feasting on...gluten-free pixels

local French

2010-07-01T15:40:00.000-07:00

Hello out there…“Oui, c’est moi”… Yes, it’s me…!
still here after a few months on hiatus.

So sorry that I was gone so very long, but sometimes personal “things” take precedence over all else…
yes even food blogging…lol…

I will be back here on a limited blogging schedule of two or three times a month or so.
I hope to bring you delicious images and yummy information to wet your palate for the summer bounty ahead.

Please don’t look here for too many recipes, as this site will be evolving into a more informational and photographic venue. There are SO many recipe-based food blogs floating out there, I wanted this food blog to have a different feel as I restart it after my absence.

However, if I do find a dish that is particularly yummy, I promise to share the recipe with all of you.

I wanted to resume this blog with a photo-stroll through one of my fave outdoor markets, the French Market in Western Springs, IL that is held every Thursday from 2pm to 7pm.

With this romantic history of Parisian Markets in mind, imagine a market that you can visit and be comfortable in any weather.

At this market, you are shaded from the pounding rays of the summer sun and unexpected showers while you shop for your dinner, a fresh loaf of bread for breakfast toast, a trinket for a gift or a stunning array of flowers and pots for your garden.

I came to the market intent on focusing on ingredients for a menu for my Fourth of July feast. While shopping for my “feast”, I came across a few vendors of note.
In particular, I will be highlighting some fabulous PORK, PRODUCE and GARDEN Vendors in an upcoming post very soon.

Meanwhile here is a link to my post last year of My Favorite Local Farmer’s Markets

Wishing all my faithful blog readers a wonderful Fourth of July weekend…!

two holiday greetings...

2010-02-14T18:15:00.000-08:00

I still have more work than I can manage...so posts here will be sporadic at best for at least another month.

But I did want to take the time to wish you all a very wonderful St-Valentine's Day

and a Happy Chinese New Year...year of the White Tiger...!

Bisous...
XXX

about absence and chocolate cupcakes...

2010-02-01T19:04:00.000-08:00

So sorry that I have been absent for so many weeks.
I am still buried in work and this month looks as though it will be more of the same.

Yummy Gluten-free Birthday cupcakes

I just wanted to say hello to everyone and send out a sincere "Merci mille fois" to all of you that had sent Birthday greetings last month and most especially to my dear sister and brother.
Above are the decadent and truly yummy Gluten-free cupcakes that my sister baked for me.

My sister's darling cat helping me open my Birthday gifts

I promise to update you on Friday with my daily images I have taken over the last 3 weeks. I have been faithful in taking them, I just had no time to post them.
Thank you all for your patience in my abscence.
I will be back again on Friday.

Photo Fridays 365…WEEK #1

2010-01-08T19:49:00.000-08:00

This new Friday feature comes from a fellow food blogger Lindsey of Lindsey’s Kitchen, a wonderful and personable future Chef that I met this summer at TRU Restaurant at our Foodbuzz Community Table event.

Her sister suggested that she take a single picture everyday of 2010 and Lindsey sent the word out to the Food Blogging community. I decided to participate to keep me focused on my photography and my blog for 2010.

Merci beaucoup, Lindsey…!
(The PHOTO FRIDAY 2010 HEADER is her creation...she graciously allowed those of us to participate to use it.)

Here is my first effort…some feedback is very welcome...

Merci beaucoup in advance.

1 ~ A Yummy New Year's Desert

2 ~ Vintage Tablecloth Embroidery

3 ~ White-out Snow Storm

4 ~ Winter vegetables ready for roasting in olive oil and Greek herbs

5 ~ Ice Curtain on my balcony

6 ~ Chef Mickey helps me in the Kitchen

7 - Savoy Cabbage under my Chef's knife...!

8 ~ Saganashkee Slough in the Palos Hills Forest Preserve near my home this afternoon.

I hope that you all enjoy this Friday Photo feature...

happy new year...!

2010-01-01T07:18:00.000-08:00

To all my wonderful readers...

I wish that your New Year be filled with peace, happiness, health and good things to eat...!

I will be back soon with more pixel feasts.

Bonne Nouvelle Année…!

my gift to you…

2009-12-23T09:57:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of this Holiday season, I send to you, my faithful readers a beautiful poem about a small Christmas tree by my favorite poet.

little tree
by: e.e. cummings (1894-1962)

little tree
little silent Christmas tree
you are so little
you are more like a flower
who found you in the green forestand
were you very sorry to come away?
see i will comfort you

because you smell so sweetly
i will kiss your cool bark
and hug you safe and tight
just as your mother would,
only don’t be afraid

look the spangles

that sleep all the year in a dark box

dreaming of being taken out and allowed to shine,

the balls the chains red and gold the fluffy threads,

put up your little arms

and i’ll give them all to you to hold

every finger shall have its ring

and there won’t be a single place dark or unhappy

then when you’re quite dressed

you’ll stand in the window for everyone to see

and how they’ll stare!

oh but you’ll be very proud

and my little sister and i will take hands

and looking up at our beautiful tree

we’ll dance and sing
“Noel Noel”

wordless Wednesday…Christmas at Tiffany’s...

2009-12-16T17:53:00.000-08:00

Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients
of a truly merry Christmas.

I wanted to share the stunning simple beauty of Tiffany’s
Christmas décor at their store in Oak Brook, IL.

shameless self-promotion…

2009-12-15T17:57:00.000-08:00

Christmas is not as much about opening our presents
as opening our hearts. - Janice Maeditere

Being jobless once again after a flurry of temp free-lance work, I decided to do a little shameless self-promotion of my TWO brand new 2010 Calendars.

The “in my sister’s garden” Calendar features images that I took over several months in my beautiful sister’s stunning garden.

Naturally the “feasting on…pixels: a food lovers calendar” is a collection of the best of my food photos that have appeared here in this humble blog over the past year.

I chose 14 special images for each Calendar (that's one for each month and a front and back cover photo.)
I hope that you click on over to my ZAZZLE GALLERY and at least take a look at my photo Calendars, Holiday and everyday note cards.
I am very proud of th eowrk that I have produced this year and here's hoping kind readers that you will like some of it as well.

Merci mille fois in advance...!

Christmas at the Mill…

2009-12-13T11:32:00.000-08:00

"Remember, if Christmas isn't found in your heart,
you won't find it under a tree."

I apologize to all my readers for being absent from this blog for a few weeks.
I have been up to my neck in work, but since I am free-lancing, I have to grab every bit of work that I am offered.

One of the events that I photographed took place at Old Graue Mill in Oak Brook, Illinois called “Christmas at the Mill".
They had their annual Artisan Boutique with handmade items from select local Artisans.
Beautiful hand-pieced quilts, scrumptious warm hand-knitted items, stunning pottery, unique jewelry, one-of-a-kind ornaments, cards, Christmas figures and other gift items were on offer.

Carolers sang Holiday melodies and Santa was there hear your list of Christmas dreams. A team of beautiful Haflinger Draft Ponies gave sleigh rides around Salt Creek to children of all ages. (I went twice...it was a blast...!)
I wanted to share some images with you of this wonderful event. It was a perfect day and a great way to start the Christmas Season, sipping some cider, meeting Santa and sharing the day with lovely people.

The handmade items were displayed on all three floors of the Old Graue Mill and in the the historic Frederick Graue House up the hill from the Mill. It was a good time to get to know the local artisans as well as explore all the corners of the beautifully restored Graue Mill.
The Mill is closed for the season, but you can still pick up some of their ground cornmeal for yummy winter recipes if you call ahead to Graue Mill at (630) 920-9720.

Belle and Bess, Haflinger Draft Ponies are all decked out in sleigh-bells pulling the candy cane sleigh from A Zoo to You

vitamins from Brussels…

2009-11-20T15:10:00.000-08:00

This time of year, eating fresh greens gets harder and harder for me as my garden goes to sleep for the winter. But the saving grace is that Brussels Sprouts are in season. As a child, I hated Brussels Sprouts with all my might, as they came to the table boiled to death and ghostly grayish-green.

Now that I know that there are dozens of tasty ways to prepare them, keeping them fresh tasting and green, I try to keep a stalk of them in my cold pantry all winter. They are easily available on a stalk all over the US at you local Fruit and Veggie market.

Brussels Sprouts on my "Martha Stewart green" French button chair

I found these interesting facts about Brussels Sprouts and I wanted to share them with you, especially if these are not your favorites. This may encourage you to give Brussels Sprouts a whirl this Winter.

15 Facts About Brussels Sprouts

1-Brussels sprouts are native to northern Europe.

2-They are part of the Brassica family of vegetables, which also includes cabbage, broccoli, kale, and collard greens.

3-They get their name from the fact that they were widely cultivated around Brussels, Belgium during the 16th century.

4-They were introduced to England and France in the 19th century.

5-According to a 2002 survey, Brussels sprouts are the most hated vegetable in Britain.

6-French settlers in Louisiana introduced Brussels sprouts to America in the 1800s.

7-Commercial production began in 1925 on the Louisiana delta.

8-By 1939, Brussels sprouts were being produced in central California.

9-Today, almost all U.S. production of Brussels sprouts happens in California.

10-Other top Brussels sprouts producers include Canada, The Netherlands, England, and Germany.

11-Like broccoli and some other members of the Brassica family, Brussels sprouts contain something called sinigrin, a glucosinate that may prevent colon cancer according to research.

12-One cup of Brussels sprouts contains 1,122 IU of Vitamin A.

13-That same cup also contains 669 IU of beta carotene.

14-A cup of cooked Brussels sprouts contains about 60 calories.

15-1/2 cup contains 80% of the RDA of Vitamin C.

These are 15 great reasons to eat your sprouts;
one more is that each sprout has only 10 little calories…so eat up…!

My two favorite ways to enjoy them is steamed and tossed with a lemon vinaigrette.
Made this way they taste fresh and light.

During the cold months, I love to roast Brussels Sprouts in the oven. Cut sprouts in half after washing. Toss them with a fruity olive oil, salt and pepper and roast at 400 degrees, turning after 10 minutes until caramelized (about 15-20 minutes).

These are very sweet, pungent with out any cabbage-y flavor and pair very well with winter braised meats and that Turkey you may be cooking for you Holiday table.

wordless Wednesday…Happy Veteran’s Day…!

2009-11-11T21:08:00.000-08:00

Nothing is to strong as gentleness,
and nothing is as gentle as real strength. ~ St-Francis de Sales

I have been busy with many new projects,
but I wish you all a Happy Veterans Day…!

I will be back posting very soon...bisous...xxx...

November peas…a simple supper

2009-11-06T15:52:00.000-08:00

Unbelievably, my little urban-suburban garden is still producing peas, lettuces and a few last tomatoes. I sowed another batch of peas and lettuces mid-September, and the tomatoes are just not quitting. With that in mind, I decided to make a super-simple meal of probably the last of my autumn crops.

My Novemember crop of peas

I made a package of the Gluten Free cheese ravioli that I bought from Conte’s Pasta. I gently sautéed a few tomatoes and halved peas in a first cold press fruity Olive oil with chopped shallots and garlic.

After the ravioli are cooked through and drained, I topped them with this very simple sauce. I finished my dish with a bit of freshly grated ParmesanoReggiano and a few stings of fresh Mozzerella. A very quick and easy-peasy meal with the last harvest from my urban-suburban garden.

Gluten-free cheese ravioli with November peas and tomatoes

I can't say enough about Conte’s Gluten Free ravioli. I haven’t had ravioli since before I was diagnosed and these were delicious and you would never guess that they were gluten-free.

Conte’s Pasta Company is truly a premier manufacturer of gluten-free ravioli, pierogie, gnocchi, stuffed shells, pasta, and pizza shells. The believe that everyone should be able to enjoy pastas. Believe me, these are the best gluten-free pastas that I have yet to enjoy.

wordless wednesday...a walk in the woods

2009-11-04T14:29:00.000-08:00

Colors burst in wild explosions
Fiery, flaming shades of fall
All in accord with my pounding heart
Behold the autumn-weaver.

eat, drink and be scary...

2009-10-31T07:35:00.001-07:00

As spirits roam the neighborhoods at night,
Let loose upon the Earth till it be light.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN...!

sweet pumpkin maple custard...pumpkin week continues

2009-10-29T13:52:00.000-07:00

This delicious pumpkin custard can be baked in sugar pumpkins or in individual small ramekins in a bain maire (water bath). The baking time in a pumpkin is slightly longer as the pumpkins insulate the custard as it bakes. I like to bake my custard in pumpkins this time of year as it looks wonderfully unusual when served.

ingredients

2 small sugar pumpkins

4 eggs

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 cup of pumpkin purée

1/2 cup maple syrup

a pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 tsp oil for baking dish

directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Cut the lid off the pumpkin and remove the seeds.

Place a steamer basket in a medium saucepan with several inches of water.
Place pumpkins in the basket, cover and steam until just tender, about 15-20 minutes.
Let cool . (I popped mine in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.)

Combine the eggs, cream, maple syrup, pumpkin purée, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger.

Pour mixture into the pumpkin shell. Place in the oiled baking pan and lightly cover pumpkin with foil.

Bake for 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until mixture has set like a custard.
Allow to cool and cut pumpkin into wedges and serve with whipped cream and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Happy Pumpkin eating...! ! !

wordless Wednesday: autumn in Paris…

2009-10-28T13:37:00.001-07:00

Everyone has their natural place...
Neither pride nor price determines its altitude: childhood decides it.
Mine is a Parisian sixth floor with a view over the roofs.
~ Jean-Paul Sartre, Les Mots

For many years past, I have spent the autumn season in Paris. Not only is it a magical time of year as the leaves change into their fall couture, there is different vibe throughout the city that seems less hectic and more serene. Unfortunately this year I will be here in the US. But I am missing Paris very much this autumn, so the misty grey or golden autumn days here remind me of those glorious days in my favorite city. This year, images of past autumns in Paris will have to do, and I share them with you, gentle readers.

A breath of Paris preserves the soul.
~ Victor Hugo, Les Misérables ~ 1862

All I wanted was to connect my moods with those of Paris.
A picture is the expression of an impression. If the beautiful were not in us, how would we ever recognize it? ~Ernst Haas

Delicious autumn...! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. ~George Eliot

Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving.
What you have caught on film is captured forever ...
It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten them.
~ Aaron Siskind

And because it is Pumpkin week, here are pumpkins that are Parisiennes: Jaune Gros de Paris.

The beautiful giant pumpkin of the historic Paris market, Marché Les Halles. This big fruit can grow to over 100 lbs. They are round, flattened and have light ribbing. They are good keepers and are still popular in France. Good in pies, soups and baked or picked small and roasted or fried like squash.

roasted savory pumpkin seeds

2009-10-27T15:49:00.000-07:00

"Men are like pumpkins.
It seems like all the good ones are either taken or they've had all the seeds scraped out of their heads with a spoon."

I found many delicious ways to season pumpkin seeds. Pumpkin seeds have a subtle sweetness and nutty taste, and one of the most nutritious of all the seeds. They are great added to salads or sautéed veggies. I mix them into ground turkey before I make burgers or meatloaf.
Mostly I like them for a quick mid day savory snack.

Coulter Farm Pumpkin Patch

But during the Halloween season, I just love to toast them with flavorful olive oil or butter, sea salt and smoked paprika for a healthy, tasty autumn treat.

I made a “slightly less healthy” version with some Summer Butter that I brought from Nordic Creamery. I bought several tubs of one of their last batches of this organic cows milk butter that is made only in the summer months when the cows are eating grass. The taste is sweet, fresh and quite different from any butter from the Mega-Mart. More about Summer Butter in my post tomorrow.

ingredients

fresh pumpkin seeds

sea salt

celery salt

olive oil or melted butter

smoked paprika (you can also use regular paprika)

directions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Place pumpkin seeds, water, and 2 teaspoons of salt in a large saucepan and bring to a boil for 15 minutes. I find that his step makes the shell expand around the seed and then it becomes very crispy when roasted.

Drain seeds, blot, and let air-dry for 20 minutes.

Toss the dry seeds with olive oil, smoked paprika and salts.

Spread the seeds in a single layer on baking pan.

Roast until lightly golden and crisp for about 30 minutes.
Turn and flip seed every 10 minutes for an even roast.
(Your house will smell amazing…)

Drain seeds of excess oil on a paper towel.

Store your finished pumpkin seeds in an airtight container. I put the ones made with butter in the refrigerator.

(that is if there are any left to store…)
These freshly roasted seeds go really, really FAST…!

happy pumpkin week…! sugar pumpkins

2009-10-26T17:10:00.000-07:00
Produce great pumpkins, the pies will follow later.

Welcome to the Second Annual Pumpkin Week here at "feasting…on gluten-free pixels” !

Last year during the First Annual Pumpkin Week, I relayed a little about the history and lore of the pumpkin. I shared my recipes for Pumpkin soup and Pumpkin seed brittle. This year I will talk a bit about one of my favorite pumpkins, the sugar pumpkin and share some of the recipes that I have working on using the sugar pumpkin over the past week.

If autumn had a taste, it would taste like sugar pumpkins. Sugar pumpkins, pie-pumpkins, or sweet pumpkins are not the same as the pumpkins that we use to carve our jack-o-lanterns. Sugar pumpkins are smaller, less fibrous and much sweeter than their big brothers and belong to the winter squash family. In addition, as you will see this week, the sugar pumpkin is quite versatile in both savory and sweet recipes.

When buying your sugar pumpkins, look for those that are small, round, firm and heavy for their size. The sugar pumpkin has less defined ridges and a duller orange skin than the shiny-skinned jack-o-lanterns. Be sure to inspect the pumpkin for any cracks, bruises and that the stem is intact. These little beauties will last for a month at room temperature.

half’n’half roasted Sugar pumpkins

Since I cook just for myself or for an occasional guest, I cut a Sugar pumpkin in half and season one half as savory and the other as sweet.

ingredients

one sugar pumpkin washed, dried and cut in half

olive oil

ingredients for the savory half

olive oil

sea salt (I used four kinds of salt: Black Kilauea, Pink Australian, Red Haleakala, and White Flake Cyprus.)

celery salt

coarse-ground black pepper

dried thyme

dried sage

ingredients for the sweet half

dark brown sugar

cinnamon

nutmegon whole star-anise

butter

splash of vanilla

directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Coat baking dish bottom with 1 tbsp of olive oil.

Washed and cut the sugar pumpkin in half. Remove seeds and fibers and set aside.Poke hole in the pumpkins to allow the flavorings to infuse during roasting, but be careful not to pierce through the skin.

Apply the savory ingredients to one side and the sweet ingredients to the other.

Add 1/4 inch of water to the roasting pan and tent with aluminum foil.

Roast the pumpkin halves for 30 to 40 minutes or until tender.

Cool the pumpkins to room temperature.

I cube the savory roasted pumpkin and use them in a salad with my home grown French lettuces, goat cheese, drizzled with my spicy vinaigrette and topped with Smoked Paprika roasted pumpkin seeds.

The sweet roasted pumpkin, I peel and slice thin then add to my maple caramel sauce. Heat the thin slices in the sauce until warm. Serve with thick Greek yogurt or vanilla ice cream. Yummy just alone, too.

