any extra vegetables and seasonings next, and then your binder. Mix thoroughly with your hands. Then add your breading. Mix, again.

In the mix: Wild-caught sockeye salmon, eggs, couscous, spinach.

When it comes to adding the breading/binder, always start small. In my experience, recipes ALWAYS get the amounts wrong. Even if they were kitchen tested, even if I've made this recipe before and these are the exact same amounts of breadcrumbs and eggs that I added the last time and they turned out perfectly, even if they don't get them wrong, they do. Start by adding half as much of each as you think you need. Take a small handful of your mix, roll it into a ball, and flatten it between your palms into a 3/4-inch thick patty. If it falls apart, add more binder or breading. [Hint - if they fall apart because they are runny/sticky, add more breading. If they crumble, add more binder.]

The cakes. The recipe that I was basing this on didn't call for enough eggs. I had to add another.

There are two ways to cook them: saute or bake. I find that if I'm using aromatics (fresh herbs, garlic, etc.), sauteing brings out the best in them. It also gives the cakes a beautiful golden crust that I love. The only downside is that it requires more fat. I usually saute in a light olive or grapeseed oil, which add calories, but also omega-fatty acids and antioxidants.***

Julia Child describes the method for a saute in the following manner: '. . . pat it dry, plop it into a hot pan, and cook it rapidly on one side, and then the other, until it is nicely browned and just done.' (1) To saute the cakes, heat/melt a couple of tablespoons of fat (oil, butter, duck fat or suet if you're fancy) in a skillet, and add the cakes. Don't crowd the pan - the cakes won't cook properly.

Salmon cakes, sauteing in olive oil. The burner was set at about four, high enough to cook the fish, but not so high that the olive oil burned.

Plan on about four minutes per side. The underside of the cakes should be crisp and a warm golden brown. Flip them over and cook for another four to five minutes. [If you've chopped your fish or shellfish into small enough pieces, it will be done by now. If you're worried be extra careful to chop them small.] Remove to a warm oven (150-200ºF) while you cook the rest. You may have to add more oil to the pan; add one to two tablespoons at a time, and remember to let it heat up before adding more of your cakes to the pan.

And, well, that's pretty much it for sauteing.

Baking is even easier, and requires less fat: Preheat your oven to 400ºF. Coat a shallow glass dish (like a Pyrex casserole) lightly with butter or oil. Put your cakes in the dish, and stick them in the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until the tops are a golden brown.


On the flip side. The cakes browned nicely.






And that's that. See? No recipe necessary. Here's some outlines that I've come up with/stole, that I'll try in the future, feel free to comment with your own:

• The Classic - Lump Crabmeat, Mayo, Seasoned Breadcrumbs
• Bayou - Shrimp, Mayo, Breadcrumbs, creole seasoning
• Summery - Zucchini, eggs, rice - use garlic, lemon zest for flavor

The recipe that I've accommodated to my own tastes here I found on the internet so long ago that I don't remember where it came from, so I can't give credit where it is due. It's okay, though - the proportions were wrong, so maybe the author doesn't want to take credit. The recipe was called 'Moroccan Salmon Cakes', and what they lacked in authenticity, they made up for in deliciousness. Serious deliciousness. The orange juice added a hint of sweet, the cumin a wonderful smoky heat. I was worried about the spinach, honestly I was - but it was wonderful, and added softness that countered the crumbly-ness of the couscous nicely. The salmon was sweet and meaty - but not fishy. I served them with a smoky paprika and lemon mayo, and haricot vert sauteed with a little lemon juice. The sauce was great, and I loved the paprika, though it did fight with the cumin a little bit. The beans were a fresh, light addition. Beware - these are FILLING. I ate two and had to go for a walk. As long as no one is famished, one per person should be enough. This recipe made 5 cakes.

Dinner. Mmmm.

Here's the recipe:

Moroccan Salmon Cakes with Smoky Paprika and Lemon Mayo

Serves two very hungry people, or five not-very hungry people.

