No Seafood, Slabs of Meat or Curry

Friday evening I had two friends over to celebrate a birthday (yes another one). Jules and I missed Francesca's celebration the week prior because neither of us were able to take the out of town trip where the celebration occurred. So I began searching for recipes in my vast collection of cookbooks. I have an absolutely horrible weekness for cookbooks. They can be so visually beautiful. And they are such a wonderful escape when I am bored or lacking in culinary enthusiasm. I digress. Jules doesn't care for seafood and Fran doesn't care much for slabs of meat. She can deal with small chunks but no steak etc. Of course I read that as no chops, tenderloin, and any other thing that came to mind to prepare on the grill. I finally came up with chicken. That's simple. Everyone likes chicken. So, once again I turn to Nigel for inspiration. I took a whole chicken, split it down the backbone and flattened it out so that it would cook properly on the grill. Then I marinated it with olive oil, fresh garlic, diced red chilis and the joice of one lemon. It smelled divine. I covered that and put it aside for sit for and hour or two. Once that was done I quickly put together fresh thyme, garlic butter to be added right before placing on the grill and right after taking it off. Thank goodness I could use more of the fresh thyme bought for my braised lamb shanks. Hence my ingredient of the month.

For sides I decided to be a bit adventurous for those two. It's so funny how we can all limit our exerience of things simply because we are afraid to try something previously untried. Well, in my book, that is what makes us grow and makes our world so much bigger. Food helps me understand other cultures and makes me feel more connected to other human beings on a global level. We all have to eat. And each culture has their own unique way of preparing a dish that nourishes and unites their friends and family. For so many it is a social event. A time to reconnect and share time together. That is something it seems our culture has lost. Oops, the anthropologist in me is coming out again. So I thought just a mild introduction to something new, especially something rather tame, would be a good thing. I discovered at the market that day that there were fresh fava beans. Now, I have to admit that I have never prepared fresh fava beans. But I was intrigued and wanted to try them and I really don't consider fava beans too terribly exotic, being a bean and all. Beans seem non-threatening. After a short search, I found a recipe with fava beans as the main ingredient. The dish was quite interesting, in a good way. After shucking (?) the beans, they were cooked with ground cumin, ground ginger and fresh garlic. Then I added some marinated artichokes from a middle eastern grocer. This is where I took liberty with the recipe. It actually called for artichoke bottoms (non-marinated). But I liked the tang that the marinated ones added to the dish. And that way it could be eaten hot or cold. Once that was all cooked I added strips of preserved lemon peel. I have a recipe for preserved lemon that I will share soon if I can figure out exactly where to post it. Then, you are supposed to add green olives but that was another no-no for one of them. I do have left overs however, and I will add those green olives today.

Some people believe that you always need a starch to make a meal complete. I really don't adhere to that but on this occasion I thought I would add one. Coucous...easy...also not too terribly scary. Yes, perfect. we seemed to have had a bit of a middle eastern theme going anyway. So I cooked the couscous in chicken broth to give it a little flavor and while I was waiting the 3 minutes for that to cook I soaked some golden raisins in hot water. I wanter them to be pump and moist before I added them in. Now I was going to be really sneaky. Of course the two of them were hanging our in the kitchen with me chatting so I had to be a little careful. But lebanese wine (see wine list) was flowing freely for the girls and Jules was enjoying his third Fat Tire. A piece of cake. I ever so smoothly added the raisins, slivered almonds, a bit of cumin and dare I say it, curry powder. Just a pinch (or two). Jules did look over at one point after the secret ingredients were added and said "what kind of sticky grits like food are you making over there?". Now, I was not insulted, the statement was not meant to be an insult. My couscous is never sticky. How would that be possible. It's a simple formula to follow. No, it was just foreign to him and grits was the only food he could relate it to. But you know, he ended up eating it when we all finally sat down to dinner. And no one compained about the fava beans either though I must admit I really wasn't paying attention. I must ask both of them if they actually ate any. I'm sure at least one bite was taken for fear of hurting my feelings.

And one more nibble I didn't mention was grilled haloumi. It is sort of like a middle eastern version of provalone. quite interesting grilled. It holds together for the most part and gets a little gooey. Just enough. I seved it with flat bread as an appetizer. Sort like a quesadilla. Next time i think I will marinated the cheese a bit to give it a little more flavor and perhaps add a sprinkle of cayenne or hot paprika to give it a little punch. It would be really good on a panini as well. The meal ended with a strawberry/blackberry trifle. I really wanted to do something different but it's August...so hot. And I haven't played around with the ice cream attachment on my KitchenAid mixer. sometimes it takes me a while to bite the bullet and read a manual. I just hate those things. Always written in the most confusing way possible. Who writes those things?