(NOTE: the recipes in bold will follow through my Second Annual Pumpkin Week.)

crab legs with creamy wasabi sauce

2009-10-23T13:15:00.000-07:00
I scored a good deal on frozen crab legs at my local fishmongers yesterday. And although the preparation is easy-peasy I wanted to share a few tips for preparation that I have learned along the way.My crab legs were uncooked and frozen on the ship, but I have included instructions for both uncooked and precooked.

I sometimes eat crab with just the utter simplicity of clarified butter and lemon, but I also love the creamy spiciness of Wasabi sauce. The Wasabi sauce also works well combines with the left-over crab for a great crab salad in an avocado or on a toasted roll.

cooking frozen uncooked crab legs

Boiling crab legs is easy.
Add either 2 tablespoons of salt, one cup of white wine and 2 cloves of crushed garlic (optional) to the water.
Fill a large pot approximately ½ full of water depending on the number of crab legs to be cooked.
Bring water to a heavy boil. Place uncooked crab legs into the boiling water and allow the water to return to a boil.
Reduce the heat to medium and cook them approximately 20 minutes.

heating frozen unthawed pre-cooked crab legs

Put the pre-cooked frozen crab legs in a vegetable steamer or colander over heavy and rapid boiling water (fill pot about 1/3 of the way with water). Cover tightly and steam them 10-12 minutes until heated through. Pre-cooked crab legs can also be eaten cold without cooking otherwise they just need heating without further cooking.

Seafood requires a shorter cooking and because most species of seafood have a low fat and high water content they can easily be overcooked.. Too much steaming will toughen the flesh as it dries out and too much cooking when submerged in water will make the flesh soggy.

creamy wasabi sauce

ingredients

1 ½ tbsps Wasabi paste (or more to taste)

3 tbsps mayonnaise

2 tbsps sour cream

1 tbsp Tamari sauce (Gluten-free soy sauce)

1 green onion, both the white and green parts, finely minced

salt and pepper to taste

directions

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

wordless wednesday…

2009-10-21T11:16:00.000-07:00
"There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky,
which through the summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be, as if it had not been." ~ Percy Bysshe Shelly

I wanted to share my beautiful autumnal surroundings with all of you...
no words are necessary.

autumn. spiced-apple clafoutis

2009-10-20T16:42:00.000-07:00
If you have an apple and I have an apple
and we exchange these apples then you and I
will still each have one apple.
But if you have an idea and I have an idea
and we exchange these ideas,
then each of us will have two ideas. ~ George Bernard Shaw

Clafoutis (or clafouti) is a French batter cake, a specialty of the Limousin region, traditionally made with black cherries but also sometimes with prunes, apples, or other fruits.
My autumnal clafoutis recipe is adapted from a recipe from Sally Schmitt (of French Laundry fame).

ingredients

batter

3 eggs

1 cup half-and-half or cream

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

1 tsp. vanilla extract

¾ cup sweet brown rice flour

½ cup sugar

¼ tsp. salt

spices for infusion

6 whole cloves

1 whole cinnamon stick

8 whole star anise

3 whole peppercorns

½ whole Vanilla pod, scraped

½ nutmeg pod

apple mixture

4 tbsp. unsalted butter

4 tart apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

½ cup sugar

4 tbsp. brandy or sweet sherry

½ tsp ground cinnamon

a pinch of Kosher salt

directions

Add the infusion spices and the half-and-half in a pan and heat to just bubbling at the edges of the pan.
Turn off the heat and let cool on stovetop.
When cool, pour into a clean container and refirigerate for at least 6 hours. I do the infusion the night before to let the whole spices gently infuse into the cream.
Strain the infused cream before use.

(NOTE: This vanilla-spice infuse half-and-half is SO delicious, I try make a little extra to add it to my coffee or tea for a taste of autumn.)

Preheat oven to 400°.

Blend together by hand with a whisk, or in a blender, the milk, eggs, 6 tbsp. of the melted butter, vanilla, flour, sugar, and salt.
Whisk well until smooth, and set aside.

Grease a 10" pie plate or six ramekins with the remaining butter.
Put in the chill chest until you are ready to bake.

To make the apple mixture, melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Add the sliced apples, ½ cup of sugar, brandy and cook gently until apples the sauce bubbles around the apples.
I added 2 whole star anise to my sauce and removed them after the sauce had cooled.
Turn off heat and set aside and let the apples cool to touch.

Pour in half the batter to your pan or ramekins.
Arrange the apple slices over batter, reserving juices, then pour remaining batter over apples.
Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over batter.
Bake until clafouti is golden and set in the center, 25–30 minutes, depending on your oven.

Right before I serve the clafoutis, I drizzled them with warmed reserved apple glaze.
The spice-infused cream provides the perfect amount of spicy kick to the tart-sweet apples. Hot from the oven or cool to room temperature, this desert embodies all that is autumn.

(NOTE: Since I was unable to find my glazed 10” calfoutis dish and used the ramekins, I had about 1/3 cup of batter left-over. It makes perfect pancakes, expeciall when topped with a bit of the glaze.)

blood orange sorbet…a taste of the autumn air

2009-10-15T20:47:00.000-07:00
"And the sunlight crawls around you,
And draws a fable that we fell through,
Pomegranate rain on my tongue,
Under the blood orange sun…”

I love citrus, and Blood Oranges are my all-time favorite. Their rich flavor and deep red color proclaim autumn more than any other citrus.

Blood oranges contain a pigment called anthocyanin, which is not typically found in citrus but rather more common in other red fruits like cranberries and pomegranates. Not only is the inside of the orange darkly pigmented but depending on the variety, the outside of their orange skins may also have lovely painterly washes of deep ruby red.

The three main blood orange varieties are Tarocco, the Moro and the Sanguigno.
The Moro, a recent addition to the blood orange family, is the most colorful of the three types, with a deep purple flesh and reddish orange rind. The flavor is stronger and the aroma is more intense than a normal orange. This fruit has a distinct, sweet flavor with a hint of raspberry particular to blood oranges.

The Moro variety is believed to have originated at the beginning of the 19th century in the citrus-growing area around Lentini. Moro Blood Oranges are full-blood oranges, meaning that their flesh ranges from orange-veined ruby colors from crimson and to vermillion. The thick orange-colored peel has a medium fine grain with spots, splashes or red wine veins. The Moro Blood Orange is now grown in the USA in San Diego, California.

Rungis Market outside Paris

I just found a new International Market in my area that has a produce section that rivals any Whole Foods (at much less than half the price). The square-footage of the produce section alone is larger than the total of most mega-mart stores. The huge selection and the artful arrangement of the fruits and vegetables feels like a cross between a visit to a perfect Parisian Marché and the huge wholesale market of Rungis in the suburb just outside of Paris.
I will share more about this new favorite market in an upcoming post.

I knew that the San Diego Crop of the Moro Blood Orange was just coming into season this month. When I was browsing at my “new-to-me-market”, I came across perfectly piled mounds of stunning Blood Oranges. They called to me with their lovely impressionistic coats of many colors and delicious aromas that was as much berry as it was orange. I bought many pounds of this delicious fruit and have been eating and experimenting with this fruit ever since. Here is the first of my recipes.

Blood Orange Sorbet

ingredients

¼ cup Sugar or ¼-cup Agave Nectar

1½ cups water

1 cup freshly squeezed Blood Orange Juice

1 tbsp Blood Orange Zest

a pinch of Kosher Salt

a tiny pinch of Cinnamon

¼ cup of a sweet, fruity white wine

directions

Make a simple sugar combining the water and sugar into a saucepan.
Place on medium heat stir until the mix starts to bubble slightly.
Lower the heat and stir until the mixture becomes clear.
Then the sugar is dissolved.
Remove from heat.

Add the Agave Nectar a little at a time and taste.

You can add a little more later, when the mixture is in the ice cream machine.
Add the Blood Orange zest, a pinch of salt, a pinch of Cinnamon and the wine and stir to combine. Incorporate the Blood Orange juice through a fine mesh strainer to remove the citrus pulp and any seeds. Stir the mixture and gently heat through.

Pour into a covered container and cool this mixture for at least two hours in the refrigerator.Chilling the mixture overnight is better.

Pour the chilled mixture into your ice cream maker and follow the directions for your particular model. For my Cuisinart ICE-20, I let it mix for 25-30 minutes.

I had been experimenting with fruit and chocolate sorbets over this past summer, trying to get the perfect balance of the alcohols and sugars that makes the sorbet smooth that does not freeze and the liquid sweetener (Agave) that does.

This recipe is a result of many trials and errors, but as Julia Child was so fond of telling us, ”The grand thing about cooking is you can eat your mistakes”. I have many neighbors that are great fans of eating my mistakes.

The resulting product of this Blood Orange sorbet recipe is a sorbet that is full of orange-berry fruit flavor, not too tart.
Sweet, but with some depth of flavor after it freezes overnight.
It has a lovely smooth mouth feel that is not your mega-mart sorbet…

Nope.

It was smoooooth…and creamy and yummy and was like the cool autumn air on my tongue.

You will love this sorbet.

Just a note…that the riper the Blood Oranges, the deeper the color of the final sorbet. The interior of the Blood Oranges will be a richer burgundy when ripe. However I found that the flavor of the final sorbet was equally rich, mellow and smooth regardless of the color of the sorbet. I just liked that the burgundy color makes the sorbet taste a bit more like autumn. Totally a trick of the mind-tastebud connection, I am sure.

I paired this fruity sorbet with a scoop of my homemade Vanilla-Cinnamon ice cream over a square of gluten-free apple crisp…
eaten with an antique silver spoon of course…perfection.

Bon appètit…!

the secret’s in the sauce…

2009-10-06T14:11:00.000-07:00

housemade ketchup
my revised version of a recipe from the River Cottage Meat Book

ingredients

6 pounds tomatoes, roughly chopped (I used a combination of red Roma plum, and 2 purple, 2 green and 2 yellow heirloom tomatoes to equal 6 pounds)

2 medium onions, sliced

1 poblano pepper, roasted stemmed, seeded, and finely diced

½ cup brown sugar or ½ Agave nectar (I used Agave nectar)

¾ cup apple cider vinegar

¼ cup white wine or 2 tbsp cup of vodka

¼ teaspoon dry mustard (I used Coleman’s double superfine)

1 cinnamon stick

1 ½ teaspoons whole allspice

1 ½ teaspoons whole cloves

1 ½ teaspoons ground mace

1 ½ teaspoons celery seeds

1 ½ teaspoons black peppercorns

1 bay leaf

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed

Kosher salt or celery salt to taste

*NOTE:
I used all fresh spices for this batch of artisanal ketchup. I am lucky enough to live near a huge (and I mean huge) Polish-Arab-Hispanic market (a converted defuncted mega-mart). This market freshly packages their spices in small bags (3-4 ounces). The prices of the spices I needed was considerably less than their brand-name-brand brothers that have been sitting on the shelf of a mega-mart for possibly 2 years. I can honestly say the difference in taste in my final product was remarkable, (as were the savings).
I realize that you don’t all live near such a wonderful market, but you can order fresh spices over the internet. I highly recommend the freshest spices that you can bet your hands on…

Kitchen geek factoid #2 :
The reason that I use wine (or vodka) in this recipe is that the tomato has alcohol dissolvable flavors that we would miss without that ingredient. Tomatoes contain alcohol-soluble flavors that can only be delivered to your tasting mechanisms in the presence of alcohol.
Water cannot dissolve organic molecules, which is why oil and water do not mix. Alcohol is a flavor carrier. Along with oil and fat, alcohol is an organic molecule, and can mix with other organic molecules.

directions

Put the roughly chopped tomatoes, onions, and poblano pepper into a large pot.
Over medium heat, cook until everything is soft.
I took about one hour.

Stir the mixture occasionally, so that the sugar in the tomatoes does not stick to the pot and burn.
Let the mixture cool and then pass it through a strainer.

I used my new Chinois, a gift from my sister.
(Merci beaucoup, chêre soeur…!)

Discard the solids in the strainer and put the strained liquids back into the pot.
Add the brown sugar, vinegar, wine and dry mustard.

Put the cinnamon stick, allspice, cloves, mace, celery seeds, black peppercorns, bay leaf, and garlic to a muslin bouquet garni bag and add it the pot.
Bring the mixture to a low boil, then reduce to a simmer.
Reduce for about 1–2 hours.

Remember to taste often as you are stirring…!
You need to continually assess the flavors as the sauce reduces and remove the spice bag if it tastes like the ketchup is becoming to strong.
(My ketchup took about 1 hour and 40 minutes to slowly reduce. After about 40 minutes, I removed the spice bag as the taste of the cinnamon, clove, and allspice was apparent and I knew that they would get more concentrated as the sauce reduces of the next hour.)

When the mixture has reduced to what looks and tastes like a ketchup-y consistency, you are finished.
Then (and only then), season with Kosher salt to taste.

I let the ketchup cool on the counter, and then transferred it to several small tightly covered glass containers. This recipe yielded about 2 pints of ketchup and will last for about a 2 months in the refrigerator. But, I doubt I have to worry about its shelf-life, as I am already finding new ways to use this delicious housemade condiment.
The taste of my homemade ketchup was better than I imagined it would be, balanced, unctuous and frankly lip-smacking good. Best of all it is all natural, without high-fructose corn syrup and additives.
I hope that you will try this recipe and enjoy making and eating it as much as I have.
Making this ketchup was a revelation...I had no idea what I was missing.
I am buying more tomatoes at the farmers market tomorrow to make more.

This ketchup is not just for French fries...

the secret’s in the sauce…

housemade ketchup is the new black…

2009-10-05T11:11:00.000-07:00
As part of the artisanal movement in Chicago restaurants, more and more chefs are making their own signature ketchups to grace their upscale menus. Some of the first restaurants to make the ketchup scene were Blueprint whose rich sauce is reminiscent of a Bloody Mary with the heat of horseradish and the crunch of finely diced celery and celery seed. Yoshi’s Café has a delicious ketchup creation with mango, and Kuma’s Corner ketchup has an Italian flair, spiced with puréed giardinera.

The list has begun to grow as star chef Marcus Samuelsson of C-House Restaurant in Streeterville soon joined the ranks. He makes ketchup that has a nice sweetness, just enough heat that comes from smoked Hungarian cherry peppers and a Middle Eastern spice blend called Za’atar. The acidity comes from a combination of rice wine and sherry vinegars.

The Bristol Restaurant plates its duck-fat fried potatoes with their house ketchup that the chef creates from Roma plum tomatoes, apple cider vinegar, and brown sugar. Their ketchup tastes the most like the traditional flavor that comes in a bottle, but has a richer deep red color and more unctuous to my palate. I tasted a bit of peppery heat and cinnamon but it was softly in the background.

Recently Chef Tony Mantuano of the Terzo Piano Restaurant in the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago joined the group. His housemade ketchup made from tomatoes grown at McWethy Farms in Three Oaks Michigan. I thought that his house ketchup resembled a tomato sauce and was a bit bland without a bite from the vinegar or any sweetness that you would expect from homemade ketchup. I hope that the chef continues to work on his signature sauce, as the fries were superb.

These handcrafted extra touches add to the feel that you are cared for as a patron, that you are special enough that the chef went that extra mile in creating the perfect sauce for his dishes. Even if all you order is a side of fries, the secret sauces make them taste luxurious.

All these ketchup-tastings over the past few months have inspired me to try making my own housemade ketchup sans the corn syrup. I have poured over at least 2 dozen recipes, and tested five of them in the course of tomato season this summer.

The recipe that I finally choose to share is a combination of the basic ketchup recipe from the River Cottage Meat Book and my own additions and subtractions after testing these five recipes
With a few modifications, this was the easiest recipe and two it produces a rich, unctuous tomato flavor with a good balance of sour, spice, sweet and delicious umami.

Kitchen geek factoid #1: Umami is the protein-y, full-bodied taste of chicken soup, or cured meat, fish stock, aged cheese, soy sauce, mushrooms, seaweed, or cooked tomatoes. "Umami adds body," Gary Beauchamp, who heads the Monell Chemical Senses Center, in Philadelphia, says. "If you add it to a soup, it makes the soup seem like it's thicker—it gives it sensory heft. It turns a soup from salt water into a food." When Heinz moved to ripe tomatoes and increased the percentage of tomato solids, he made ketchup, first and foremost, a potent source of umami.

The tomatoes I used were a combination my own home grown beauties supplemented with assorted heirlooms from Green Acres Farm in North Judson, Indiana that sell their beautiful produce at Chicago Green City Market.
The recipe that I adapted will follow later in the day.

drinking in fashion…

2009-09-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

Since not all of my readers subscribe to Serious Eats, I wanted to share a “hot from Paris fashion-week” post by Adam Kuban.

Christian Louboutin and Piper-Heidsieck are collaborating, releasing a special branded Champagne package, combining my two favorite things: shoes and champagne in my favorite colors red and black.

In celebration of this launch, Louboutin designed a sexy glass stiletto with his signature red sole. It will come in a limited-edition gift box along with a red-swathed bottle of champagne.

It will be available from Colette in Paris at 213, rue St-Honoré, on October 26.

I hope that one can order these on-line from Colette…I will let you know...

Cheers to fashion and bubbly …!

a september sunday...

2009-09-21T20:48:00.000-07:00
After seeing the movie last night about my fellow alumni from the Art Institute of Chicago, Georgia O’Keefe, I realized that I needed a breather from my usual routine to get my creative “mojo” working. An afternoon near the water always centers me and clears my mind to see the beauty around me. It was interesting for me to see that Ms. O’Keefe graduated in 1903 and I graduated in 2003… 100 years apart, and yet...
So, if there is any karma there, I could really use it these days, but I digress...

Early Sunday morning, I packed up my little red car and headed east on 95th Street to the first stop going toward the lake, the Beverly Farmer’s Market.

This tiny Farmer’s Market is tucked in iron-gated parking lot that is surrounded by trees, which gives it a country feel and drowns out the noise from busy 95th Street and Longwood Drive. Although small in size, there was nothing lacking about the quality, quantity and diversity of the produce that was on offer here.

The jumbo tomatoes were fresh from the vine, still covered in soil, there were fragrant melons, late sweetcorn with tassels as yellow and silky as Rapunzel’s hair, squashes that renged from the miniature patty-pan to the large beautiful big and blue Hubbard, fresh-picked herbs and at least a dozen of types apples that all begged for attention. Other booths offered fresh baked goods; farm-made cheeses, homemade jams, jellies, tomato and barbeque sauces and sweet and dill pickles whose glowing jewel colors reminded me to get busy with my own canning.

The bright orange of shelves of early pumpkins and crates of multi-colored decorative gourds whisper that in spite of the mellow 78-degree weather, autumn is right around the bend. The gourds that one farmer produced where the most whimsical and colorful on any I had seen so far this year, even at Chicago Green City Market and that is saying a great deal. Needless to say, I purchased quite a few as decoration as well to be photographic subjects in my studio.
After I completed my purchase at the Farm Market, it was still too early for my planned lunch at Calumet Fisheries. So I took this opportunity to take a short tour of historic Beverly architecture focusing on Longwood Drive. The Beverly area is home to Givens Castle and of Chicago’s most exquisite historic mansions and estate properties, rivaled only by Chicago’s North Shore.