1/2 cup couscous
3/4 cup orange juice (no added sugar, not from concentrate)
12 oz salmon fillet, cut into small chunks (I used wild-caught, but sustainably-fished sockeye salmon from Alaska)
10 oz frozen (then thawed, chopped, and squeezed really really dry) or fresh (then cooked, chopped, and squeezed really really dry) spinach [I used frozen.]
1 egg, beaten - 2 if necessary
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
salt, to taste
3 T olive oil

Bring the orange juice to a boil in a small sauce pan. Add the couscous. Cover, and remove from heat. After 5 minutes, fluff with a fork.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the salmon, spinach, garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper. Add half of the couscous, and then an egg, then a little more couscous . . . (see instructions above.) Form into 3/4-in thick patties.

Heat the olive oil in a pan until water flicked on top sizzles (if it pops - it's too hot.) Add the cakes, and make sure that there is about a half an inch of space on all sides. Press down on them with the back of a spatula to flatten them out a little. After four to five minutes, flip them over. The underside should be browned - as in the picture above. Cook for four to five minutes, then remove to a warm oven. Repeat with remaining patties.

To make the 'sauce', mix a couple of tablespoons of fresh lemon juice with some prepared mayonnaise (or make your own - I'll scoff at you, but out of jealousy, not derision) until you get the taste and consistency that you want. Add 1/2 - 1 teaspoon smoked paprika. Drizzle over your salmon cakes, and eat.

These are fantastic reheated, so don't worry if you have some extra - just eat them for lunch the next day.

*No, I got it. It was hiding.
** This seems like a lot of trouble. Dried beans usually need to be washed, soaked over night and simmered for about three hours before they're edible. If I am making something that requires dried beans, I'll usually soak extra, and then freeze the leftover soaked beans in one cup servings. That way, I can just thaw them and cook them - no need to soak next time.
***Actually, I'm lying. Most of the time, I use a full-cream European-style butter, like Presidente. Salted. I do, however, add a little olive or grapeseed oil to the pan with it, because the oil has a higher smoke point than the milk solids in butter, and it keeps the butter from burning. In this recipe, I just used olive oil. My salmon cakes were delicious.

Sources:
(1) Child, Julia. Julia's Kitchen Wisdom. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 2000. pg 39.

Mussels

It has been unseasonably warm in Michigan lately; the temperature reached fifty degrees today, and it doesn't look like we'll have winter weather again for another week. To celebrate the weather and mourn the snow, I made one of my favorite light spring suppers, a mussel dish with leeks, fennel, tomatoes and white wine, adapted from Shelia Lukin's "Pacific Northwest Light Mussels" from The USA Cookbook.
Light may not be the right word - the mussels are steamed in a chunky sauce with plenty of fresh veggies. They are served with the veggies and steaming liquid, which are scooped up with chunks of crusty bread. Also, the cooking fat is a 1/2 cup of unsalted butter.

Here' s how to make them:

Estimate about 1 lb of mussels per person. While running the mussels under cold water, scrub them with a stiff brush and tear off their "beards." Remember that after the "beards" are gone, the mussels will die pretty quickly, so do this as close to cooking time as possible.

Melt 1/2 cup of unsalted butter over medium heat in a pan large enough to hold 4-lbs of mussels. Saute two minced garlic cloves and four minced shallots (or you could use a small onion) until the shallots are translucent and the garlic aromatic (about 4 minutes for me). Give the shallots and garlic a stir, then toss in 1 head of fennel, chopped in 1/2 -3/4 inch dice. Let cook two minutes or so, stir, and add two medium leeks, white and light green parts only, sliced in thin rounds. Let sit 2-3 minutes, stir, sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper, and continue to cook until the fennel is translucent, about 8 more minutes. Stir and add a large can of diced tomatoes with their juices. Turn up the heat a bit, add some salt, and cook for 10 minutes, allowing the tomatoes to break down. Stir occasionally. Add 1 glass of white wine and allow the liquid to come to a simmer. Add the mussels, and cover the pan. Steam the mussels for 6-8 minutes. Serve in bowls with plenty of cooking liquids, and a hunk of baguette to mop up vegetables and juice.