All in all it was a lovely evening. We had a chance to celebrate a birthday and spend a few hours catching up. And we even got to add a new experience in the process.

I leave you with a thought for the day. I have Francesca" grandfather to thank for this one. He is a very wise man.
"One of the measures of a person's character is that they are nice to people they don't have to be nice to"

Gourmands Unite

It occurred to me this evening that perhaps I shall start another blog in which we can share a common evening of cooking, music and maybe a movie. I often wonder what other's lives are like when they are not connected to a group of friends or family. As an example, this evening I am preparing a lovely braised lamb shank dinner while listening to a very nice new cd (new to me). I am waiting for the last half hour of braising before I can actually taste the final result but I am quite confident that it will be most delicious. I found this fantastic place to buy fresh lamb and at quite a good price. I marinated it in wine, thyme, garlic and sherry vinegar. So I sat on my back deck listening to the silence of more storms to come with my two canine companions exploring the mysteries of my tiny backyard and thought what an absolutely lovely evening I had created for myself. I wondered what it must be like for those who perhaps were new to a city or recently displaced for whatever reason and therefore had not created or established a group or even a few people to share an evening meal, conversation etc. I am fortunate that way. I have a small group of close friends I can cook for or share time with. And it's a treat for me to do this soley for myself every now and again. Now, to suit my own interests, it should include cooking and/or food and it's requistite descriptions. As a result of these odd quandries I may, sometime soon, include a blog address for those who for whatever reason would like to share in the experience of preparing and sharing a meal. Call me crazy but I think this could be quite fun and interesting. I will continue my entries here which are less interactive so to speak, than that which I shall refer to next time.

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen this evening but also on my back deck. It has been unusually quiet. It seems that even the mosquitoes are absent. I wonder if this is some foreboding of some nasty storm that is heading our way. I take such pleasure in sitting in my odd wicker chair and lighting a couple of candles just relaxing and sipping my glass of wine. And what a fiasco the whole subject of wine was this evening. I wanted to use an inexpensive rioja for my marinade but the weather was a bit threatening so I decided against another trip out and used something I had on hand. That was the easy part. Then, what to choose to drink? I decided upon a french red recommended by a person at Central Market in lieu of a nice Chateauneauf de Pape that I was familiar with. Ugh, it was not quite all that it was reported to be so I ended up decanting it to force it to open up a bit. It's not horrible but I was really looking forward to this lovely dinner with an appropriately lovely wine. Hopefully the dinner will not be as disappointing. I will report on that next time...

Rooms Actually

In Virginia's day it was a "room". For me kitchen of one's own which is the heart and soul of my home. So I shall recount some of my culinary and life experiences as it relates to that center of my universe.

I begin there in the kitchen where I prepared a dinner for two dear friends who hadn't seen each other in quite a while. There is something so wonderful about preparing a meal for those you care about. Not having any children or very little surviving family (despite my age), I have the privlege of choosing my family in the way of dear friends. Bringing friends together in a celebration of reunion and an upcoming birthday was a perfect excuse to eat, laugh and share recent stories not heard before. The menu was fairly simple: beef...steak, actually, as the soon to be birthday girl loves red meat (being the Texan that she is) marinated in olive oil, garlic and chopped fresh rosemary and salt and fresh ground pepper of course. The sides were simple as well...roasted tomatoes in balsamic vinegar, a cantelope, prosciutto, fresh mozzarela and arugula salad. So perfect for summer. And then some couscous with almonds, parlsey, and a few other herbs and spices. For dessert, a lovely trifle inspired by my new favorite, Nigel, with red currents, blackberries and blueberries. We were so full from dinner that I had to send the dessert home wiith them. But it was so divine...light as a feather with the marscapone and whipped cream. Made with heavy whipped cream, I might add. Who cares about calories when one is preparing a celebratory meal. We were up until one or two laughing, talking astrology and hanging out in the kitchen while I cleaned up a bit and made soy lattes. It's so odd how people always like to converge in the kitchen. Even at large parties there is always a large group hanging out in the kitchen. Perhaps because it makes people feel more at home and it does have such a warm vibe to it. We all had such a wonderful time...the best in a long time for all of us. I realized at the moment when the last of latte was drained from my mug how much I enjoyed the company of dear friends in my home and vowed that it would not be six months or a year before I would have another gathering.