Given’s Castle is a replica of a castle from Ireland which was constructed in 1886 when an American businessman, Robert Givens, was trying to convince his Irish fiancee to move to the United States. He had a duplicate of her family castle built from limestone that was hauled from a quarry near Joliet in a horse drawn wagons.
Givens Castle is located at 10244 Longwood Drive, and has been a home, an all-girls college, and is now a Unitarian church and is proudly registered with the Smithsonian Institute as a historical landmark. It also is a highlighted destination of our local Ghost Tours that pass-by this time of year as it has been reported to be haunted.

Set along a hilltop ridge just west of Longwood Avenue, an area called the “hill of means”, one magnificent mansion after another proclaims that Beverly is anything but a typical Chicago neighborhood. Beverly is largest enclave of the architect’s Walter Burley Griffin–designed homes. Walter Burley Griffin and his architect wife Marion were the first employees of Frank Lloyd Wright and well known for his prairie style houses.

But there variety in the styles of these imposing mansions; ranging from Prairie School, Queen Anne Victorian, Jacobean, Colonial and everything in-between. It is also known as the eastern Beverly Hills and this gracious suburban neighborhood is well worthy of its “California-esgue” nick-name.

The sunny picture-perfect skies of earlier had been replaced with a dull grey over-cast ceiling, so I left taking images of these stunning mansions for a more favorable day. I fully intend to return to savor these elegant homes, and I will then share my images of this jewel of Chicago's cultural landscape with you.

As the local church bells rang 12 noon, I headed down 95th towards the lake and Calumet Fisheries for lunch. Since I have previously written extensively about the wonderful food and people at the Fisheries when I posted fast food Friday…Calumet Fisheries this past July, I’ll limit this post to today’s experiences.

As soon as I pulled up to the humble fish shack, the air was redolent of the aroma of wood smoke so delicious you almost wanted to eat it. I ordered the cornmeal breaded fried shrimp that I had been “jones-ing” for as my lunch and some beautiful smoked salmon to take home for later in the week.

I was also thrilled to see that Calumet Fisheries finally had smoked chubs, which were woefully absent on my last visit. Naturally, I ordered several of these to take home as well. The smoked chubs have been a long time fave of mine since my dear dad first brought them home from here one night when he worked nearby on solving a power outage. (He worked for ComEd.)

While my order was being cooked, I went outside to take some images of the urban landscape. I am a sucker for the bridges and water towers that surround the river. As I was photographing, red lights started to flash and alarm bells sounded. The bridge was going up to allow a sailboat with a tall mast that needed to pass under it go by. I know that it may sound silly, but it was kind of exciting to watch this huge bridge “dance” and hold up traffic for this diminutive sailboat.

Once the bridge was back in place, I picked up my order and headed over it to the lake a few blocks to the east. By the time I pulled away, 8 or 10 more cars had pulled up to Calumet Fisheries and people had pulled out camp chairs or were sitting on the sidewalk or in their cars and were enjoy their fish riverside.
I could almost hear all the contented sighs...

Calumet Park is a lovely little pocket of recreational land on the lake that is not well known to Chicagoans. The Park has lovely walking and biking trails, ball fields, a Coast Guard Station, a boat ramp and a small beach with a bright blue beach house.

When I arrived, the lake was beautiful in her moody after-summer garment in colors of a million shades of blues and greens. The strong breezes were refreshing like they had been freshly laundered. The sky seemed to be in a battle between the autumnal blue-grey and golden light of summer as the light shifted eerily ever few minutes. The lakescape’s shifting shapes, colors and sounds inspired me as usual, but food-first…!

Perhaps it was just me, or a trick of the mind, but my shrimp dinner was tastier than ever and I ate more than usual sitting on my fluffy red towel on the sand. I spent many hours at the shore this lovely end-of-summer afternoon. The beach was deserted enough to provide the solitude that I was after for some much needed reflection.

I took enough images to satisfy my creative urges, some good, some mediocre, but some of my lost mojo returned if only for this day. The greens and the blues of the water and the unusual cleansing wind washed through my head and cleared some of the cobwebs.

I collected some lovely blue and gold stones for my birdbath, sat on the still warm sand relishing my delicious food in solitary bites. I walked the slim, long pier to its very end nearly a city block into the lake and felt the splash of the white-capped waves feeling almost a delicious sense of danger as the dark clouds came back overhead. I climbed a grassy hill high above the lake and watched the seagulls in my line of sight winding back and forth, playing happily in an air current only they could see.

My September Sunday where I went from farm to architectural beauty to fishery to lakeshore did not solve all that lay heavy on my mind and heart. However, it was a great way to start to look inward and then to look outward again and discover the beauty that lay just outside my door.

As summer comes to a close, I hope that you all find a day that you can call you own to discover life’s simplest pleasures and undiscovered treasures that will delight you.

Guava…latin dining in the Chicago suburbs

2009-09-04T20:16:00.000-07:00
The SW suburbs of Chicago have very limited choices for elegant dining. By elegant dining, I mean white linen tablecloths, cloths napkins, fresh, seasonal ingredients and attentive service.
Other than the Dan McGee Restaurant in Frankfort, Chef Paul Virant’s Vie in Western Springs, Chef Jerome Bacle’s Courtrights in Willow Springs, Chef Colin Turner’s Tin Fish in Tinley Park and Chef Burcenski’s Tallgrass in Lockport, there are very few fine dining choices, especially for lunch.

I had heard about a new restaurant called Guava that had opened in Westmont, Illinois where Chef Ricardo DeLeon combines the tastes from South America, Central America, Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Spain, and I was very interested in trying out their menu.

Thanks to soon-to-be Chef Lindsey of the blog Lindsey’s Kitchen who reviewed Guava restaurant on her new blog Supper for Suburbanites I thought this might be the perfect place to take my mother for a lunch that I had long promised her. Tapas and Mojitos are high on her list of faves, so after checking out Guava’s on-line menu, we planned our luncheon.

As soon as we entered the restaurant, we were cordially greeted by the hostess and shown to our table. The interior space presented as warm with rich. The hardwood floors, subdued wall colors that were spiced with bright abstract art pieces that were highlighted with well-placed lighting effects were immediately welcoming and engaging.

The main dining area featured a well stocked bar tiled with earth-toned small glass tiles and ringed by soft orange glass-shaded pendant lights. Rich dark brown Weng wood contemporary chairs surrounded tables that were dressed to impress in pristine white linen cloths with chocolate brown napkins wrapping the utensils at each place. It made me feel like a specially invited guest. The ambiance here was definitely upscale and elegant, yet not at all stuffy.

Guava is known for their signature Mojito menu. We choose the Watermelon Mojitos with luscious chunks of fresh sweet watermelon and fragrant mint. As we sipped our cool sweet-scented drinks, we perused the Tapas menu and made our choices.

Although it was not listed on the Lunch Menu, I asked the waiter if I could possibly order the duck sope that I had seen on their website menu. She asked the chef and he was more than happy to oblige.

The pulled Duck was piled high on a miniature bowl made from sweet potato and garnished with peach salsa and queso fresco. The duck was very well seasoned and the smokey taste that was well balanced by the sweetness of the sweet fresh peach salsa and the crunchy sweet potato sope. The dabs of the fresh queso fresco cheese added richness to the entire tapas.
Queso fresco is fresh cow’s milk cheese that is moist, soft and crumbly.
Traditionally, a sope is a small fried corn-dough bowl, but this sope was made with sweet potatoes that added a new culinary dimension to the conventional Latin favorite

My mother loves squid cooked in any manner, so she was naturally seduced by the Calamari Frita. The crispy fried squid were perfect in their minimalistic presentation paired only with a roasted red and green hot and sweet peppers and a pinch of cilantro for a pop of color. I loved seeing that as the calamari were flashed fried, they seemed to result in individual edible sculptures.

On the side, we were serves a very generous portion of delicious dark-red, house-made smoked tomato salsa and freshly sliced lemons. The spicy and richly smoked flavored sauce was the perfect exclamation point for the gentle flavors of the crispy squid.

The waiter shared with us that the chef wood-smokes his own peppers and tomatoes for this sauce and other dishes. I complimented this sauce so much that the waiter brought out a container of it for me to take home.

Next, we ordered the pork carnitas. The delicately crisp and freshly made soft corn quesadillas surrounded shredded slow-cooked tender pork topped with sweet brown caramelized onions. The delicate quesadillas triangles were circularly drizzled with a house-made avocado and sour cream sauce and garnished with salsa fresco. Yum, just yum…

The spicy, smokey flavor of the pork was enhanced by the sweetness of the onions, and cooled by the creamy avocado and cold concase of tomatoes and onions of the salsa. These were the best quesadillas I have ever tasted, as the flavors were at the same time familiar and surprising….

We toyed with the idea of ordering the Shrimp cerviche as I had heard is was delicious, but decided to save room to split a dessert. The Banana Crème Pie on the menu has been touted on the internet as having won many awards so we decided to put it to our taste test.

We were served a very generous slice of the Banana Crème Pie. The pie itself in presentation was drizzled with a caramel and chocolate garnish with half a banana that had a crispy caramelize sugar crust. As I looked at the plate, I was mentally calculating how many miles I would have to do on the treadmill to work off this amazing sweet treat.

The Banana Crème was richer than any pudding as it stood on its own and had a mellow fruity flavor, made richer still with the fresh whipped cream pilled on top for (what seemed like) another several inches. I wasn’t able to sample the crust as it was made with wheat flour. But my mother said that she tasted chocolate and peanut butter in the dark and thick, crunchy crust. Yes, it is award wining for sure…sugar coma anyone…?
We washed down the delicious banana decadence with aromatic rich Columbian coffee and vowed to come again and taste some of the other offerings on the menu of Guava restaurant.

It is open daily from 11:00 AM - 12:00 AM. Reservations are not necessary, but are suggested for dinner. And Thursday night there is Salsa dancing...I am so there.

Merci beaucoup encore to Lindsey and her new blog Supper for Suburbanites. I met Chef Lindsey last week at the Foodbuzz Chicago Community Table dining experience at Tru restaurant and look forward to eating her superb dishes in the future.

tried + TRU(e)…part II…mignardise + back of the house

2009-08-31T22:10:00.000-07:00

Tru(e) view...
a view of the engaging interior architecture of the private dining room at restaurant TRU...

When I last left you dear readers, our table of Foodbuzz Community food-bloggers had just finished our dessert course and were smiling happily in our individual food-comas. As we sipped our rich Intelligentsia coffee, the waiters presented three-tiered silver dishes stacked with the artistic delights of the executive pastry chef and owner, Gale Gand and pastry chef Meg Galus.

For those of you unfamiliar with the tiny sweets, mignardises are the tiny, bite-sized desserts that follow a meal at high-end restaurants. Often they include tiny cookies or chocolates, as well as other edible delights. These are also referred to on occasion as "friandise", but friandises are larger and it is also a blanket term for sweets. Mignardises are what is served with coffee after a meal like an amuse-bouche is presented before a meal or an intermezzo in between courses.

As we pondered over which delectable morsel we would sample, we received a surprise visit from one of the pastry chefs, Meg Galus. She thanked us all for coming and explained the exquisite chocolate truffles, French macarons, whimsical lollipops, and gold leaf scrolled creations that we were about to taste.

From the top shelf, I chose a delicate dark chocolate cup filled with crème anglais and garnished with a miniature sliver of candied orange peel.
From the center shelf, the vanilla/olive-oil macaron called to me…I wanted to see how it compared to the ones that were my favorites from Pierre Hermé shop in Paris.
From the bottom shelf, the dark-chocolate covered honey-berry lollipop was mine for the taking.

Each of these sweet bites, besides being “nearly” too pretty to pop in my mouth was a sweet delight. Of all of them, my favorite was the macaron. Each delicate macaron “biscuit” was filled with vanilla olive-oil ganache with tiny pieces of green olive. I loved that the ganache was less sweet and was slightly salty because of the olives. I love the pairing of savory-sweet in a dessert. For me, it tasted like a quick trip Paris to me, so much so that I had one more macaron…!

In the middle of sampling the tiny sweets, we had another surprise visit, this time from the Executive chef and owner Rick Tramonto. He looked to be rushed, but said that he had to stop in and thank us all for coming to TRU.
Alice and Jared of the blog, Eat a Duck I Must, had brought their copy of his book, “TRU, A Cookbook from the Legendary Chicago Restaurant” and he was gracious enough to sign it for them.

Just when we all thought that the evening was drawing to a close, my favorite waiter of the evening, Shane, announced that he would be leading us on a tour of the back of the house.

While we waited for all to join the group for the tour, Shane and I discussed my favorite piece of art that hangs in one of the private areas where we were dining. The painting, Jolly Good Fellow was painted in 1991 by Vik Muniz and is a perfect piece to hang in this temple of culinary perfection.
Why you ask...?
The media that Muniz used for this painting was a bit of dust, chocolate, ink and ketchup.

For me, my favorite part of dining in any restaurant is getting at least a peek into the soul of the establishment, the back of the house. I love seeing the controlled chaos in the kitchen, the precision plating and garnishing of each elegant dish, and the well-choreographed dance at the “pass” between the expediting chef and the waiters. The kitchen area at TRU was exceptional in its cleanliness, efficiency and stainless-steel elegance.

We passed the Kitchen Table, which is located inside TRU's stunning kitchen where diners were being served dessert. Guests can reserve this room that offers a behind-the-scenes look at the pastry and savory kitchens. I had preciously dined at the TRU kitchen table and I highly recommend reserving this table for any serious foodie as you can watch your food being cooked, garnished and elegantly plated before you are served the masterpiece.

We walked in the kitchen hall on a custom-made mat that announced the restaurants name (as if we could forget), passing walls decorated with James Beard and many other prestigious culinary awards and case after case of silver, crystal, jewel-toned Versace china and the famous crystal staircase for service of a selection of fine caviars. We were told that all of these items were always, always hand washed and dried. (naturally...)

As our group exited the kitchen, a tray of small cubes of chocolates dusted with cocoa was offered. Our waiter, Shane stated that this is the “exploding truffle” and must be eaten in one bite. As I bit into the truffle, it burst, filling my mouth with a delectable berry liquid that was intensified by the rich chocolate melting on my tongue.

I asked Meg Galus, the pastry chef on duty, the secret of these truffles an she said that the interior is frozen, cut into cubes and dipped in chocolate. The enrobed cubes are then placed in the chill-chest where the frozen interior filling to thaw. To me, this tiny truffle embodies the concept of TRU, always innovative, surprising and fresh, but always elegant, artistic and certainly delicious.

One of my other rather weird favorite things at TRU was the bathroom sink. The bowl was a plate of textured green glass that drained into a stainless-steel trough. It feels like a piece of abstract bathroom art.
I had seen this sink before in the Hudson Club (that is now SushiSamba), but it seems quite appropriate here at TRU where everywhere you turn is an artistic delight for the senses.

Did I enjoy this special TRU dining experience…you bet…!

Although we were not the typical guests, we were treated like royalty at every turn were every single need was anticipated. As I exited, I saw my little red car parked right in front as in a place of honor. The maître d’ handed me two perfect oval muffins in swathed cellophane and tied with a silver ribbons. H e said I know that you can’t eat these, but perhaps you family will enjoy them.

He also handed me a beautiful box of TRU truffles…”…and these are just for you”…
My family thoroughly enjoyed the berry jam filled muffins I tucked in their lunch box and I am still enjoying the beautiful truffles.

That was a perfect ending to a perfect evening at TRU, sharing fabulous food with fabulous fellow foodies.

Thank you again, Foodbuzz and Visa Signature…
bisous…

camera in the kitchen...

2009-08-28T20:22:00.000-07:00
”The grand thing about cooking is you can eat your mistakes” ~ Julia Child

Last week one of my still life images that I used to illustrate a blog post about Paul Child photographing Julia Child as she worked was made famous and will be a part of culinary history.

Paul Child photographed Julia's hands as she diced, chopped and cooked so he could to send the photos to the illustrator to use as a model in her ground-breaking cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking”.

My image was chosen by the Smithsonian Photography Initiative to be in their post and remain forever in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. Julia Child collection.

My photograph is a very humble image that I took in my home studio, but I am indeed very, very proud. The image was also used in an article from the Smithsonian called "Camera in the Kitchen", a title that I love, as that is where my camera is most at home.

My Image on the Smithsonian Photography Initiative: A Camera in the Kitchen

I hope that I may have made Julia proud in the fact that I am as serious a cook as she was.
Not famous,but I still remain a very serious cook. I love to play with food, and with my camera in my kitchen, as Julia and Paul did so long ago.

What a Smithsonian surprise...
and such a lovely and simple gift to my culinary soul.

Merci mille fois, Julia for your constant daily inspirations.

And merci beaucoup to the Smithsonion Institute for this kind gift .

tried + TRU(e)...Part I...Foodbuzz Community Table Dinner...

2009-08-26T19:25:00.000-07:00
I was lucky enough to be one of the Featured Publishers of Foodbuzz chosen to attend the Chicago Community Table dining event that was held on Monday evening at TRU Restaurant.

The restaurant is tucked away in the shadows of a skyscraper canyon in the Streeterville area, close enough to the charming glitz and glamour of North Michigan Avenue. But as you enter the elegant revolving doors, you emerge in a world apart…a veritable culinary haven.

I had dined at TRU a few times prior to this event and know that TRU is known for their progressive French cuisine featuring fresh ingredients, inmaginative creativity and stunning artistic presentations. But my past culinary adventures was prior to being diagnosed with gluten-intolerance as a Celiac. This time at TRU, I was anxious to see how they would handle a Gluten-free meal in a prix fixe dining experience.

Upon entering, I was greeted by the maître d’ and an some of the original art that graces this lovely restaurant. Two of my favorite pieces are on display in the entry, the black and white photograph by Hiroshi Sugimoto of La Tour Eiffel…blurred and the brilliant blue sculpture by Yves Klein titled Venus Bleu.

I was shown to a table in the lounge area and saw I was only the second person to arrive and introduce my self to Katie who writes the blog, Salt and Chocolate. Soon more of the blogger guests assembled and we were escorted to one of the private dining areas on the second level to mingle over cocktails and canapés.
We were served a light and I was told a refreshing cocktail of Basil infused sparkling lemon water and Finlandia Vodka. The presentation was beautiful and aromatic, but I opted to inhale the delicate herbal scent as vodka is made from pure barley, which contains gluten.

canapés

The first canapé that we were offered were called cauliflower spheres. On a chilled tray there were a dozen elegantly curved spoons. In each spoon was a pale cream-colored oval alginate cauliflower sphere which was exactingly and identically garnished with four bright orange fish roe, and a perfect tiny strip of lightly sweetened orange zest.

At first bite, my mind was blown; I abandoned all thought and just relaxed and enjoyed the ride. The ovoid cauliflower sphere and some of the roe burst open at first bite and flooded my tongue with a combination of slightly sweet vegetal smoothness and delicate flavors of the sea. The next bite had a bit more of the salty ocean and citrus flavors and aromas…but still...wow…!
I am still dreaming of this amazing bite.