Here's hoping it gets colder soon . . .

New Year's Resolutions

I've made a short list of New Year's Resolutions:

I. Find a grown-up job. [This is well on its way to completion. Barring disaster, this blog should be live from LA shortly.]

II. Compile list of 52 books to read this year, and read them. [This is silly. I've tried making "MUST READ" booklists before, and I've never managed to keep to them. This is more of a resolution to continue to read more, that I began last fall. Here's the list so far:

1. In the Time of Madness: Indonesia on the Edge of Chaos by Richard Lloyd Parry

Saw this one at Border's last weekend; it looks really interesting. I know next-to nothing about Indonesia.

2. The Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.

Christmas present to myself. I like Wallace's essays; perhaps I'll like his fiction, too. Though, at around 1000 pages this book may count as two.

3 & 4. The Trial and The Castle by Franz Kafka

I've never read anything by Kafka. Maybe in 2007, I'll finally understand what people mean when they describe something as "Kafka-esque."

5-8. Anthony Trollope's Barchester Novels: Doctor Thorne, Framley Parsonage, Small House at Allington, and The Last Chronicle of Barset.

I finished The Warden and Barchester Towers shortly before Christmas; I'm looking forward to finishing the series. Trollope is great - he's like a politically-minded Jane Austen, and wonderfully snarky, to boot. The themes that he explores in his novels: the state's role (or lack of a role) in the care of the elderly and infirm, the role of religion in public life, the social and political affects of the disappearance of a political center, are are very relevant to modern life.

9. The People's Act of Love by James Meek

I read a great review of this book on Powell's website (see here). It sounds awesome. Here's the review from Publisher's Weekly:

Starred Review. Set during the waning days of the Russian revolution, Meek's utterly absorbing novel (after The Museum of Doubt) captivates with its depiction of human nature in all its wartime extremes. In 1919, the remote Siberian town of Yazyk contains a strange brew of humanity: the docile members of a mystical Christian sect, whose longing for purity drives them to self-mutilation; a small outfit of Czech troops, marooned by the civil war and led by the mad cocaine-snorting Captain Matula; and "the widow" Anna Petrovna, whose passion for worldly things (e.g., photography and men) isolates her from the devout townspeople. When the charismatic revolutionary, Samarin, trudges into town with a harrowing tale of escape from a distant labor camp and a dangerous philosophy, Yazyk becomes a theater of bloodshed and betrayal as well as heroism and compassion. Using the town as a microcosm of the larger war, Meek illuminates both perverted ideology and irrepressible humanity. With confident prose, layered storytelling and prodigious imagination, he combines scenes of heart-pounding action and jaw-dropping revelations with moments of quiet tension and sly humor. This original, literary page-turner succeeds both with its credible psychological detail and in its grandeur and sweep.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

10. The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople by Jonathan Phillips

I started this last July, and got really into it - until I came to the part where Phillips spends 30 pages (not really, probably more like ten) describing the all of the marble in Constantinople. I put it down in favor of Peter Watson's The Modern Mind. (Not much luck there, either.) This year, I'll start over, and if need be, skip the part about the marble.

11. Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World by Nicholas Ostler

Another onanism I need to remedy. I got two hundred pages into this book over spring break last year, and then stopped for midterms. Ostler provides a lot of interesting insight into why some languages have survived for thousands of years (Farsi, Chinese) and most have died out. In the telling, Ostler gives information on a lot of World History that I was not informed about. Writing this, I'm really looking forward to picking this book up again.

12. The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time by Jonathan Weiner

This is the "Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti Reads!" book of the year; my former coworkers at the Shaman Drum have recommended it.

13. The City of God by Saint Augustine of Hippo

I read excerpts of this in History class my Senior year of high school, and once considered attempting the whole book. Now that the Vatican has once again rejected Limbo, I've been moved to try again.

14. The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu

Genji was written in the eleventh century by a lady-in-waiting to the Empress of Japan; it tells the story of a samurai father and son. A friend tells me it is commonly read as a bedtime story for children.

15. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

I'm a little dissappointed in myself that I haven't read this yet.

16. Swann's Way (hopefully to be followed by the rest of In Search of Lost Time) by Marcel Proust

Time to find out what the fuss is all about.

17. Breakfast on Pluto by Patrick McCabe

Can't wait to see Cillian Murphy in the movie.

18. The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann

19. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin

Almost finished. I'll be sad when it is over, I'm really enjoying it. (See sidebar.)

20. The Dream of the Red Chamber: The Golden Days by Cao Xueqin

First volume in the Chinese classic. Described in the back-matter as a "novel of manners." Should be interesting to read and compare to Trollope and Austen.

21. Jesus and Yahweh: The Names Divine by Harold Bloom

Professor Bloom has been getting some nasty phone calls over his lastest work. I'm looking forward to finding out why.

The List is a work in progress, and looking at it now, I think a little ambitious, given the number of 1000+ page books, and my gnat-like attention span. ]

III. Start a garden.

I was inspired by this post on the 101Cookbooks forum about container gardens, in which one can grow a myriad of vegetables, fruit, and herbs on a porch, balcony, or in a stairwell. When I move into my own place in a month or so, I'm planning on starting my own porch/balcony vegetable garden. I picked up a book on Amazon, all about growing vegetables and herbs in pots and I'm very excited about the plan - my only problem now is figuring out what I don't want to plant. It is possible to grow everything but corn, watermelon, pumpkins, cabbage, and beefsteak tomatoes.

I'm more excited about this than I am about all of the books that I'm going to read, and almost as excited as I am about my change of scene. I can't wait to write about (and eat) fresh salads and soups straight from the garden, perfect little new potatoes baked in a salt crust, dipped in aioli, and drying herbs - and I'm going to try edible flowers as well.

Happy New Year!!

Brain Food, Part II

More Books:

12/4/05 - The Shadow of the Wind (3.5 stars)

by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

What a great find! A customer at Shaman Drum recommended this novel to me maybe a year ago when it came out. I have been meaning to read it for ages. At the end of November, I won The Daily Dose contest at Powell's and used my $40 gift certificate to buy The Shadow of the Wind, The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant, The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, The Dream of the Red Chamber: The Golden Days by Cao Xueqin, and The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch. I picked up The Shadow of the Wind the day it arrived - I'd been slogging through Peter Watson's The Modern Mind and I was not enjoying it. (Someday, I may finish this book. Someday.)

Set in Madrid shortly after the end of the Spanish Civil War, The Shadow of the Wind tells the story of a young boy whose father, upon learning that the boy has lost the memory of his mother's face (at the novel's beginning, she has been dead four years), takes him to a hidden building that houses Madrid's Cemetary of Lost Books. There, the boy finds a copy of The Shadow of the Wind, a novel by Julian Carax. The boy begins reading as soon as he returns home, adn does not stop until the book is through; it is the best book that he has ever read in his entire life.

Wanting to know more about this mysterious author, the child begins a hunt for more of Carax's books, but none are to be found. A mysterious man has been hunting down and burning the writings of Julian Carax since the end of the Spanish Civil War, and it seems that the copy of The Shadow of the Wind, Carax's last novel, is the only one of his books that still survives. He begins a hunt for Julian Carax himself, hoping to find out why someone would destroy the works of such a gifted author.

The Shadow of the Wind is a mystery and a love story, as well as a tale of the destruction that war can bring. I would give it 4.5 stars if not for the fact that after 400 pages of lose ends in the plot, Zafon brings the novel to a close with a 100 page letter from one of the characters. This was lame. Otherwise, a great read.

12/5/05 - Bee Season (4.0 stars)

by Myla Goldberg

Beautifully written novel about the most painfully dysfunctional family ever. 10-year-old Eliza is in the slow-learner's class, and a source of constant disappointment to her father, Saul. She and her brother Aaron are constantly vying for his attention, having to compete with his spiritual studies. Meanwhile, their inattentive mother Miriam is off in a la-la-land of her own creation, and barely notices her husband or children.