The other two appetizers that were on offer were a scallop and lemon fried wonton and a crusty spherical petite beef Wellington. Both of these hors d'oeuvres were beautifully presented and smelled delicious, but were, of course off-limits to me because of the gluten factor. But my table-mates reported that both these apps were delicious as they rolled their eyes in pleasure.

I want expressed my appreciation to my fellow bloggers for allowing me to photograph the portions of dining experience that I was unable to taste with my palate. There were also so wonderful at describing their taste experiences for me in such a way that I really did not feel terribly deprived.

We passed a wonderful time of meeting, chatting and exchanging stories and business cards with fellow food bloggers. I met so very much wonderfully talented, charming, kind, sweet and interesting people that share my passion for food.
I was sorry not to be able to talk more with everyone at our table, but it was a long table and the seduction to taste, photograph and experience everything was a strong one. I do so hope I have the opportunity to get to know you all soon at another Chicago foodie event.

Those I did have a chance to get to know at my end of the table were of course, Katie of Salt and Chocolate, Alice and Jared of Eat a Duck I Must, Val and Mike of Chicago Marathon Val, Jada of Better with Butter, Courtney of Coco Cooks, Rebecca of A Homemaker’s Habitat, and two culinary students, Heather of Chik n’ Pastry and
Lindsey of Lindsey’s Kitchen.

I also sat near and was able to get to know Ryan Stern, Director & Managing Editor of Foodbuzz from the San Francisco office, and Chicago Foodbuzz staff members Amy and Gina. Thank you all so very much for you hard work with Foodbuzz in coordinating this wonderful event and to VISA Signature the sponsor.

amuse bouche

After about and hour or so of meet and greet, the dinner began in earnest with the amuse bouche of sea-cured salmon with cucumber gelée . The sea salt-cured smokey tasting salmon was presented in the center of a pale green gelée that was smooth and mild and complimented the briny flavor of the salmon.

The glowing red amuse was as brilliant as a tiny jewel garnished with ebony Nigella seeds and sapphire cornflowers. When I bit into the miniature petals of the cobalt blue flowers with the salmon, the spicy, clove-like flavor gave an added dimension to the bite and definitely sharpened my appetite for what was to come.

I have to add that even though I could not enjoy the fragrant array of breads, they were definitely tiny works of art. Knowing of my gluten-intolerance, I was given a elegant bowl of crispy golden popcorn dusted with White Flake Cyprus Sea Salt and finely grated Parmesano Reggiano.

first course: peeky toe crab

The first course was another precious gem on a plate, the peeky toe crab was initially plated as a lone jewel. The molded round of pale white crab sat atop a shallow bed of rosy pequillo peppers. It was topped with a perfect round of salty, pink prosciutto, and garnished with tiny leaves of scented globe basil and then perfectly piped with exactly 12 dabs of the spicy-sweet thick pequillo pepper puree. An exercise in perfection that results in a tasty as well as a delicious dish...

As an aside, I was happy to see that pequillo peppers was incorporated into the menu. They are my favorite ingredient to use to gently add a sweet zing of heat to proteins and vegetable dishes. Pequillo means "little beak" and these peppers are grown in Northern Spain, hand picked then roasted over open fires. The peppers are then peeled by hand then packed in jars or tins. The roasting of the pepper gives it a rich, spicy-sweet flavor. I always keep a jar of these in my pantry.

A few seconds after the crab dish was set in front of us, another waiter came to our places and added a pour of cantaloupe-cava consommé that had a hint of ginger around the elegant morsel. Now the jewel was complete in its setting, it didn’t stay there for long, it was too enticing…and I was hungry.

my second course: English pea soup with extra-virgin olive oil

This was one of my two favorite courses. From the first spoon, I was in soup-lovers heaven. Homemade soups, especially vegetable soups are my go to meals over the fall and winter months. This soup was utter simplicity with a very fresh intense pea flavor and the rounded green richness of a first cold pressed extra-virgin olive oil. The seasoning I detected were salt enough to enhance the fresh pea flavor and a bit of very finely ground white pepper.
I was humbled by the intensity of the deliciousness of this soup of such simple ingredients.
It was SO very good.
Yes, it was so very, very good that if I were not in a public place, I would have licked the beautiful green, blue and gold Versace china cup clean…lol…

I hope to try to make this soup at home. I just planted my fall crop of English peas in my garden, so I when the harvest comes in October I will be experimenting whenever I can to reproduce this recipe.

Those that could eat gluten received a Crispy fried frog leg on brunoise of carrots and celery with a watercress neige which was reported to be delicious and looked quite colorful in its stunning white curvilinear china presentation dish.

third course: olive oil poached scottish salmon

This Olive-oil poached salmon was my #1 favorite course with the English pea soup as a second. And I think that the salmon may have been the favorite course for most of the Foodbuzz blogger group. Right after it was served, a distinctive hush fell over the entire length of our otherwise animated table.

From the first bite of this buttery and rich preparation of the gorgeous pink piece of salmon to the last, it melted in your mouth and was “TRU(e) ecstasy” on a plate.

The tart bite of the pickled daikon was a perfect foil for the creamy tastes of the salmon and the coconut sauce. The garnish of the daikon star-flower and tiny “balls” of Granny Smith apple added that crunchy mouth feel to the overall richness.
A perfect and elegant dish...but not simplistic by any means.

And yes, I want more.

wine pairings

Beginning with the amuse bouche, we were poured an Alma de Blanco Godello Monterrei 2008, a white wine from Spain. It is a crisp white with soft sweet peach and citrus notes and a faint floral aroma. It was a perfect pair for these light seafood courses on our menu. I have seen this wine at my local wine purveyor and it was rated by Wine Spectator with an 89 and was under $20.00 a bottle.

Right after the fourth course, we were poured a red wine, a Niepoort “Twisted” Douro 2006 from Portugal. This red paired well with the meat course, the plums in the dessert, and the chocolate in the mignardises. I found the tastes of berries and plums and a bit of chocolate and spice in the finish.

I also recently saw this wine on sale an was attracted by the cool label. I read that Dirk Niepoort He worked with a German illustrator to create a cartoon story for the label. Robert Parker rates this wine at 88 and I saw this wine available at under $30.00 a bottle.

fourth course: braised beef short ribs

The beef short ribs were fall-apart tender and unctuous with a punch of flavors from the scallion pistou and added “umami” from the miso foam emulsion. I am a big fan of braised meats and as my butcher can attest, I am a good customer wheb it comes to Veal, Beef, Lamb and Pork cuts that can cook low and slow during the long cold Chicago winters as I work at home.
I enjoyed every bite of the beef, but married to the topper piece of unagi (freshwater eel) which I usually adore, was very dry and overly sweeten by a glaze and not the rich fresh taste that I love.

fifth course: dessert ~ seedling farms plums

My gluten-free dessert was not much different from the others; I was only missing what seemed to be a purple plum tuile as a garnish.

However, my dessert was not at all short on flavors. All the ingredients were harmonious and married incredibly well for what was a summer dessert masterpiece.
The delicious Red Beauty Japanese plum slices from Seedling Farms, my favorite fruit purveyor at Chicago Green City market were sweet, fresh and flavorful.
They brought a natural tart note to the handmade milk chocolate ice cream, the fluffy sarsaparilla cream, sticky-sweet (read delicious) ginger-lime meringue.
The refreshing plum granita was a wonderful way to clean you palate between the sweet bites and a perfect end to this elegant meal.

A cup of rich, full flavored Intelligentsia coffee rounded out this meal as we chatted and waited for the artistic display of yummy mignardises yet to come...
Ahhh...
This may be TRU(e) love...

Comming soon…tried + TRU(e)…Part II,
celebrity chefs,
mignardises,
my favorite waiter and
back of the house secrets.
...please stay tuned.

Sundae, bloody sundae...or.dreamscicle memories...

2009-08-20T19:02:00.001-07:00

In summer, the song sings itself. ~ William Carlos Williams

To me, a pure vanilla ice cream is the super-model of ice creams. It can wear a variety of haute couture ensembles and still have its individual beauty shine through.

The recipe for my Vanilla Bean Ice Cream comes from a combination of Alton Brown’s recipe for Serious Vanilla Ice Cream and a recipe from Chef Michel Roux. I adjusted the proportions of the fats and sugars a smidge, but still produced a less sweet, but still very smooth and creamy vanilla ice cream.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

ingredients

3/4 cup Sugar ( I used Domino’s Demerara Washed Raw Cane Sugar that imparts a softer, almost caramel-y sweetness and a cream color the mixture a pale cream color)

1 cup heavy Cream

2 cups whole Milk

1 Vanilla Bean split and scraped

2 tsps pure Vanilla extract

directions

Combine all ingredients (including the bean and its pulp) in a large saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring the mixture just barely to a simmer. As soon as you see tiny bubbles begin to form at the edge of the pan, remove it from the heat.

Allow to cool at room temperature, then add the Vanilla extract.

Remove the hull of the vanilla bean, pour the mixture into lidded container.

Refrigerate mixture at least two hours, but overnight is better.

Freeze mixture in ice cream freezer according to your Ice Cream Makers instructions.

I use a Cuisinart ICE-20 and it took about 30 minutes to have the volume of the mixture to increase in size by about 1/3 or so and get to a soft-serve consistency.

Scoop the mixture from the ice cream maker into lidded freezable containers.

Freezer until solid, about 3 hours, but overnight is best.

* * * * * * * * * * *

This morning I was shopping at my Farmer’s Market for fruit to use in my ice cream recipes, I happened upon a booth with a banner proudly proclaiming The Olive Tap. The owner and is helper were selling beautiful sparkling bottles of extra virgin Olive Oil, flavored Olive Oils and vinegars.

I sampled oils and vinegars from large stainless steel urns called Fustis before deciding on purchasing a Blood Orange infused oil. >

This one image ONLY is from the Olive Tap website....thank you.
I spoke at length with Mario, the owner of The Olive Tap in Downers Grove, IL and he explained the way that the Blood Orange Olive Oil that I choose was made.

Mediterranean Blood Oranges from Tunisia are crushed simultaneously with buttery flavored Chemlali Olives in the mill to fully fuse the flavors. It produces an oil with a rich but subtle tangy orange flavor and a delicate aroma. He said that the Blood Orange Fusion Extra Virgin Olive Oil has a more delicate citrus taste than the Lemon Fusion Oil.

I told him that I looking for oils that would compliment my homemade ice creams and sorbets and he agreed that I had made the right choice. He also said that the Blood Orange Fusion Extra Virgin Olive Oil , White Balsamic Vinegar with salt and pepper to taste makes a wonderfully light and flavorful dressing for summer greens, drizzled over fish or a marinade for chicken breasts or pork tenderloin.

This Blood Orange Fusion Extra Virgin Olive Oil and many other oils, vinegars and other products are available on-line, at The Olive Tap Stores and at booths at many of my local Farmers Markets listed below.
Downers Grove: Saturdays from 7am-12:30pm
Hinsdale: Mondays from 7am-1pm
Lemont: Tuesdays from 8am-1pm
Palos Heights: Wednesdays from 7am-1pm
Burr Ridge: Thursday from 7am-1pm
Olympia Fields: Fridays from 9am-1pm

To make my “Sunday, Bloody, Sundae” is quite simple. I put 3 small scoops in a chilled dish lined with Mandarin orange segments, drizzled about 2 ounces of Blood Orange Olive Oil over the ice cream.

The taste of this combination was rich and creamy. The buttery orange olive oil drizzles on the scoops added a richness to the ice cream, but did not overpower the subtle vanilla flavor.

This is a truly elegant adult desert would hold its own in any fine dining venue.

But, for me, it also had a wonderful playfulness about it as the combination of the orange and vanilla brought back childhood memories. Swirling mellow days of sticky-sweet summer afternoons long past, with good Humor bells ringing in the distance promising a cool piece of heaven on a stick in the guise of an orange-vanilla Dreamscicle.

Jingle, jingle…yum…

What are your favorite summer taste memories…?

ice cream Sunday (on Tuesday)…fresh lime sorbet

2009-08-18T21:48:00.000-07:00
”You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces - just good food from fresh ingredients.” ~ Julia Child

We have had several very warm summer days, and I love having something refreshing to cool off my palate after a meal, or just as a snack. My favorite is lime sorbet with the fine zest of the lime.

Of all the lime sorbet recipes that I have read in the past few weeks, all seem to call for a great deal of sugar. The one that my friend made last summer called for 6 cups of white sugar and the sorbet was so overly sweet that the fresh lime taste was a mere after-thought.

I experimented for the last few weeks and came up with a fresh lime sorbet recipe that used less white sugar, but was still sweet with a fresh lime taste.

ingredients

½ cup Sugar

¼ cup Agave Nectar

1 ½ cups water

1 cup freshly squeeze Lime Juice

1 tbsp Lime Zest

pinch Kosher Salt

¼ cup of a sweet, fruity white wine
(I used a sweet German wine, Dr. Beckermann Rheinhessen Aulese 2008. It is a blend of several German white wines that is fragrantly fruity with an apricot-pineapple aroma.)

directions

Make a simple sugar combining the water and sugar into a saucepan. Place on medium heat stir until the mix starts to bubble slightly. Lower the heat and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved into the water. (The mixture will become clear when all the sugar is dissolved.)

Add the Agave Nectar a little at a time and taste.
You can add more later, when the mixture is in the ice cream machine.
Add half of the lime zest, a pinch of salt and the wine and stir to combine.
Then add the limejuice through a fine mesh strainer to remove the citrus pulp.
Stir to combine and heat mixture through.

Pour into a covered container and cool this mixture for at least one hour in the refrigerator, but overnight is better.
Pour the chilled mixture into your ice cream maker and follow the directions for your particular model. For my Cuisinart ICE-20, I let it mix for 25-30 minutes.

I have been experimenting with this sorbet throughout the summer balancing just enough wine so the alcohol that makes the sorbet smooth and with the proportion of the white sugar that also does not freeze and the liquid sweetener that does.

I wanted the resulting product to be fresh and full of lime flavor, tangy but not overly tart, sweet, but with some depth of flavor after it becomes totally frozen.
I found that this particular wine added the another level of fruity sweetness to the this sorbet which was very refreshing.

This sorbet makes a perfect palate-cleanser between courses all year round and of course a cool, fresh summer desert. I served mine with fresh quartered apricots from the Farmer’s Market and it disappeared in a heartbeat.
Now I am off to make another batch...!

celebrating Julia…with Boeuf Bourguignon

2009-08-14T19:11:00.000-07:00

”How like autumn’s warmth is Julia’s face.”
~ Paul Child, August 15, 1945

Tomorrow I am celebrating Julia Child’s birthday by following my passion. To honor the day, I am going to my favorite Farmers Market (Chicago’s Green City Market) to photograph food, speak to the vendors about food and choose some fresh fruit and veggies for cooking meals and making ice cream later in the week. I can imagine that Julia would love this vibrant, busy and beautiful market set in a verdant park by the sparkling blue Lake Michigan.

Moreover, I am pretty sure that she would approve of the fact that I am follow my passion for food.

After seeing the movie Julie and Julia, last Friday, I have been re-watching my DVD’s of the Julia Child’s original black and white series from PBS, "The French Chef". On her first show of the PBS series, (some of them have been lost, I have read) Julia teaches us to make the staple of French bourgeois cuisine, Boeuf Bourguignon.

Although I have not blogged about it before, I have made this dish from Mastering the Art of French Cooking dozens of times. It has been my delicious go-to French-comfort-food, party meal and anytime supper. Today I thought that making this wonderfully tasty meal would be another perfect way to pre-celebrate all that Julia had shared with us. Boeuf Bourguignon takes 2 and ½ hours to cook, so I let it bubble away as I watered my garden and cleaned house.

Boeuf Bourguignon
Recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking

ingredients

6 ounces of chunk bacon

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 pounds lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes

1 carrot for the stew and 6 more to sautée separately to add later

1 onion, sliced

salt and pepper to taste

3 cups full-bodied red wine, (like Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone or Burgundy. I used a mid-priced French Burgundy.)

2 to 3 cups brown beef stock (I used homemade Veal Stock from Julia’s recipe, but that is another post.)

1 Tbsp tomato paste

2 cloves mashed garlic about 2 dozen small white onions, (I used Chipolini onions)

1 ½ lbs fresh brown or white button mushrooms, stems removed and quartered

4 tablespoons butter

Make an Herb Garni tied in cheesecloth that consists of:
4 sprigs of parsley 1 bay leaf
¼ teaspoon dry thyme
4 sprigs of fresh thyme

directions

Remove bacon rind and cut into lardons (sticks 1/4-inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). Simmer rind and lardons for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts water. Drain and dry.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Sauté lardons in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a flameproof casserole over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly.
Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon.

Dry beef in paper towels. This is important, as it will not brown if it is damp.

Heat a bit more olive oil in the remaining fat in the casserole until almost smoking. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and sauté until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the lardons.

Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
Then sprinkle on the flour ( I used a gluten-free flour mix) and toss again to coat the beef lightly. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes.

Toss the meat again and return to oven for 4 minutes (this browns the flour and coves the meat with a light crust).

Remove casserole and turn oven down to 325 degrees.

Stir in wine and 2 to 3 cups stock, just enough so that the meat is barely covered.
Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs and bacon rind. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove.

Cover casserole and set in lower third of oven. Regulate heat so that liquid simmers very slowly for 3 to 4 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

While the beef is cooking in the oven, prepare the onions, carrots and mushrooms.
Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with one and one-half tablespoons of the oil until bubbling in a skillet.

Add onions and sauté over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, rolling them so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins. You cannot expect them to brown uniformly.

Add 1/2 cup of the stock, salt and pepper to taste and the herb bouquet. Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but hold their shape, and the liquid has evaporated. Remove herb bouquet and set onions aside.

Wipe out skillet and heat remaining oil and butter over high heat. As soon as you see butter has begun to subside, indicating it is hot enough, add mushrooms.

Toss and shake pan for 4 to 5 minutes. As soon as they have begun to brown lightly, remove from heat. Do the same with the carrots.

When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan. Wash out the casserole and return the beef and lardons to it. Distribute the cooked onions, carrots and mushrooms on top.

Skim fat off sauce in saucepan. Simmer sauce for a minute or 2, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly.
If too thin, gently boil it down. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons stock.

Taste carefully for seasoning...

Pour sauce over meat and vegetables. Cover and simmer 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times.

Serve in casserole, or arrange stew on a platter surrounded with buttered potatoes, (or noodles or rice) and decorated with parsley. I served my simply on plates with a fresh salad greens and tomatoes warm from my garden. A glass of red wine (the same wine I used in the Boeuf Bourguignon) accompanied the meal perfectly.

À votre sautée…Bon appètit...!

On August 15, 1912, Julia Carolyn McWilliams was born in Pasadena, California as the Tournament of roses was already planning its 24th Parade.

Decades later, (in 2004), Julia McWilliams Child has had a warm yellow floribunda rose named in her honor. Aptly it has a glowing buttery color with sweet licorice perfume

The Julia Child rose

Joyeux Anniversaire, chêre Julia…!

Merci beaucoup for making the world a more delicious place.

happy "one year blogiversary"…! ! !...and the winner is...

2009-08-08T08:29:00.000-07:00
"If you are afraid of butter, use cream." ~ Julia Child

The winner of the Julie & Julia / One-Year Anniversary of Feasting…on pixels Contest is: Culinary Cory

Congratulations Cory…!

I am very grateful to all of you, my dear blog readers that participated in or just left a comment in support during this contest.

A million thanks for all of your wonderful encouragement, support, advice, help, and profound generosity to me and my blog all this past year. I could not have had such a successful blogging year without these many kindness.

I am looking forward to another year of food photography, blogging and continuing my friendships with all of you.

For another giveaway celebrating Julia Child with a prize of a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, please go to Foodie Giveaway to enter.
Bon appètit...! ! !

a Julie and Julia giveaway…

2009-07-31T19:47:00.000-07:00
“Just speak very loudly and quickly, and state your position with utter conviction, as the French do, and you’ll have a marvelous time!”
~ Julia Child, My Life in France

To celebrate my one-year blog anniversary and the opening of the movie “Julie & Julia” next Friday, August 7th I am offering a feasting on…gluten-free pixels giveaway.

An unknown benefactor sent me a lovely paperback copy of the movie tie-in book, My Life in France by Julia Child. Since I already own a well-worn copy of this book, I wanted to offer a copy to one of my food blog readers.

This is one of the books upon which the movie was based.
When Julia Child first arrived in France 1948 with her husband, Paul, she spoke no French, knew nothing about the country itself and didn't know the first thing about cooking.
But as she dove into French culture, buying food at local markets and taking classes at the Cordon Bleu, her life changed forever. Julia's unforgettable story unfolds with the spirit so key to her success as a cook and teacher and writer, brilliantly capturing one of the most endearing American personalities of the last fifty years.

I loved this book when I first read when it was published in 2006, and loved it even more in my re-reads. It tells in Julia’s own words, the story of her years in France where she fell in love with food and found her true calling. There are many wonderful stories in this book that the movie does not cover and any cook would be inspired by her spirit, determination and sheer love of cooking.

How to enter: Just submit a comment to this post sharing your favorite Julia Child memory or a story about a recipe that you cooked from her any of her books or TV shows.
The winning “memory of Julia and her recipes” will be published on my blog and win a copy of this movie tie-in paperback book, My Life in France.

This contest give-away comments closes on 12:00 am CST Friday, August 7, 2009.
You will be able to continue commenting, but any comments after this time will not be included in the give-away.

Winner: The winner will be chosen, by an impartial chef-writer friend of mine (with no input from me) who also has cooked her way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
The winner will be announced on Saturday, August 8, 2009.

The winner will then need to e-mail me at feasting-on-pixels@excite.com and supply their pertinent information to I can send their prize to them.
This contest giveaway is open to all no matter your location in the world.

Get writing and post a comment soon, as you just have a week.
and naturellement...

Bon appétit…!

drawing from Julia…

2009-07-29T19:05:00.000-07:00
"It's a shame to be caught up in something that doesn't make you absolutely tremble with joy." ~ Julia Child

Julia cooking in her tiny Parisian kitchen.
Julia in on the balcony at 81, rue de L’Université. ~ these images by Paul Child

One of my favorite stories in the book “My Life in France” by Julia Child, is the part where she relates how her husband, Paul, a gifted photographer and artist, took many dramatic and beautiful images of her during the time that they live in France.

Paul Child also took many close-up photographs of Julia’s hands as she cut, diced, sliced her way into culinary history. These images were translated into line drawings by the talented illustrator Sidonie Coryn for her premiere cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Julia writes in “My Life in France”:
"Paul and I spent many hours doing a photo sessions…making photographs for the illustrator. We had fun, just the two of us, tinkering with food and camera.”

When the Alfred A. Knopf Company first published Julia’s first cookbook effort in 1961, there was no such thing as splashy full color food-porn images as we have today in our cookbooks. However, these superbly drawn images make this book a true classic masterpiece and now a piece of culinary history.

I bought some beautiful artichokes from my local Italian produce market this morning and I wanted to make Julia’s recipe for Artichauts à la Buerre Fondu au Citron for a light dinner.
I looked in my 1961 copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking for the recipe and I was so very impressed by the detailed illustrations to guide me through this dish. As I read, I thought about how these expertly drawn black line drawings probably had helped thousands of other dedicated cooks prepare this very same dish for nearly 50 years.
What an inspiring way to begin cooking this evening...!
Artichauts à la Buerre Fondu au Citron
(Artichokes with melted butter with Lemon)

ingredients

2 fresh globe artichokes
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces and chilled

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Kosher salt and freshly ground of white pepper to taste.

recipe

Trim the artichokes for cooking.
Lay each on its side and cut off about an inch or so off the top, break off the small leaves near the base, and cut off all but an inch of the stem. Snip off the ends of the leaves all around the artichoke with scissors to rid it of any sharp points.
Rinse it well under cold water.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.

Gently boil the artichokes, uncovered, for about half an hour. When the leaves pull out easily and the bottoms are tender when pierced with a knife, they are finished cooking.

While the artichokes are cooking, prepare the lemon butter. Gently reduce the lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a small saucepan. Over low heat, whisk in the chilled butter pieces, one at a time, until your sauce is creamy.

Remove from heat, and serve in warmed ramekins.

The edible parts of each leaf are nearest their base. I scrape the soft pulp against my teeth after dipping in the tangy rich buerre fondu au citron. So when you serve the artichokes, provide a large bowl for the inedible part of the leaves.
I love this dish.

So fresh...
So elegant...
So French...
So Julia...
So simple.
So delicious...

Bon appétit…!

ice cream Sunday…fresh peach frozen yogurt

2009-07-26T17:30:00.000-07:00
“The pleasures of the table, and of life, are infinite -
toujours bon appetit!" — Julia Child

Yesterday morning I bought two baskets of the most fragrant and beautiful ripe yellow and white peaches from her local Farmer’s Market. When I got home, I dusted off my trusty Cuisinart ICE-20 Frozen Ice Cream maker and popped it’s freeze-bowl in my freezer overnight. I have been waiting for the local fruits to come into their best and these beautiful peaches were destined for ice cream or a frozen yogurt.

Since I had several different containers of different types of fresh yogurts on hand… fresh peach frozen yogurt was on list to make this morning. The peaches sat in their bowl on my vintage kitchen table all night and this morning when I came down my kitchen was filled with their sweet perfume.

fresh peach frozen yogurt

1 cup of Vanilla low Fat Yogurt (I used Traders Point Creamery because it is locally produced without hormones.)

½ cup of plain thick 2% Greek Yogurt (I use Trader Joes’s)

4 medium fragrant ripe Peaches, sliced in cubes. (You can puree the peaches it if you don’t want the chunks but I like the peach chunks. I also catch and peach juice in a bowl as I am slicing the peaches and add it to the mixture.)

1/8 to 1/4 cup of Heavy Cream (I used Country Dairy as it is also locally produced without hormones.)

2 tbsps Sugar OR 2 tbsps Agave Nectar ( I used Agave Nectar)

1 tsp pure Vanilla Extract

After mixing the above ingredients, refrigerate for one hour.

Pour the chilled mixture into your ice cream maker and follow the directions for your particular model. For my Cuisinart ICE-20, I let it mix for 30-40 minutes.

After the delicious mixture has set up, I spoon it from the freezer bowl to a thick plastic freezable container and put into the freezer for several hours until it hardens.

My results were smooth, creamy with a natrual tang from the yogurt and soft sweetness from the peaches and the Agave Nectar. Best of al the taste was fresh, fragrant and each cool spoonful was a precious bit of summer, frozen in time for a moment, then melting on my tongue.

I am really excited about all the new crops of fruits as they come into season.
In that spirit, I hope to bring you a new adventure in making ice cream, sorbet and frozen yogurts every Sunday…so stay tuned.

fast food Friday...Calumet Fisheries

2009-07-24T17:19:00.000-07:00
I have been taking some short day trips from my suburban home to discover for myself the fast food eateries that have become urban favorites and legendary places to get great fresh food fast in Chicagoland.

I hope to feature local, the one-of and the stand-alone places where you can get delicious “faster” food perfect for a summer meal on the go.
Places that are a bit gritty and have a history.
Places that my parents and grandparents ate at and enjoyed.
Places that have a reputation and a following of people that appreciate the “real deal” in “real” fast food.

This week, my travels took me to Calumet Fisheries located on the west bank of the Calumet River on east 95th Street just about a mile from Lake Michigan.
When I read the sign in the store: “This is our one and only location. We have no other stores”, I know that I had found my first true candidate for my “fast food Friday” series.

According to their web site historical facts, “in 1948, brothers-in-law Sid Kotlick & Len Toll opened Calumet Fisheries. Their dream was to serve the freshest, tastiest fish on the South Side. 60 Years later, Calumet Fisheries is still run by the Kotlick-Toll family.” I was interested to taste and see if they still served the tastiest fish on the south side.

Calumet Fisheries sits in a part of Chicago that is somewhat less the picturesque. The strictly take-out restaurant is housed in a small, squat white shack-like building with a red shingle roof with signage that fills one wall sits next to entrance to the rust-colored 95th Bridge that is covered with random graffiti. Across the street to the north are the rusted remnants of structures of past industrial glories.

Down the hill behind the shack, across the river is Crowley’s Yacht Yard where you can admire beautiful boats in dry dock and watch the occasional boater in their spiffy new cruisers powering their way up river into Lake Michigan.

Yet after a minute or two of studying the setting, I realized that this unobtrusive fish shack is in a perfect place to do what it wishes to do…serve no frills food with the best taste.

In spite if the gritty industrial setting outside, Calumet Fisheries is clean and pristine in side. When I walked in all I could smell was the wonderful fragrance of really, really fresh fish with a delightful hint of smokiness.

I enjoyed a warm welcome from Carlos Rosas that was more than happy to show me the smokehouse directly out the kitchen door, explain the smoking process, the sources of the fish and seafood and artfully arrange the beautiful smoked salmon, trout and shrimp in the cold display cases so I could photograph them. Merci beaucoup, Carlos…!

As I spoke with Carlos, I noticed that there were many framed photos, posters, magazine covers and news items hung on the walls that documented the history and the fame that Calumet Fisheries has had over the years. The most recent of which was a signed poster from Anthony Bourdain when he was here with his crew filming a spot for “No Reservations” on the Travel Channel.

I found it interesting Calumet Fisheries has been in business since 1928. The building used to be on 92nd Street, but many years ago it was carried three blocks downriver by a scow and now sits at the foot of the 95th Street Bridge. Trivia buffs with note that this is the bridge Dan Aykroyd jumped off at the beginning of “The Blues Brothers” movie.
How cool is that…?

After my tour and a round of many photos, my order was ready.
As there is no seating in this take-out only spot, many customers eat right in front of Calumet Fisheries sitting right on the curb or in their cars to devour the frsh fishie goodness ASAP...!

I took my delicious smelling grub across the 95th Street Bridge to Calumet Park and found a spot to park near Lake Michigan. The brown paper sacked smoked salmon, shrimp and trout and the fried shrimp dinner made for the perfect feast that I set out on the front seat of my car. They were indeed my perfect table setting without a white linen cloth, the smokey sweey fresh fish aroma was as fragrant as from any 4-star joint and the lake kindly provided the perfect ambiance for a seafood meal with a location that would be any restaurant designer’s dream.

The fried shrimp had a crispy cornmeal like coating that was very crunch, well drained and not at all greasy. The crust kept the shrimp inside warm, firm yet creamy and had a slight hint of peppery spice and made each “ca-runchy” bite quite heavenly.

I enjoyed a tasting all of all my smoked items, but decided to re-wrap them and store them in the cooler that I had brought to enjoy later for dinner.

Although I do love my horseradish and tomato based cocktail sauce, I have to say that I enjoyed the thinner hot sauce for dipping that they provied, not only the fried shrimp, but on the smoked shrimp and fish, as well.

As I drove back home, the smokey fishy aroma clung to my finger even though I had washed them with some of my bottled water. It took some will power to stop myself from munching on them as the smell was truly enticing.
The term “finger licking good” may have been made popular by “The Colonel”, but I have to say it fits appropriately for the food from Calumet Fisheries.
I will return very soon for smoked fish, as I am promised smoked chubs and whitefish.
If you are craving wonderfully fresh fish, smoked with the sweetness of cherry wood and white oak, your palate will be richly rewarded for your efforts to arrive at this gritty outpost of real fast food eateries.

I urge you to pay Calumet Fisheries a visit.
In fact…
GO…NOW…!

Calumet Fisheries
3259 E 95th St
Chicago, IL 60617
(773) 933-9855
P.S. My review has been added to the Calumet fisheries page.
I am very grateful for all the views on this post...
I would be happy for your comments to tell me what you think.
Merci beaucoup in advance...!

foie de veau…approach with abandon…

2009-07-21T15:52:00.000-07:00

"Cooking is like love - it should be approached with abandon." ~ Julia Child

I am sorry to be so absent once again…this time it was not at all my choice.
My computer decided to act up and be dead for a few days after several power outages to my area.
Hopefully, now all my computer woes are under control for the time being.
I have had a lot of time to cook, write and read and re-read some fave books.

In anticipation of the August 7th release of the movie “Julie and Julia”, I decided to re-read both books on which the movie was based on two books, Julie and Julia and My Life in France.

These books have both touched and encourage me so much when I first read them in 2006, I wanted to read them again before I saw the movie. For those of you have not seen it, here it the trailer for Julie & Julia: The Movie.

As I sailed through my re-read of Julie and Julia , an entry on page 220 stopped me cold and made me very hungry for a taste of France that Julia did so well…it was when Julie Powell described the results of Julia’s recipe for Foie de Veau à la Moutarde. Julie writes “The crunch of the mustard-spiked crust somehow brings the unctuous smooth richness of the liver into sharp relief. It is like the silky soul of steak.”

I was seduced by Julie’s delicious description, and my food memory of the Foie de Veau that I had eaten at Brasserie Le Grillardin in Paris was suddenly wide wake and begging for another taste of this dish.

As Julia has said…"For land’s sakes, go and cook, girl.”

At that point, I really had no choice but to visit my favorite butcher this afternoon for some liver. He was more than happy to carve a few lovely ½” slices of the calf’s livers that just arrived this morning. In 15 minutes I happily driving back home, humming an Edith Piaf tune and mentally going over the recipe for Foie de Veau à la Moutarde from page 407 of my well-warn copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I also was thinking of what I needed to go to adapt Julia’s recipe a bit so that it was gluten-free.

Foie de Veau à la Moutarde
Calves liver encrusted with mustard, herbs and bread crumbs ~ recipe from
Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Julia writes:

“This is an appealing way to prepare liver. It is sautéed very briefly to brown lightly, then painted with mustard, herbes, rolled in fresh bread crumbs, basted with melted butter and set under a hot broiler to brown the crumbs.

The preliminary sautéing and crumbing may be done several hours in advance of the final cooking, which takes about 5 minutes. For this recipe, the liver is sliced thicker so it will not cook too quickly.”

ingredients

3 slices of Calf’s Liver cut ½” thick, outside filament removed

kosher Salt

freshly ground White Pepper

½ cup flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Flour)

2 tbsps Butter

1 tbsp Oil (I used Grape Seed oil)

2 tbsps Dijon Mustard

1 tbsp finely minced shallots

2 tbsp finely minced parsley

freshly ground White Pepper

2 cups fine bread crumbs (I made mine from Whole Foods Gluten-Free Sandwich Bread

A heavy skillet

Serves 3

Season the liver with salt and pepper, dredge in flour, and sautée for 1 minute on each side in very hot Oil and 1 tbsp of the Butter. The slices should be very lightly browned and slightly stiffened, but not cooked through. Remove to a dish.

In a small bowl, beat the mustard with the shallots, parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Drop by drop, slowly beat in the liver sautéing fat to make a mayonnaise like cream.
Paint the liver slices with this mixture.

One by one, lay the liver slices in the bread crumbs, pat the adhering crumbs in place and shake off the excess. Transfer liver slices on a plate and refrigerate until ready to serve. I find that this step helps the crust set up and it adheres better through the cooking process.

For service, heat broiler to 500 degrees.
Arrange liver slices on the broiler pan.
Baste them with melted butter.
Place the pan so that it is 2 inches from the broiler heat and brown for a minute or two.
Turn the slices, baste with butter and brown the other side, about 1 minute.

Transfer to a heated platter and serve.

I plated my finished Foie de Veau à la Moutarde on a bed of the French lettuces and a julienne of my newly ripened grape tomatoes that I sprinkled with a touch of homemade sweet Tarragon Vinaigrette.

I agree with every word of Julie Powell’s description.
And for me it was a taste of heaven…a taste of France…
Insert Julia’s voice here…Bon appetit…!

kitchen tip Tuesday…spinning drier greens

2009-07-14T15:16:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite kitchen tools is my salad spinner, especially in the summer months when I grow most of my own lettuces or buy the locally grown beauties at my Farm Market.
After a good rinse and a soak in ice-cold water to clean and crisp them, I drain the lettuces in the sturdy basket provided by my OXO Salad Spinner.

After a spin or two, most of the greens, especially the more delicate micro-greens still need to be blotted well with a paper towel to make them ready to allow salad dressing to cling.
I found that during the blotting process, I sometimes tear some of the tender greens. Not usually a problem for a salad for my own meals, but it can be a bit annoying when I am using the greens to style a food photo or make a lovely presentation for guests.

I now use a two-step method to dry my greens and keep even the most fragile ones whole.
After their bath, I take the greens for an initial whirl in the salad spinner.
For the second spin, I add two or three crumpled paper towels and spin again.

After this second spin, I am rewarded with drier greens, intact and beautiful and ready to grace a salad plate for company or their close-up shot.

bonne journée de bastille...!

2009-07-13T21:00:00.000-07:00
Tomorrow is Bastille Day, Fête Nationale in France, and Francophiles everywhere, like myself are celebrating the day from the bottom of our hearts with a happines that perhaps only a crazy Francophile can know.
One way that I am celebrating is by cooking the recipe, "Foie de Veau à la Moutarde” from Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
(I promise to report on that recipe a few days.)

Have a wonderful sun filled day and please go and do something French...

Munch a baguette with luscious rich French butter and crunchy sea salt from the coast of Normandie,

Sniff and sip a gorgeous French wine that you have been saving,

Pretend you are in your favorite café with your favorite waiter telling you the spicy news of the quartier...
(Salut, cher Patrick at Café La Corona...!)

Dab your favorite French perfume on your wrists and neck (and spray it all around your home if you wish),

Tie on your favorite Hermès or Chanel scarf , if only over your black tee and jeans with your Repetto ballerine flats,

Wear your black silk with white piping Chanel pajamas adorned well-worn pearls to bed and dream of Paris,

Watch the Tour de France and cheer your favorite team,

Speak French all day without exception,

Call or email all your friends in France,

Slowly relish a wonderful French cheese or aged saussion,

Cook a new and unusual French recipe, if just for yourself,

Repair to your atelier (studio) and brood, then create something scathingly original,

Savor a decadent and rich dessert (like the Tarte poire créme anglais below)
without regret (if just for today),

Watch your favorite French films all evening
(it will be Amélie, Edith Piaf and Coco Chanel for me),

Sing La Marseillaise

or your favorite French songs loudly and with gusto and not caring who hears you...