The plot comes to a head when Eliza wins a place at the state spelling bee, and replace saaron as Saul's favorite child. Aaron starts questioning his religion and joins up with a cult, Miriam gets arrested, and Saul can't handle the crisis in his household; it comes down to Eliza to pull her family back together. Great novel. [I've heard the movie wasn't great - I'll probably catch it on DVD.]

Goulash from The Silver Spoon Cookbook (Just added tomatoes)

 

Brain food

Durign the five years that I was in college, I never had much time for my hobbies. In May, after I graduated, I finally had the opportunity to begin cooking on a regular basis, and I've written a little about my experiences here. It was not until Novembe,r however, that I took the time to take up my favorite past time of all - reading good books. I started a small section in the side matter here where I commented on the books that I'd been reading. I think I'll get rid of that, and just leave posts when I finish something, as I've been reading about as many books as recipes I've been making lately:

10/26/05 - Memories of My Melancholy Whores (4 stars)

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Review: "It is a triumph of life that old people lose their memories of inessential things," Garcia Marquez writes, "Though memory does not often fail with regard to things that are of real interest to us."

_Memories of my Melancholy Whores_ begins on the eve of the 90th birthday of the narrator, a journalist and columnist for a local newspaper. Feeling close to death, his birthday present to himself, which will (initially) cost him one month's wages, is a night in the arms of a virgin prostitute, in this case a fourteen-year-old girl he christens Delgadina.

He arrives at the brothel, where the girl has been drugged to calm her nerves. The narrator climbs into bed with her, and falls asleep. From here, he begins a year-long affair with a young woman that he has never spoken to, whose eyes he has never seen. He looks for her in the streets during the day, and then realizes that he would never recognize her awake or dressed. Yet, a change has come over him. Though his trists and the lavish gifts he has bestowed upon his Sleeping Beauty have made him destitute, and he is forgetting the names of his friends, for the first time in his life, he is in love, and happier than he has ever been.

Memories of My Melancholy Whores tells the story of an old man who has never loved anyone, never had a true friend, who has never made love to a woman that he hasn't paid. It is at once a novel about finding love at old age, after a long life ill-spent, and about coming to terms with the ghosts of one's past. What seperates this novel from others that cover these well-worn themes is that it is also about the state of being old itself. We do not waste away with time, Garcia Marquez seems to be saying; time is a tool that carves away our excess, like a chisel chips away marble to reveal a work of art.

Time has been good in this way for the author, as well. The novella, in my opinion, has always been Garcia Marquez's best form (e.g. A Chronicle of a Death Fortold) , and with MMMW he displays all of the qualities that made his past novellas great - playful language and imagery and few narrative excesses. Also like his past novellas, it is not the main characters that give the story depth - the professor is an admittedly shallow man, which is why his first love affair at the age of 90 comes as such a shock - but the minor parts: the brothel owner, the ex-fiance, the aging prostitute.

This was a great read.

11/23/05 - Getting Mother's Body (3.5 stars)

by Suzan-Lori Parks

GMB is Pulitzer-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks' first novel. It tells the story of Billy Beade, 16 years old, single and pregnant, and her quest to retrieve some valuable jewelry buried with her mother in Arizona. She has three problems: 1) she's not the only one after the jewels, 2) she has no way of getting to Arizona, and 3) her mother was quite a liar, and the jewels may or may not have been real.

This was a fun novel; can't wait to read her next one.

11/26/05 - Julie and Julia:365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen (0.5 stars)

by Julie Powell

I read Powell's blog, "The Julie/Julia Project", before she signed her book deal, and I was waiting impatiently for the book to arrive. I read it in two nights, and ended up angry and dissappointed. I tried to be nice on my review on Amazon, because after reading her blog, I really felt like I knew this woman, but given another month to think about the fac thta tI paid full price for this book has drained me of all of the good will I have toward this book.

Powell can't write. At all.

Now, I guess, it is a little hypocritical of me, having my own sloppily edited blog, to complain about the writing skills of another blogger. Blogs are rarely well written, mostly because it is the immediacy of the medium that makes them so attractive to read. I can check in on my favorite blogs once every hour or so [I won't mention them, as they are mostly celebrity gossip blogs, and I'm embarrassed] and usually one of them will have an update. It isn't like reading the New York Times, or anything - it's hardly likely that a writer with a blog can churn out an article or post of even moderate length that has been properly edited with all spelling and grammar mistakes fixed and any invalid or poorly written statements rewritten or excised in the time that they have every day to write and post. I tried editing my posts when I first started, but it took forever. So I've stopped.

Now, if I were writing a book for fans of From Eggs to Apples to read [hi, grandma!], and that they would have to pay approximately $26 for, I would bother with the thorough edit. Powell seems to have not thought of this, and so her book reads, well, like a blog.

It's also not at all about food. At all. The first half of the book is about how boring her life was before her husband came up with the idea of her starting a blog, and the second half was about how somewhat-more exciting her life was after she started her blog. So, the title of the book should read Julie and Julia: Woman has boring life, starts blog, leads somewhat-less-boring life.

Julie Powell is now a professional food writer [not a secretary, as she was a the time of the blog], and I've read some of her free-lance magazine articles on the web. They are much better. [See this cool piece in Archaeology Magazine: "The Trouble with Blood."] So, its not that she can't write well, or say anything interesting, its just that she's can't write anything interesting about herself well. And that's what this book is all about: Julie Powell.

To be fair, I did read it all the way through. I'm not mourning the three or four hours it took me to read it, and there are some cute anecdotes - hence the half a star.

More later.

Kate Says . . . delicious

I bought Marcella Hazan's Marcella Says . . . this past summer, but had not tried any of the recipes yet. When I moved back home in August, I had to box up most of my cookbooks, and they've been in giant containers in the attic of the barn ever since.

After Sunday night's lamb, my mother asked if I might make dinner again this week, and I mentioned risotto.

"Is there such a thing as squash risotto?" Mom asked.

I had to have a recipe somewhere, and I ran out across the driveway to the barn in the rain to find one. I really love trying new recipes.

I had a little trouble finding a recipe at first; it wasn't until the fifth cookbook that I looked at - Marcella Says . . . - that I finally found what I was looking for. Then I realized why I'd never used this cookbook.

I buy most of my cookbooks used and sight-unseen off of Amazon - if the reviews are good, and the cookbook looks interesting and is under three dollars, I'll probably buy it eventually. So I bought this cookbook back in June without having looked through it. When I received it in the mail, I read through it quickly. The recipes are not traditionally Italian, but used a variety of Italian cooking techniques and styles with new, different ingredients. Hazan experiments with traditional Italian ingredients in non-traditional recipes as well. The layout is beautiful, with a short introduction/biography of Hazan, then "At Master Class" - seventy-some odd pages of cooking-technique advice that is very helpful - and then sections on appetizers and tidbits, soups, rice, pasta sauces, homemade pasta and gnocchi, fish, chicken, veal, beef, lamb, pork, veggies, salads, and two dessert chapters. Each recipe has helpful hints; all highlighted, but in the text of the recipe where they will be most helpful. It is an amazingly easy-to-use cookbook, and the advice is great - each recipe would be very easy to adapt or experiment with. However, many of the ingredients are either prohibitively expensive for me or unavailable.

Hazan's recipe, Risotto di Zucca, Porri, e Vongole [Risotto with Butternut Squash, Leeks, and Clams] calls for live littleneck clams, which, though available here, aren't worth the price, and are 95% dead anyway after the trip from the ocean to the fishmonger's. Luckily, I was able to find canned baby clams, and they worked well. I made a few other time-saving changes as well.