And above all…
Be happy in the day…! ! !

Bonne Journée de Bastille...!
Happy Bastille day…!

Bisous…xxx

What ways will you be celebrating Bastille Day…?

the tomato as art…

2009-07-12T16:30:00.000-07:00
Today my new crop of small grape tomatoes wowed me..!

The four plants on my terrace garden produced a bountiful early harvest that I planned to use for salads and oven roast the rest with garlic, basil and olive oil for a side to my grilled pork loin.

But before I sliced and diced these ruby-red perfectly shaped tomatoes, I was inspired to photograph them with some props that I had be anxious to use.
I wanted to show the simple beauty of these elegant fruits in a somewhat different manner. It was a languid, sunny Sunday afternoon and the light in my studio was just right as I set up my favorite glossy black table for a shoot of my favorite fruits.

Tomato culture and history ran through my head as I set up for the shoot.
Thomas Jefferson was a pioneer in tomato culture. He documented planting this relatively unfamiliar vegetable in his kitchen garden from 1809, the first summer of his retirement, until his death in 1826. In his "Notes on the State of Virginia" in 1782, Jefferson noted that tomatoes
were now grown in many Virginia gardens.

A New World species, the first tomatoes grown in Europe were called “love apples” because they were related botanically to the mandrake or “love plant” which was noted in the Bible for its reputed aphrodisiac qualities.

In 1553, Swiss naturalist Konrad Gessner depicted the small-fruited “love apple” in a watercolor, and identified it in Latin as “poma amoris” and “pomme d'amour in French. They are similar to the small-fruit tomatoes that were grown mostly for ornament.

For me, these sweet, brilliant red tomatoes are ideal for adding to salads and sauces or simply snacking as I water my garden. But before I gobbled them down, they were perfect models for a sunny afternoon of photography.

baby girl Elberta grows up…

2009-07-04T01:00:00.000-07:00
Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better. ~Albert Camus

My first tomato that appeared in my urban-suburban garden one month ago, the heirloom Elberta Girl, has also been the first tomato to fully ripen on the vine on June 29th.
Last year my first tomato was ripe and ready to eat on the 4th of July.
I beat that date by 5 days this year. That is not a huge margin, but it was a seemed like a major victory for my tiny urban-suburban garden after all the work I have done.

Elberta girl will join my Independence Day festivities as part of a salad with my terrace French lettuces and Snap and Snow peas dressed with a soft, light Dijon vinaigrette.

How is your garden growing…?

What are you making to eat this summer weekend…?

The journey is the reward.. ~Taoist saying

My 4th of July celebration has certainly changed this year from what I am used to doing to celebrate this All-American holiday, but I intend to find great joy in the little treasures that surround me.

I wish everyone a great Independence Day from the USA…and I wish you all a wonderful warm and blue-skied summer weekend filled with lush, juicy tomatoes to eat with those you love…!

the mysterious case of the chill-chest cherry jam

2009-06-28T15:49:00.001-07:00
He who likes cherries soon learns to climb. ~ German Proverb

When I read the post about making Freezer Jam by those two southern boys, Clay and Zach at The Bitten Word I knew that I had to try this method of making jam

The recipe appeared easy enough and looked so yummy.
This method seemed perfect to make in small batches as the each new seasonal fruits arrives at the Farm Market.

I dashed off to my local Farmers Market bright and early this morning. I knew that there would be fresh picked cherries and strawberries from a neighboring farm, perfect for this recipe.

I scored a quart of strawberries, a quart of beautiful dark Michigan cherries and a pint of Rainier Cherries and decided that the beautiful cherries were just the thing for this jam recipe.

I referenced the recipe posted on The Bitten Word: recipe for freezer jam, which I also found to be included in the box of Pectin pouches. I followed the recipe to the letter, measuring and timing exactly. I ladled my cherry mixture into a jar, set it out on the kitchen counter as directed and left the house for the day..

When I retuned about 8 hours later, I was not happy to see what was happening in my blue Ball jar. The pectin was congealed and pink and had separated form the cherries and the dark cherry liquid. It looked like a pink monster hibernating in my Ball jar.

Yikes…!

I don’t know what went wrong, but I was hoping that I could figure out how to tame thie pink monster or else this would be an expensive mistake.
(In hind sight, I should have photogtaphed the monster in the Ball jar...lol..
So sorry. I was a bit flustered and just dove in to repair the mess.)

Remembering my what I had read in Harold McGee’s classic book On Food and Cooking, as fruit is heated to near the boil, the pectin is shaken loose from the cell walls and released into the plant juice and water. The sugar that is added to the recipe is hydroscopic (attracts water) pulls water away from the natural pectins so they can bond again. Also evaporating some of the liquid through a boil will bring the natural fruit pectin and the added pectin closer together to form a web-like structure that will result in a thick consistency.

Sorry to go all science-nerd on you, but when I cook I like to understand the scientific processes that occur. That knowledge helps to be a better cook than just following a recipe.

So it made culinary sense to followed the advice given by Zach to another commenter on The Bitten Word. I decanted the congealed failed mixture in to a pot and gently and very slowly boiled it down for about ½ hour, keeping the temperature just under a boil and stirred every few minutes.

The color of the congealed jam-in-progress was also a rather unattractive, sort of a Hello-Kitty-Pink. I added about one ounce of fruity Merlot to give it a deep rich dark red color. (Don’t get me wrong, I love Hello-Kitty-Pink on a little girl’s lunchbox, but not in my jam.) After the alcohol cooked off during the half-hour, the wine taste was not discernable and deeper color looked just right.

I let the mixture cool and retuned it to a freshly sterilized jar, capped it and let it cool on my counter until bedtime (approximately 5 hours) and then put the jar in the refrigerator overnight.
Early this morning I so pleasantly surprised to discover that that the jam had set to a dense “jammy” consistency. It spooned up nicely to my mouth and had a deep, dark, rich flavor and an unctuous mouth feel. For breakfast, I made gluten-free pancakes and the chill-chest cherry jam was a perfect topping.

So what I thought was a gloppy disaster, with the advice of my friends at The Bitten Word and the sound food-science advice of Harold McGee, all is well in my chill-chest today. A big merci beaucoup to all…

suburban-urban chef…

2009-06-25T16:53:00.000-07:00

When my sister and I planned to go to Frankfort Country Market on Sunday we had more in mind than just our usual perusal of the great vendors. We were primarily interested in attending the cooking demo given a local Chef star,
Dan McGee.

We arrived at the market early so not to miss the Chef demo and found that we had enough time to purchase our veggies and gluten-free baked goods and settle into the audience for the demo.

It was the perfect June day, so it was easy to kick backm, enjoy the beautiful sunny weather and inhale the wonderful aromas coming from the portable demo kitchen as the chef and his son set up their mise-en-place and plates for service.

Chef McGee explained that he was preparing a tasting of three courses that were from his contemporary seasonal American menu at his restaurant,
Dan McGee Restaurant and Catering.

The items on the demo menu were a creamy Carrot Soup garnished with a cilantro and apple chiffonade and Sesame oil, a light summer salad of micro greens in a Parmesan crisp basket with a Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing and a dessert of summer fruits drizzled with a rich warm sabayon.

Prior to the beginning of the demo I introduced myself to the chef, asking if I could take some unobtrusive images and inquiring as to what he was preparing to see if I could sample it and remain gluten-free. He was warm and very gracious, agreed to my photography and explained that the food he was preparing in the demo was indeed gluten-free.

At first sip, the Carrot soup had a soft creamy fresh taste with a gentle punch of oriental flavor from the Cilantro and Sesame oil. I loved that the apple chiffonade added a textural crunch and brightness to the creamy soup.
My sister was in rapture over the soup and took copious notes so she could try this dish at home.

The salad demo began with Chef McGee illustrated the precise, but easy to do steps to make a Parmesan cheese basket to fill with Balsamic Vinaigrette dressed micro greens. He toasted a medium-sized long grate of Parmesano Reggiano into a non-stick pan. When the cheese became golden brown and delicious he gently formed the warm cheese round over a large juice- sized can covered with aluminum foil.

As the Parmesan cooled, it became a beautiful lacy container for the crisp summer greens making for a stunning presentation...a study in lovely simplicity.
In his restaurant, this delightful course is listed as a “Simple Salad” on the menu just in case you want to order it when you go there for a meal.

However, the taste was anything but simple.
I tasted salty, sweet, crunchy, soft, tangy, and fresh in each bite. My overall impression was that this salad combination was not only chic, but had a touch of genius.
Yet it was a dish that I could possibly replicate in my home kitchen. And since I am growing my own micro greens in my container garden, this “Simple Salad” is something that I am sure that I will try to replicate throughout the summer.

Throughout the demo, Chef McGee was very gracious, taking questions from the audience. He answered my query and talked about his training and experience.
As he worked on the sabayon for the desert, he told of his formation training at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, a culinary school of very high regard in the US,

His experiences include the L'Hotel Crillion in Paris, La Plaza Hotel in Switzerland, and Swissôtel in Lima, Peru. After working throughout the United States, he returned to Chicago to the Park Hyatt, Charlie Trotters, Hotel Nikko, The Mid-America Club, and Swissôtel in Chicago before opening Dan McGee Restaurant in Frankfort, Illinois.

For those of you unfamiliar, a sabayon is the French cousin of the light, egg-based Italian dessert zabaglione. A sabayon is made by beating egg yolks with a liquid over simmering water until thickened and increased in volume. ( the liquid can be water, but champagne or wine is often used for a savory sabayon.)

The sabayon must not get too hot during cooking or it will become grainy: if it begins to feel warmer than body temperature, remove the pan briefly from the heat, beating continuously, until the mixture cools. Then return the pan to the heat and continue cooking.
Sabayon can be served warm or cold; a cold sabayon is beaten off the heat until cooled.

The dessert that Chef offered us was utter simplicity, perfect for a Farm Market setting, but with a touch of Parisian flair. The blueberries and quartered strawberries were drizzled with the rich custardy sabayon, not too much…but enough to make each summery sweet mouthful seem decadent. And although the dessert was served on a paper plate in the middle of Illinois, my tastebuds were remembering Paris.

In the autumn of 2007, Chef Dan McGee opened the doors to his neighborhood restaurant that features contemporary décor. On our way home from the Frankfort Country Market my sister and I stopped to scout the restaurant’s location for a future meal.

The exterior and placement in a strip mall was misleading. Peering through the window, I found the interior space to be clean and urban, but warm and welcoming. Herbs and flowers were happily thriving together planted outside the window where inside, tables were set with pristine linens and sparkling silver and crystal.

If the food that I tasted from his demo is any indication of the Chef Dan’s offerings in the restaurant, I am looking forward to sitting down for a meal at this hidden suburban-urban restaurant.

The restaurant is open for lunch Tuesday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
and for dinner Tuesday through Thursday 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. (last seating at 9 p.m.)
Friday and Saturday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Dan McGee Restaurant and Catering
330 W. Lincoln Hwy.
Frankfort, IL 60423
(815) 469-7750

Sunday links…perfect Paris meals from the past that are yours today…

2009-06-21T21:47:00.000-07:00

For my 100th post, I wanted to write about a topic that was near and dear to my heart...

The authentic food of Paris...!

For all of you that plan to visit Paris this summer, here is a truly perfect post from Gourmet Magazine that will help you plan your meals at restaurants that have that touch of old Paris for which you may have be searching.

Alexander Lobrano’s article on the authentic tastes of Paris is well worth a read. His “Address Book” will help you plan your foray into the restos that are dear to the heart of Parisiennes as they stay true to the original flavors of the traditional cuisine and have the charming ambience of times past.
A Remembrance of Things Present

I hope that all of you that plan to travel to Paris in the near future will read this beautifully crafted article. Then take these addresses, put them in your pockets and make your way to these authentic establishments before they disappear forever.

Bon appetit…!

P.S. Merci mille fois to you all that have supported me through 100 posts...
you know who you are...

my urban-suburban garden...

2009-06-20T18:44:00.000-07:00
In Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia, written in 1781, he lists tomatoes as produce common to Virginia kitchen gardens. Jefferson grew his tomatoes at Monticello in 1809 - the first summer of his retirement - and grew them until his death.

Although I have been to Jefferson's Garden many times, this aerial image is courtesy of Monticello.

Inspired by the garden journals of Jefferson, I wanted to document the growth of my garden and the quality of the fruits and vegetables over the summer in my small urban-suburban garden.

Although I live in the suburbs of Chicago, the primary garden that provides my salads and herbs are grown in containers on my ground level terrace and balcony gardens.
Because my home is across the road from a dense forest preserve that is also home to squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, possums, deer, coyotes, skunks, geese, ducks, heron, wolves and possibly werewolves…lol…
So, I have to grow my vegetables on the balcony terrace overlooking Cinnamon Creek and out of the way of the creatures looking for a free salad bar.

On the lower terrace, I am able to grow a variety of herbs, as the critters as not fond of the taste of them. Here edible and ornamental flowers also bloom their little hearts out.

On the vegetable terrace on the second level, I started Oregon Sugar Pod II Snow peas and Cascadia Snap peas. Cascadia variety snap peas are very sweet and tender peas, with an edible pod. I love these in a salad or as a refreshing snack with a fresh yogurt dip.

Oregon Sugar Pod II Snow peas are an heirloom, flat-podded snow pea. They have a tasty, stringless pod for stir-fry and salads.

Both these varieties of pea have a bush habits that grow short vines from 28-30”, perfect for my urban-suburban garden. I planted the peas from seed on April 15th and I have already enjoyed a small harvest of both types of peas.

On May 21, I started seeds of French lettuces and assorted greens with colorful names from a beautiful package that my sister bought for me. The lettuces have stunning French names as Blonde de Paris, Freckles, Merveille de Quarte Saisons, Rouge d’Hiver, and Sucrene.

The Swiss chard, chervil, endive, and spinaches have equally evocative names.

The curly chervil is called Corn Salad Verte de Cambri.

The endives sound oh so romantic with names like Grosse Pancaliere and Scarole Ronde Verte Coeur Plein.

My spinaches have elegant names: Geant d’Hiver and Monstrueux de Viroflay.

The Swiss Chards has lovely painterly names of Lucullus and Rainbow mix.
Very sexy names for delicious greens that will certainly inspire some wonderful summer meals that I can pick outside my door.

These lyrically named greens are already 6-8” and have already become stars in my salad bowl.

A local lapin visits my French lettuces growing on my terrasse.
Fortunately, he is just a sweet little statue and not the real thing that would munch away on my crop...

As most of you know, there are six major types of tomato: globe, plum, cherry, pear, grape and dollhouse-sized currant tomatoes. In past years, I primarily grew the plum, cherry and grape varieties on my terrace and purchased other varieties at my local farmers market.
This year, after reading the book by Amy Goldman, Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table, I decided to branch out to include a few Heirloom varieties that peaked my interest.

I was intrigued and inspired by the myriad of sizes and shapes and the rainbow of colors of these Heirlooms and hoped that some of them would do well in containers.
After doing a little research, I had my sister helped me choose a few out of the dozens that were available as seedlings at a local garden center.
We chose Cherokee Purple, Elberta Girl, Mortgage Lifter, and a hybrid called Health Kick not because of their interesting names and colors, but for their growing habits that would be suited to containers.

baby Cherokee Purple at birth

The Cherokee Purple tomato is considered by many to be the best tasting tomato. It has a unique dusty rose color and is said to be extremely sweet with a flavor that rivals the very tasty Brandywine tomato.

The beautiful, determined and determinate habits of Elberta Girl I spoke about in my previous post last month was the first to produce fruit.

The Health Kick is a hybrid determinate habit plum tomato have thick and meaty fruits. There are sweet and tangy tasting and they resembles a Roma but is juicier and better for fresh eating, but is also excellent for making sauce and paste.

A breakthrough in breeding, this tomato is actually healthier for you than others you can grow or buy as this variety is reported to have 50% more lycopene than any other tomato. According to growers, Heath Kick is a prolific producer. It is known to have bountiful crops of 4 ounce, sweet red fruits.

The Mortgage Lifter tomato was developed in the early 1930's in Logan, West Virginia by a radiator repairman, "Radiator Charlie" Byles. Without any experience in breeding, he made a successful cross of four of the largest tomatoes he could find - German Johnson, Beefsteak, an Italian variety, and an English variety.

Radiator Charlie sold the first seedlings of his new tomato in the 1940's for one dollar each to customers who drove up to 200 miles for his famous plants that bore tasty tomatoes averaging two and a half pounds. With these sales, Charlie managed to pay off his $6,000 mortgage in only six years, and so the tomato was aptly named Mortgage Lifter.
I read that the Mortgage Lifter is a large, meaty, mild-flavored tomato has few seeds and is the perfect tomato-sandwich tomato. It is indeterminate in habit and bears stunning red, two to four pound tomatoes all summer long.

I also planted many grape tomato plants at the same time, as they have been very prolific on my terrace in past years all the way to the first frost. Besides, these are fun to eat right off the vine as I water the “crops” in my urban-suburban garden.

How does your garden grow?

Who inspired your vegetable gardening?

What vegetables are you growing in your gardens?
Looking forward to your feedback about your gardens...

baby girl Elberta…

2009-05-31T20:27:00.000-07:00
I was in the process of writing a blog post about my urban-suburban garden and went out to take some images of my fledgling plants. My dear sister was visiting at the time and was the first to spy my very first fruit of the tomato vine for this season.

I am proud to introduce the newest member of my urban container veggie garden,
a baby girl tomato...!

Baby "Elberta Girl" is the first visible tomato of my growing season and I am proud to say that she beat out my first tomato of last year by more than a month.
Last year my first tomato was born on the fourth of July.

This is an Heirloom variety called Elberta Girl. I spied “her” picture in my fave book of the season, by Amy Goldman, The Heirloom Tomato From Garden to Table and knew that I had to try to grow some of these beauties myself.

At first sight, I thought this tomato was one of the most beautiful that I had ever seen. As I researched this tomato, I found that it took its name from its resemblance to its namesake, the famous Elberta Peach because of its slightly fuzzy skin.

My Elberta Girl is still just an infant, but when she grows and matures to ripeness, she will have bright red skin with showy pale golden-orange stripes that shines against its silvery-green foliage. I can’t wait to invite her to her first salad bowl.
Please stay tuned to watch Elberta and her other Heirloom tomato siblings grow in my urban-suburban garden…
Grow, baby, grow…!

in my sisters garden…

2009-05-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

I apologize for not be around and posting here on my blog, but sometimes life does not give you the time you need to do as you wish.

I wanted to treat you all to some of the images I took in my sister’s glorious garden.

Not only does my sister have a truly stunning garden, but also has some of the most interesting collection of unusual plants and garden statuary that I have ever seen.

She works very hard in her garden each day and it is progressing beautifully.
She works her magic and adds more of her artistic combinations of perennials, annuals, herbs and veggies into a stunning and colorful pallet of restful perfection.

Wait until you see her pond...it will be photo ready soon.

Each photographic foray in to her garden yields many treasured images that I hope to make into a book for her at the end of the gardening season.

I hope that you enjoy these images.
Yes, this is truly a magical place...

a short guide to my favorite Farmers Markets

2009-05-08T19:27:00.000-07:00
This is not a complete list of Chicagoland Farmers Markets.
These are just the markets that I frequent that are near where I live and I have listed them by the days of the week that they occur so I don't forget.
Now you won't either...
Here is a linksthat have more Markets listed, perhaps in your area of Illinois:
Illinois Farmers Markets

MONDAY
Hinsdale Farmers Market
19 East Chicago Avenue
June 1 to October 12, 2009
07:00 am - 01:00 pm

Countryside Farmers Market
La Grange, IL
May 11 to October 26, 2009
08:00 am - 02:00 pm

TUESDAY
LaGrange Park Farmers Market
439 North LaGrange Road
May 12 to October 27, 2009
08:00 am - 02:00 pm

Lemont Farmers Market
Stephan Street at Canal Street
June 30 to October 27, 2009
08:00 am - 01:00 pm

Museum of Contemporary Art Steeleville Chicago Market
On MCA PlazaChicago Ave. & Mies vanderRohe Way
Downtown Chicago
June 9 to October 27, 2009
09:00 am - 04:00 pm
http://www.chicagofarmersmarkets.us/

Federal Plaza Farmers Market
Federal Plaza Adams St. & Dearborn St.
Downtown Chicago
From: May 12, 2009 to Oct 27, 2009
7am to 3pm
http://www.chicagofarmersmarkets.us/

WEDNESDAY
Palos Heights Farmers Market
South Harlem Avenue at College Drive
May 6 to October 14, 2009
07:00 am - 01:00 pm

Green City Market
North of LaSalle Street in Lincoln Park
along the path between 1750 N. Clark and Stockton Drive, Chicago
May 6 to October 31, 2009
07:00 am - 01:00 pm
http://www.chicagogreencitymarket.org/

Monee Farmers Market
25510 S Governors Hwy
June 17 to October 14, 2009
02:00 pm - 06:00 pm
http://www.merrillsmarkets.com/

THURSDAY
Western Springs French Market
Wolf Road and Hillgrove
May 7 to October 29, 2009
2pm to 7pm
http://www.bensidounusa.com/

LaGrange Park Farmers Market
53 S La Grange Rd
May 14 to October 29, 2009
07:00 am - 01:00 pm

Daley Plaza Farmers Market
At Washington and Dearborn Streets
Downtown Chicago
From: May 14, 2009 to Oct 15, 2009
7am to 3pm
http://www.chicagofarmersmarkets.us/

Sears Tower Farmers Market
Sears Tower
233 S Wacker Dr
Downtown Chicago
From: Jun 18, 2009 to Oct 29, 2009
7am to 3pm
http://www.chicagofarmersmarkets.us/

FRIDAY
Palos Park Woman’s Club Farmers Market
123rd Street and 88th Avenue
July 3 to October 9, 20090
8:00 am - 12:30 pm

Orland Park Farmers Market
14700 S Ravinia Ave
May 29 to October 2, 20090
7:30 am - 01:00 pm

SATURDAY
Green City Market
North of LaSalle Street in Lincoln Park along the path between
1750 N. Clark and Stockton Drive, Chicago
May 6 to October 31, 2009
07:00 am - 01:00 pm
http://www.chicagogreencitymarket.org/

North Riverside Farmers Market
2401 S DesPlaines Avenue
June 6 to October 31, 2009
8am to 1pm

Mokena French Market
Wolf Road at Front Street
April 25 to October 31, 2009
08:00 am - 01:00 pm
http://www.bensidounusa.com/

New Lenox Farmers Market
1 Veterans Pky
May 16 to October 10, 2009
08:00 am - 01:00 pm

Oak Park Farmers Market
NW corner of Lake Street at North Elmwood Avenue
May 23 to October 31, 2009
07:00 am - 01:00 pm

Tinley Park Farmers Market
171st and Oak Park Avenue
June 6 to September 26, 2009
07:00 am - 12:00 pm

Crete European Market
1321 Main Street (Main and Exchange)
May 18 to October 5, 2009
08:00 am - 01:00 pm

SUNDAY
Frankfort Country Market
Oak and Kansas Street
10am to 2pm
http://www.frankfortcountrymarket.org/

OPEN Tuesday - Friday, 11 am - 7 pm; Saturday, 11 am - 4 pm

Chicago’s Downtown Farmstand
66 East Randolph Street
on Randolph just east of Wabash
http://www.chicagofarmersmarkets.us/

Not exactly a Farmers Market, as it has a permanent storefront.
However, I wanted to include this great market here because the Farmstand’s promise is local, delicious, and edible products, all from within 250 miles of Chicago.

The coolest thing that I bought there last year was Honey made by bees that pollinate flowers on the green roof of Chicago's City Hall. “Rooftop Honey” sells for $2 here at the Farmstand location, Watertower Pumping Station, Chicago Cultural Center, Gallery 37 and Chicago Green City Market. I will be blogging about Chicago’s Bees and “Rooftop Honey” very soon.

Local does not just mean locally grown. In addition to sustainably grown fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs in season (including many organic items). Chicago’s Downtown Farmstand features a broad selection of edibles produced throughout the region. Each day, a wide range of dairy products, condiments, seasonings, preserves, breakfast favorites, baked goods, and other items arrive at their location.
If you are in downtown Chicago, please pay them a visit. (they are only a few blocks from Millennium Park).

Chicago Farm Heirloom Tomato Stand
River North1204 N. Clybourn Ave.
(At Clybourn and West Division across from Seward Park) Chicago, IL 60610
Weekly: Monday-Friday, 3 - 6 pm; Saturday, 10 am - 1 pm
From: Aug 10, 2009 to Oct 31, 2009

Another Farm Market in Chicago that most people don’t know about is the Chicago Farm Heirloom Tomato Stand. If you love tomatoes as much as I do, it is worth a trip here.
I will also be blogging about it here as soon as it opens.
Tomato season cannot come soon enough for me.

So let's hear about your favorite markets...!

my May fancy...farmers markets

2009-05-07T15:54:00.000-07:00

It’s May, and this foodie-girl’s fancy turns to Farmers Markets.

I love the bright colors of fresh picked veggies, fruits and flowers; the wonderful rich aromas, the energy of the crowds, the interesting stories of the growers, the camaraderie in knowing we all love and appreciate the work that has brought this beautiful food here, and most of all capturing these images with my humble camera to share with all of you.

As I wrote here last year…
I am not a morning person…
Never have been.
Never. will. be.

But from May to October, there is just one thing that will get my sorry, sleepy bod out of bed…the promise of a visit to one of my many favorite Farmers Markets.

The Farmers Market are starting to open here, one after the other. Beginning to offer early their spring delights.
In an effort to get organized, I began a list of some of my favorite Markets to visit and I wanted to share my efforts with all my blog readers.

This is indeed not a complete list of Illinois Farmers Markets. These are just the markets that I frequent. Here is a link that have more Markets listed, perhaps in your area of Illinois.

Illinois Farmers Markets

Throughout the season until October, I will be featuring my favorite Farmers Markets and local growers as I visit them.

Please feel free to comment and tell me about your favorite Farmers Markets.
Be sure to include the pertinent information, (cross-street location, town, days and times that are open). I would love to hear about your likes and dislikes of your local market and your experiences there.

If you are living in other states and countries other than Illinois, USA, I really want to hear from you, too.
Sharing information about your favorite weekly Markets in the areas that you live, be it London, Paris, Rome, small town or large city, anywhere in the entire world. It would be so wonderful to hear about and will benefit other readers of this humble blog.

Merci beaucoup in advance…!

The post directly following this one will list of my favorite local Farmers Markets near my home here in Illinois.

sun-filled gluten-free treat

2009-05-06T21:25:00.000-07:00
I was first in line at my local Starbucks on a chilly, grey and rainy May morning to snag one of Starbucks new gluten-free Valencia Orange cakes on the day of their official launch in my area. I searched out the spotless pastry case to spy a wicker basket on the top shelf loaded with golden cakes safely wrapped from gluten contaminants.
I bought two cakes…

As the rain became heavier, my companion and I decided to grab some lattes and split one of the cakes I bought to taste test…the other I was saving to photograph in my studio.
The cake looked a bit as if it was out of my office vending machine, but became much more enticing when I unwrapped and plated the delicate looking round.

At first taste, I was impressed.
The cake was light and spongy with orange zest in every bite. Each cake was glazed with what I assumed to be a zingy, but sweet thick orange marmalade and topped with slivered almonds. The combination of the light spongy cake, the sunny sweetness of the glaze and that lovely toothsome CA-RUNCH of the almond slivers made for a great mouth-feel and a true tasting pleasure. This certainly was not like other gluten-free sweets that I have tasted.

This tasty gluten-free cake that will definitely be just an occasional treat for me rather than a regular bite. The delicious but tiny cake weighs in at 290 calories, with16 Grams of fat, quite a bit of Cholesterol at 125 mgs and 32 grams of carbs.

In spite of these negative numbers, it is nice to see that such a large chain offering a choice of a sweet for those of us that cannot ingest gluten. I t is comforting to know that if I want to meet up with my friends or work associates for coffee, a sweet snack and a gab session, I have a choice of something that is safe for me to munch.

gluten-free finds: April

2009-04-30T16:30:00.000-07:00
As many of you know, I have been busy with personal matters. However, I still managed to have had another interesting month investigating gluten-free foods.

Matt’s Munchies

My primary gluten-free find this month has been from Chef Roberts all Natural Snacks. Chef Roberts found me at my Food Buzz Site where I also post food images and links to this blog. He wrote and offered me samples of his gluten-free Matt’s Munchies fruit leathers.

The fruit leathers are not only gluten-free, but all natural, organic, nut, dairy, soy and egg free. They are certified Vegan and Kosher. With less than 100 calories a serving (which is an entire package of 8, 4” by 1 ½” strips of the luscious fruit leathers) it makes for a generous, healthy, sweet and delicious snack.
Matt’s Munchies come in six flavors. Three are banana based fruit leathers, Choco-Nana, Apple Pie and Banana. And the three leathers that are mango fruit based are Ginger Zest, Mango, and Island Mango.

Choco-Nana

As I am a well-known chocoholic, I ripped into this package right away.
The aroma was luscious chocolate with gentle fruity undertones. The taste and texture was of a velvety chocolate pudding as it melted on my tongue…mmm…
(That is the reason that I was unable to picture the Choco-Nana package in my image…they ahh, well…disappeared rather quickly…lol…)

I could see this flavor being a favorite of children that have food allergies. And because these all natural fruit roll-ups are quite filling, would be a great after school snack to hold the children over until dinner. I will definitely be ordering many packages of this flavor.

Apple Pie

Although there are no apples in this munchie, the tastes is bright with a fresh cinnamon burst and succulent fruitiness. I had to look again at the ingredient list to see that it contained only banana purée and organic cinnamon. The flavor and aroma brought to mind autumn in my kitchen.

Banana

The banana had a pure, ripe fruit aroma and flavor, but seemed a bit sweeter than the others. I have to say this fruit leather was little too sweet for my tastes but it appealed very much to my little 4 year-old-neighbor. She ate the entire package as I visited with her mother.

Ginger Zest

This munchie has a ripe mango flavor with a kick of gingery spiciness. The zesty burst of ginger appealed more to the adults that tasted this healthy treat more than ir did to the children. I liked this munchie very much as I have a soft spot in my heart for crystallized ginger.

Island Mango

The mellow smoothness of a ripe, succulent mango with the crunch of toasted coconut made the first bite of these munchies a very pleasant surprise. As the golden mango puree melted on my tongue, the coconut aroma took me back to past Hawaiian vacations.
I will definitely be inviting these munchies to my beach blanket party this summer.

Mango

These munchies had a pure, fresh, delicious and gently sweet flavor and a heavenly fruity aroma. I love that this flavor (as well as the banana) has just ONE ingredient…! There is nothing so delightful to a perdon with allergies to food additves than a product with just one natural ingredient that tastes so delightful.

I totally agree with Chef Roberts' quote stamped on each package…
"A healthy all natural trip to Paradise”.

All the leathers that I sampled were sweet, delicious, and tasty and were a surprisingly filling snack. All the people that I approached to sample these luscious leathers had their taste preferences. However, most, including me rated Choco-Nana, Island Mango and Apple Pie in their top three choices.

I also enjoyed playing with these malleable munchies. I cut them, bent them, stacked them and twisted them into interesting shapes and plated them on my favorite silver Nambé dish.
They were a great deal of fun to plate.
Matt’s Munchies could easily feel at home at the poshest of dinner parties…served on silver, of course.

As I have stated, these would make a great afternoon snack. Because of their slim size, easily packable in a lunch bag, picnic basket and portable in a slim purse or briefcase.

To order these delicious gluten-free treats, go to Matt’s Munchies
or call (516) 319-3135.

For overall taste, texture, flavor and fun, as well as puity of ingredients, I give Matt’s Munchies 5 (out of 5) gluten-free symbols.

loved.one.

2009-04-25T23:09:00.000-07:00
In loving memory of a loved one I lost today...bonjour mon ami.
I will be away for a while from my blog to care for my family and myself...

I am so sorry for my delay in my gluten-free posts.
Merci mille fois in advance for your understanding...

gluten-free news…Valencia orange cake

2009-04-17T19:52:00.000-07:00
On the 5th of May, Starbucks will be nationally launching the Gluten-Free Orange Valencia Cake with Almonds. It was announced that the Orange Valencia Cake is prepared with only seven ingredients: eggs, Valencia orange pulp, almonds, sugar, orange peel, gluten-free baking powder, and orange oil.

Valencia Oranges - Marché rue Cler

This moist citrus cake topped with crunchy almonds is reported to deliver a good percentage of your daily dose of vitamin C. The Starbucks spokespersons state that the cakes will come individually packaged to prevent cross contamination. For more information, go to Starbucks blog.

my dear friend, Yoko at Starbucks, rue Montorgueil, Paris

I have to honestly say, that I have not always been a huge fan of Starbucks. But I do remember when I had a very high pressure architecture job and I did occasionally need to get my caffeine fix from their lovely café across the street from my office. A gluten-free sweet as this new Valencia orange cake, would have been a very welcome treat to go with my double-espresso from time-to-time.

I am looking forward to having a taste of this new product from Starbucks. If it is as tasty as they promise, I will include it in my taste test in my monthly Gluten-Free Food Review in May.

But please stay tuned for my end of the month review of the Gluten-Free foods that I have taste-tested out in April. My dear sister has been most helpful in scouring markets for the tastiest gluten-free foods available for me to feature here on my blog.

early easter greetings…

2009-04-07T20:45:00.001-07:00
Lately, there have been many things in my life that has been taking me away from my regular blogging schedule. For this, I apologize to all my readers.
I will be taking a short break to give my attention to details in my life that need attention for the time being.

Today I wanted to take the time to send early Easter and Passover greeting to all my new readers and those that have long supported this blog from day one. I appreciate all your views and more so all your comments. Those comments keep me going.

Feasting on…gluten free pixels will return very shortly with new posts on eating delicious meals from the local bounty of spring and fresh news from the foodie world.

Many joyous springtime holiday wishes to you all…!

princess pea salad…

2009-04-05T16:05:00.000-07:00
I must be like the princess that felt the pea though seven mattresses…sensitive and sweet.

In my last post, I promised that I would share my recipe for spring-green pea salad. I also wanted to share a few tips I have picked up over the years about choosing peas when you purchase them at you local market or mega-mart and how to store them for your edible longevity when you get yor tasty delights back home.

When I purchase fresh peas, I look for ones whose pods are firm, velvety and smooth. Their color should be a lively medium green. Those whose green color is especially light or dark, or those that are yellow, whitish or are speckled with gray, should be avoided.

Also, do not choose pods that are puffy, water soaked or have mildew residue. The pods should contain peas of sufficient number and size that there is not much empty room in the pod.

You can tell this by gently shaking the pod and noticing whether there is a slight rattling sound. All varieties of fresh peas should be displayed in a refrigerated case since heat will hasten the conversion of their sugar content into starch.

Unlike the rounded pods of garden or snap peas, the pods of snow peas are flat. You should be able to see the shape of the peas through the non-opaque shiny pod. I choose smaller ones as they tend to be sweeter.

To test the quality of snap peas, snap one open and see whether it is crisp. They should be bright green in color, firm and plump.

Garden peas are generally available from spring through the beginning of winter. Snow peas can usually be found throughout the year in Asian markets and from spring through the beginning of winter in supermarkets. Snap peas are more limited in their availability. They are generally available from late spring through early summer.

If you will not be using fresh peas on the day of purchase, which is the best way to enjoy them, you should refrigerate them as quickly as possible in order to preserve their sugar content, preventing it from turning into starch. The unwashed, unshelled peas stored in the refrigerator in a bag or unsealed container will keep for several days. Fresh peas can also be blanched for one or two minutes and then frozen.

princess pea salad

ingredients

organic pea shoots, a hand full or more depending on the size of your bowl or your appetite (I purchased my fresh pea shoots at a local market, but I have seen nice shoots at Trader Joe’s.)

about a dozen fresh snap peas shelled (reserve the shells )

six or more fresh snap peas, strings removed and cut into about fourths, width wise

six or more snow peas, strings removed and cut into about fourths, length-wise

a sprinkling of coarse salt and fresh and coarsely ground black, red, white, pink and green peppercorns to taste (This adds a fresh salty spiciness and a different textural crunch.)

your favorite salad dressing (I used aged Balsamic Vinegar, reduced to a syrupy consistency, but use what you love very sparingly.)

directions

This salad works better as individual servings as the pea shoots are so delicate.

Fill individual bowls with pea shoots to cover the bottom of the bowl.

Shell the fresh snap peas and reserve the fresh peas.

Chiffonade the shells from the snap peas you have shelled very finely.

Cut the remaining snap and snow peas into bite size pieces.

Add all the chopped and chiffonade pea pods and to the salad and top with the delicate and sweet shelled peas.

Dress VERY lightly with your favorite dressing.
I used aged Balsamic glaze drizzled lightly over these fresh peas and greens.

This salad sounds as simple as it is, but the varying degrees of crunch and textures come from the way the different peas shelled and cut and place atop the pea shoots come together in your mouth...mmm...
that taste of spring that we have been waiting for all this long einter.

I love that this salad, although all the components come from peas, it has layers of textures and sweet flavors, along with the crunch from the sea salt and ground pepper and the sweet-sour zest of the aged reduced Balsamico.

I have made this as a side-salad and also served it as a complete meal adding some of my favorite proteins (seared tuna or chicken breast).
Either way you try it, this salad is all that I said that it was in my previous post.
It embodies all that you would expect that Spring would be like in you mouth, crunchy, sweet, green, succulent and fresh...

Enjoy the spring sweetness...

spring greens...peas…

2009-04-04T16:04:00.000-07:00
I think that my all-time favorite vegetable is the pea. It is not just that green peas are bursting with nutrients. It is that they are always so accessible all year round and tasty addition to any meals. But during spring peas are at their tastiest.

I have just planted my own peas in trellised pots on my balcony. But that will be another post as I will let you know about their progress and growth.