The risotto was delicious, but to enjoy it as I made it, I feel that a person would really have to like the taste of clams. The pungent, salty aroma was very noticeable, and the sweet, meaty taste of the clams was there in every bite. The slightly sweet and creamy squash, and the crispness of the leeks - also sweet, but in an entirely different way, provided nice contrast to the clams. The pecorino added a nice dimension as well. The risotto itself turned out perfectly creamy and delicious.

Here is the recipe as I made it:

Risotto di Zucca, Porri, e Vongole
Risotto with Butternut Squash, Leeks, and Clams

About 2 cups butternut squash - peeled and diced into 1/2-in. pieces (1/2 lb.)
About 2 quarts water
1 14 oz. can clams (I used the Roland brand baby clams)
1 large leek, white and light green parts only, scrubbed, cut in half the long way, and sliced thinly
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons scallions, the white part only, cut into very thin rounds
sea salt
1/2 tablespoon dried marjoram
1 cup Arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine (Villa Maria Chardonnay, 2003)
12 whole green peppercorns
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Toscano cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Lay the squash in a baking dish big enough that it doesn't overlap. Pour in 1/2 cup water, and put it in the preheated oven. Cook for 20 minutes. Take it out of the oven and let the dish cool on the countertop before draining. Set aside.

Set the water, unsalted, on a burner next to the one that you will use for the risotto. Bring the water to a rolling boil, and then turn down the heat, so that the water continues to simmer, but doesn't reach a boil.

In a heavy 4 quart saucepan, heat the olive oil until it runs around the pan, and then turn the heat to medium high. Cook, stirring from time to time, until the leek and scallion become a pale gold color. Add half of the squash and some salt, and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring once or twice. Add the marjoram, and stir to mix all of the ingredients.

Add the rice, stirring to coat.

Add half of the wine while steadily stirring the rice. When the wine has cooked off, add the other half, still stirring. When this has cooked off, pour the clam juices from the can into the risotto. Continue to stir until all of the juices have cooked off, then add a ladle of water from the saucepan on the side. Stir constantly, adding more water each time the rice begins to dry out.

When about 1/2 of the water in the saucepan is gone, and the rice is chalky, but still hard to the bite, stir in the remaining squash, and then add more water as necessary. When nearing the end, add the water as it disappears, but before the rice beings to stick to the bottom of the pan. This will give a creamier consistency.

When the rice is done, add the clams, stirring them quickly into the risotto. Add the peppercorns, and the pecorino. Remove the pan from the heat and stir vigorously. Taste and correct for seasoning. Serve immediately.

We served this with a 2003 Villa Maria Estate Private Bin Chardonnay. ( I love the screw off cap. Love it.) The wine matched the risotto well, I thought, but next time I might go for something drier.

I really enjoyed this dish - I look forward to making it with fresh clams, if I can find some good ones. Next time I think tha tI'll double the squash as well.

In closing, I can't tell you how fun this book is to cook from - it was a really enjoyable experience. I don't know if it is the instructional style or what, but I'm glad that I bought way too much squash for this dish - I'm looking forward to making the Rapini and Butternut Squash Soup later this week.

Meatballs

Food and Wine magazine publishes a great series of "Quick for Scratch" cookbooks that I love. I bought the "Quick from Scratch: One Dish Meals" a few years ago from the clearance rack at Barnes and Noble, and I've made many meals from it. The variety of dishes is always great, and I've never made a recipe that didn't turn out. This past week I received "Quick From Scratch: Herbs and Spices" from Amazon.com. Last night I made the Lamb Meatballs with Cumin, Mint, and Tomato Sauce. Here is the recipe:

Lamb Meatballs with Cumin, Mint, and Tomato Sauce

Serves 4

1 1/2 lbs ground lamb
3 T chopped blanched almonds
3 T dried bread crumbs
5 T chopped fresh mint
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 t ground cumin
1 12/ t salt
1/4 t fresh-ground black pepper
4 T cooking oil
1 onion, chopped finely
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes with their juice (preferably organic)
cous cous, for serving

In a medium bowl, combine the lamb, almonds, bread crumbs, 3 T of the mint, the farlic, 1 t cumin, 1 t salt, and the pepper. Shape the mixture into 16 meatballs, about 2 in-in diameter, and flatten them a little in the palm of your hand.

In a large, deep frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over moderately high heat. Add the meatballs and cook, turning, until browned all over, about 3 minutes. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels.

Add the remaining 2 T oil to the pan and turn the heat down to medium low. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the remaining cumin and 1/2 t of the salt. Bring to a simmer, then reduve the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.

Make the cous cous according to the package instructions.

Add the meatballs to the tomato sauce and simmer, covered, unitl the meatballs are cooked through, about 10 minutes longer. Stir in the remaining 2 T mint and serve over the cous cous.

The cookbook suggests that this be served with a wine that is crisp, and not too tannic nor assertive, and suggests a Rioja. We ate this with a Torres 2000 Gran Sangre de Toro Reserva from Catalunya. The wine was excellent with this dish: full and with a smooth finish, it complemented the spicy-smokiness of the meatballs perfectly.

The almonds added a crunch to the meatballs that was interesting texturally, but not much flavor. (I just used the planters slivered almonds, though, and I wonder if they might have been a little stale.) The mint added an extra dimension to the sauce, but beyond that was barely detectable in the dish - perfect. I think that this recipe could very easily be made ahead and frozen - it might even taste better. Next time, I might add some red pepper flakes or cayenne for an extra kick.

Apples

It's fall here in Michigan, and apples are in abundance. My parent's have 15 or 20 apple trees on their property, though I've never bothered to try to pick or eat any of them - they seem to fall to the ground as soon as they are ripe and the wasps get them. I often sit on their patio to read or just stare out at the yard, and every once in a while, I'll hear a "THUMP" as an apple falls from a tree and hits the hard ground. Around dusk, groups of white-tailed deer will take a stroll through the orchard, stopping to munch the apples on the ground.

I took a trip to Grand Rapids this weekend to visit my old friend B. Saturday, we went to Robinette's Apple Haus, an apple-picking farm just outside of G.R. We didn't pick any apples - I hate the bugs and that rotten-apple smell that always come with apple-picking - but we visited the cider mill and got donuts. Their cider was perfect; it was spicy-sweet but without that tooth-achiness that comes with drinking most cider. The donuts were good, too - light with a crusty outside. B. and I each got a pumpkin-spice donut - a plain donut coated with cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg and allspice. I picked up a cute little cookbook called The Apple Lover's Cookbook by Shirley Munson and Jo Nelson. B. picked up some apples and cider.

Back at B.'s apartment, we made the Sour Cream Apple Pie. A one-crust pie, it took about 15 minutes to put together (we used a pre-made crust) and 40 min to bake. The recipe is very simple, and the pie, when done, is best eaten chilled. We added a lot more cinnamon than the original recipe called for - and the pie has a wonderful apple-cinnamon aroma. The pie has a creamier filling, and so wouldn't require any icecream or whipped cream on top. My families reaction was "It's good," so I figure it's not a break-through recipe or anything, but I liked it, and would probably make it again next fall. Here's the recipe:

Sour Cream Apple Pie

1 unbaked 9" pie shell (we used Pillsbury)
2 Tbsp. flour
1/8 tsp. salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup sour cream (we used Daisy brand, which is lighter - not quite as sour)
1 tsp. canilla
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 cups peeled, sliced apples (about 3 MacIntosh)

For the Nut Topping:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped nuts
1/4 cup butter

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. When the oven in preheated, place the pie shell in the pie plate, prick with a fork, and prebake for about 10 minutes. Combine flour, salt, sugar, egg, sour cream, vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon; beat well. Stir in apples. Pour into prebaked pie shell.

Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 30 minutes longer. While the pie is baking, combine all of the ingredients for the nut topping and mix until crumbly. Remove from oven; spinkle with the nut topping. Return to oven for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes 6 to 8 servings.