Keeping with the theme of spring peas I thought that you would be interested in the nutritional value of this simple vegetable as well as a bit of history and fun-facts about the green pea.

Green peas are one of the important foods to include in your diet if you oftentimes feel fatigued and sluggish. That is because they provide nutrients that help support the energy-producing cells and systems of the body.

Peas are also a good source of iron, a mineral necessary for normal blood cell formation and function, whose deficiency results in anemia, fatigue, decreased immune function, and learning problems. In addition, green peas are a very good source of vitamin C, which protects many energy-producing cells and systems in the body from free radical damage.

The pea provides nutrients that are important for maintaining bone health. They are a very good source of vitamin K, some of which our bodies convert into K2, which activates osteocalcin, the major non-collagen protein in bone. Osteocalcin anchors calcium molecules inside of the bone. Therefore, without enough vitamin K2, osteocalcin levels are inadequate and bone mineralization is impaired.

Green peas also serve as a very good source of folic acid and a good source of vitamin B6. These two nutrients help to reduce the buildup of a metabolic byproduct called homocysteine, a dangerous molecule can obstruct collagen cross-linking, resulting in poor bone matrix and osteoporosis. One study showed that postmenopausal women who were not considered deficient in folic acid lowered their homocysteine levels simply by supplementing with folic acid by itself.

pea history

The modern-day garden pea originated from the field pea that was native to central Asia and Europe and has been consumed by man for thousands and thousands of years. In fact, peas are mentioned in the Bible and were highly prized by the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece and Rome.

Yet, it was not until the 16th century, when cultivation techniques created more tender varieties, that people began to consume peas in their fresh state as opposed to just eating dried peas. It seems that the Chinese, a culture that had consumed this legume as far back as 2000 BC, were the first ones to consume both the seeds and the pods as a vegetable.

The French king Louis XIV popularized peas in the 17th century by making them an item of high regard on the menus of parties held at his palace.
It has been suggested that snow peas were developed in Holland around the same time. Peas were introduced into United States soon after the colonists first settled in this country.
In the 19th century during the early developments of the study of genetics, peas played an important role. The monk and botanist, Gregor Mendel used peas in his plant-breeding experiments.

It was only recently, in the 1970s, that sugar snap peas were developed, the result of a cross between garden peas and snow peas. Today, the largest commercial producers of fresh peas are the United States, Great Britain, China, Hungary and India.
a fun food chronology of the pea

6000 B.C.
Swiss lake dwellers keep dried peas and apples in their houses built on stilts.

4000 B.C.The people of the Indus Valley (an area that lies between present day India and Pakistan ) raise green peas wheat and date palms on irrigated fields.

100 B.C.
The Chinese envoy Jang Qian returns from Ferghana ( present day Russia and Uzbekistan) and introduces peas, grapes, pomegranates and walnuts to China.

765 A.D.
European writings make the first mention of the crop rotation system. It describes a system in which spring plantings with more protein value like peas supplement the winter plantings.

1485
The Cookbook :Mastery of the Kitchen (Küchenmeisterei) is published at Nuremberg and has a large section devoted to peas. This book will remain in print for 200 years.

1514
Fresh green peas come into use in England to a limited extent. But dried peas are more commonly used as “pease porridge”.

1555
When famine grips England, the people discover that peas taste good green as well as dried.

1620
When the Mayflower arrives on November 11th with 100 Pilgrims, one of the provisions that the people survived on was dried peas.

1677
Louis XIV of France had greenhouses at Versailles that were expected to provided him and his court with an unlimited number of peas all winter.

1699
Green peas continue to create a sensation at the French court. It has been documented that many of the women at court decorated their hair with pea shoots to attract men. The ladies at court also ate several bowls of pea shoots before retiring as it was thought to boost their libidos.

1863
Confederate President Jefferson Davis urged southerners to plant peas and beans instead of cotton and tobacco.

1865
Austrian botanist Gregor Mendel began studying the genetics of garden peas.

I hope that you have enjoyed this bit of nutritional and fun historical facts about the pea.

In my next post I will share my favorite spring pea salad recipe that is not only healthy for you, but I think really delicious. And in every delicious morsel, this salad is exactly what you would expect what Spring would be like in you mouth, crunchy, sweet, green, succulent and fresh...

Stay tuned...!

healthy snacking part I…kale

2009-04-03T16:03:00.000-07:00
In an effort to create healthy snacks from fresh vegetables that I am sure are free from additives and gluten products, I decided to try a series of making my own snacks from the vegetables that I find at my local markets as more and more vegetables come in season.
One of my first healthy efforts was kale…

The beautiful curly leaves of the kale plant provide an earthy flavor and more nutritional value for fewer calories than almost any other food around. Although it can be found in markets throughout the year, it is in season from the middle of winter through the beginning of spring when it has a sweeter taste.

Kale is a form of cabbage (Brassica oleracea), it is green in color, in which the central leaves do not form a head. It is considered to be closer to wild cabbage than most domesticated forms.

The original wild cabbage is native to the Mediterranean area seaside areas with sunny climates and salty air. This accounts for the thick, succulent waxy leaves and stalks that make this plant to hardy. It was domesticated 2500 years ago and became a staple vegetable in Eastern Europe because the plant tolerated cold climates.

The most important growing areas lie in central and northern Europe and North America Kale grows more rarely in tropical areas as it prefers cooler climates. Kale is the most robust cabbage type – indeed the hardiness of kale is unmatched by any other vegetable. Kale will also tolerate nearly all soils provided that drainage is satisfactory.

Kale is considered to be a highly nutritious vegetable with powerful antioxidant properties and is anti-inflammatory. Kale is also very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and reasonably rich in calcium. Because of its high vitamin K content, patients taking anti-coagulants such as Coumadin are encouraged to avoid this food since it increases the vitamin K concentration in the blood, which is what the drugs are often attempting to lower. This effectively raises the effective dose of the drug.

Kale, as with Broccoli and other brassicas, contains sulforaphane, a chemical believed to have potent anti-cancer properties, expecially when cut in a chiffonade style or minced very fine.

Kale chips
(adapted from a recipe from Bon Appétit)

These light and crunchy kale chips that are a perfect “movie-night” snack.

ingredients

12 large Tuscan (smoothe leaf) Kale or curly leaf Kale, rinsed, dried, cut lengthwise in half.
(I used locally grown organic curly Kale center ribs and stems removed.)

1 -2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste.
(I used 1 tablespoon granulated garlic with parsley on half on my batch.)

directions

Preheat oven to 250°F.

Toss kale with oil in large bowl.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Arrange leaves in single layer on 2 large baking sheets lined with parchment or Silpat mats.

Bake until crisp, about 30 minutes for flat leaves and up to 33 minutes for wrinkled leaves.

Transfer leaves to rack to cool.

As soon as cool, transfer to an airtight container.

Eat, enjoy and repeat.

Sante...!
to your health...!

gluten-free finds: March

2009-03-29T18:22:00.000-07:00
It has been nearly a month since I had been officially diagnosed with Celiac Disease. During this past month, I have had a wonderful time investigating the gluten-free foods that are out there to supplement the fresh fruits, vegetables, proteins and dairy in my diet.

I have made many interesting finds and decided to do a blog post at the end of each month to share these finds with all. Even if you may not have a gluten intolerance,
some of these products are indeed worth a taste.
I will be sharing my opinions of the overall taste, textures and rating the products.
Included will be pricing, sources and if possible an internet address for those of you that may not live near mega-marts or big-box stores where these were available in my area.

Sometimes a girl needs some pasta and some pancakes…!

Trader Joe’s gluten-free pancakes

I bought these pancakes in the hopes that they would be better than some of the gluten-free baked products that I have taste tested in the last month. I am glad to report that they did not disappoint.

These pancakes come frozen in cello packages of 3 and there are 4 packages per box.
I either take a package out the night before and defrost them overnight in the chill chest or defrost right before use in my microwave. Then I pop them in the toaster until they are heated through. They come out light, slightly spongy and with a nice crispy exterior.

They are truly delicious with a splash of Maple Syrup, a drizzle of Agave nectar or honey, your favorite preserves, and I know that I will enjoying them with fresh fruit when that comes in season. Be careful with how much sweet liquid you apply as they seem to soak it up rapidly.

I have also used them in a savory meal wrapping the pancake around a small grilled chicken sausage. I have also used them as a bread substitute for a egg salad andwich.

Whatever way you eat them, sweet or savory, they are quite tasty.

These pancakes are also dairy-free and I found them in the breakfast food freezer section at Trader Joe’s, 2.99 for 12 pancakes.

For taste, texture, adaptability I give these pancakes 5 (out of 5) gluten-free symbols.
Tinkyáda Pasta Joy Brown Rice Pasta

I have tried brown rice pasta in years past, so I was a bit hesitant to try it again.
But I have to say that I was very, very pleasantly surprised by the Tinkyáda Pasta Joy Brown Rice Pasta.
This pasta has a slightly extended cooking time than semolina wheat pasta, but if you follow the “Quick and energy saving directions” on the package, you will have a wonderfully al dente pasta that will hold up to any sauce that you can throw at it.

I particularly like the Fusilli shape for thick sauces. This shape has the brass-extruded ridges of expensive imported wheat pastas that hold on the thickest Bolognese, Puttanesca, Marinara or Alfredo, yet do just as well with a bit of garlicky olive oil.

The elbow shaped pasta helped me create a glorious gluten-free Mac ‘n cheese for comfort food perfection.

However, for soup I feed my inner child (and the little neighbor children) with the delightful Little Dreams (pictured above) that come in wonderfully fun assorted shapes from cuddly teddy bears, sparkly stars, ferocious dinosaurs and speeding trains, planes and automobiles.

There are many, many more shapes I hope to try, from shells to spaghetti, lasagna and spirals, fettuccini and penne. As soon as those beautiful juicy heirloom tomatoes come into season, I will be busy making sauces to try them all.
For the taste, the toothsomeness, mouth feel and adaptability, I also give this gluten-free pasta a five plus +…

I found this pasta in their colorful pastel bags and boxes at my local mega-mart and Whole Foods, but you can order on line here: Tinkyáda Pasta Joy .

Traders Joe’s Mini Chicken Tacos

I am always a bit skeptical about pre-prepared foods. But I found that these mini tacos were quite tasty. These cute mini tacos make a wonderful quick meal with a side salad and we also enjoyed them as fun finger food while watching a movie. They are filling and delicious. Just add your favorite sauces, cheeses, salsa or a squeeze of lime and you have a party.

I would like to try to make these tiny delights myself with other fillings, but as a fast food from my freezer, and a quick gluten-free treat, I give these a 4+.

Find these spicy little delights in the freezer case at Trader Joe’s for 2.99.
San-J Organic Tamari Wheat Free Soy

I love stir fried rice with fresh vegetables. It is my busy week-night meal that is light nutritious and a total no-brainer when I have had a rough day at work. The lovely repetitious movements of cutting the veggies has a calming effect and I can empty my mind of all the my troubles.

But in my stir fry, I just love the unctuous salty umami flavor of Soy Sauce. Yet now in my gluten free mind, I have come to know that most commercially produced Soy Sauces are prepared with wheat, making it off-limits to anyone that must eat gluten-free, unlessthey want problems.

A few weeks ago, I discovered the Panda Brand Low Sodium Gluten Free Soy Sauce that I was in small packets with my take-out from my local Chinese restaurant but I was unable to find it in a bottle my area. So for a few weeks I relied on the kindness the lovely proprietress at Jade Palace resto for my Soy Sauce fix.

I did however finally locate the San-J brand Organic Tamari Wheat Free Soy at my local Whole Foods. I was pleased l that I could continue to enjoy stir-fry-night without missing my favorite condiment that makes the meal for me.

This gluten free Soy gets a 5 from me.

General Mills Rice Chex

As the days get warmer and luscious berries come into season, I love to sit in the morning sun with a bowl of these berries atop a crunchy cereal kissed with creamery-fresh milk. This is a little bit of heaven to me on my lazy weekend mornings.

I was quite happy to see the big companies are paying attention to those of us that are wheat intolerant and assure us of a product that we can easily purchase in our neighborhoods. I bought my boxes of Rice Chex at a big-box discount stores (Aldi and Target) for less than 3.00 for 12.8 ozs. of crunch. With my gluten-free Soy Sauce, Spanish Marcona Almond, ground Grains of Paradise, rosemary and Rice Chex, I also made a pile of tasty Chex Mix for healthy snacks. (Recipe coming soon.)

I give this tasty mainstream cereal a 4 for availably and adaptability.
I hope that my product discoveries and reviews were somewhat helpful. As I stated, I am just at the first month of my search for gluten-free health and wanted to take you all on my journey.

Sunday links: food for thought…thoughtful eating

2009-03-22T19:11:00.000-07:00
You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces - just good food from fresh ingredients.~ Julia Child

Because I am carefully looking at what is on my plate each day in order to eat gluten-free, I find myself also looking carefully looking at where my food on my plate comes from.
Examining what I put into my body, as gluten-free fuel has become a wonderful way for me to expand my personal food knowledge and culinary education as never before as I try to find my sweet spot to eat a healthy but still satisfying and delicious diet.

In my many “foodie” readings I came across this article that may give you all some food for thought as we come into that time of year when eating locally and supporting our local farmers will not only help our food budgets, but keep us healthier as well.

I am a fan of Michael Pollan’s food writing, but not all appreciate his views.
But you will have to admit, what he writes will educate and inform you and perhaps give you pause to take a look on what is on your own plate, where it comes from and how far it travels to your plate.

think global, eat local

I would appreciate all your comments and feedback….

stalking spring…asparagus

2009-03-20T18:43:00.000-07:00
Happy first day of Spring...!

So sorry I have not been posting here on my blog as much as usual.
Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans...
I hope that you will enjoy this first of many posts about what is delicious to eat from your local markets this Spring.

For me, the asparagus has always been a harbinger of spring. Seeing them poking their heads up in my garden is a subtle and tender sign that lets us know that our mother earth is back in the business of food production. And nothing tastes more like spring to me than freshly-picked asparagus before its sugary sweetness turn starchy on the tongue.

In 1908, Tokyo University chemist Kikunae Ikeda isolated a flavor that lay outside the four well-known tastes of salty, sweet, sour and bitter. He documented in his studies that asparagus had a distinctively different flavor coming from its glutamic acid and he named the fifth taste or umami.
Unfortunately, Dr. Ikeda also discovered the flavor enhancer MSG or Accent that was first commercially produced in the US since 1934.
Yuk...

Even with our harsh Midwestern winters, I recall that my mother always graced our Easter table with her homegrown tender green and white asparagus. Whenever I taste new spring asparagus, I am transported back around this family table and see the pride in my mom’s eyes. The memory of those tender and meltingly fresh stalks is what has made me a vegetable lover all my life.

Only now can I begin to understand why,when I was young, none of my friends liked asparagus. In fact they hated that veggie. I image that their only experience with the vegetable had been from a can or from the freezer. Most probably, it had also been cooked to a fibrous and pulpy consistency with the same khaki-green color as the 1970’s appliances. I am sorry for their misfortune. But I certainly can understand their veggie-hate…

As the days get longer and warmer and the pale gold winter grass gets greener with each sunny day, I look forward to those first sweet slender stems I glean from my garden and at the farmer’s markets and the myriad of dishes that I can create with them.

The stems and stalks of asparagus have the main function of conducting nutrients between the root and the leaves and providing support for the above ground organs. After a few weeks into the season as the sugar levels in the stalks decline, and I need to peel the woodier lignin stems before cooking. I still cherish asparagus season and will eat my fill.
The season is over too soon.

Now my mind wanders to the dishes I can cook:
the healthfully steamed asparagus with a touch of aged sweet balsamic vinegar,
creamy, rich asparagus soup,
crispy grilled asparagus,
ginger and garlic scented asparagus stir-fry,
lemon-pepper asparagus salad,
fresh raw asparagus tips perfectly dressed with olive oil,
fleur de sel and freshly ground pepper,
sautéed asparagus with aromatic olive oil,
lemon zest and fine leaves of grated Parmesano Reggiano or my favorite, because they are so rare,
the heavenly-pure white angelic asparagus richly dressed with lemony Hollandaise as they serve of the special menus or “spargel karten” in Germany…

wow…
I am out of breath, but not out of ideas.

According to my trusty Food Lover’s Companion, the asparagus stalk is a plant in the lily family. The earliest slender stalks are spring-green with purple-tinges tips. (But as my personal preference, I have to say as before, my favorite asparagus feast are the white varieties either the famous French asparagus of Argenteuil and those grown in Germany.)

Asparagus is low in calories, contains no fat or cholesterol, and is very low in sodium. It is a good source of folic acid, potassium, dietary fiber and rutin. The amino acid, asparagine gets its name from asparagus, the asparagus plant being rich in this compound.

Fun Food Chronology of the Asparagus

B.C.
Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) has been cultivated for thousands of years. The Macedonians first domesticated it in about 200 B.C.

16 A.D.
Romans dote on asparagus. They considered a dinner incomplete unless it featured a dish with asparagus.

1654
“Asperge Blanche” (white asparagus) begins to be widely cultivates in Argenteuil, France becomes very popular all over the country.

1667
Asparagus became known in Britain as “sparrow grass”.

1677
King Louis XIV of France sets aside 20-acres to create a vegetable garden, and a greenhouse so that his court would have fresh vegetables. The greenhouse staff was expected to provide the King with his favorite vegetable, asparagus beginning every March.

1702
“Traité des aliments” (Treatise on Food) by Louis Lémery of France states that “asparagus is to be eaten to sharpen the humors and the heart, but causes a disagreeable smell in the urine.”
It is true that asparagus excretes methylmercaptan into the urine, but not everyone can detect the odor.

1732
German asparagus growers in the region around Mannheim begin cultivating white asparagus or spargel.
The top grade was called scangenspargel and the second grade, spargelgemüse.

1828
The new cookbook “Directions for Cooking” by U.S. author Eliza Leslie published in Philadelphia states that “Ham should be accompanied by asparagus…”. She gives twenty recipes for preparing this vegetable.

1869
Joseph Campbell and tinsmith Abram Anderson collaborate to open the
Campbell Soup Company, a cannery in Camden, N.J. After soups, they pack baby peas and fancy asparagus.

1937
Britain gets their first frozen foods as Wisbech Producers Canners Ltd. introduces asparagus in May under the name Bird’s Eyes Frozen Foods Ltd.

Grilled Asparagus

Ingredients List

1/2 lb Asparagus

Olive Oil

Organic Tamari Gluten free Soy Sauce (or regular soy sauce if you have no dietary restrictions.)

Kosher Salt and freshly ground Pepper to taste.

Narrow wooden skewers soaked in water for 30 minutes or more before use .

Gas or charcoal grill.

Directions

Wash and pat dry asparagus.

Cut tough bottom ends.

Mix olive oil and soy sauce.

Paint or rub sauce over asparagus spears.

Line up 4 to 6 spears of asparagus, pierce near base and top with sharp skewers.

Leave a little space between spears to aid cooking.

Grill speared asparagus over direct heat 3-4 minutes per side, or until spears are crunchy-tender.

Salt and pepper the asparagus to taste.Serve and enjoy the first taste of spring.

Sesame-Lime Chicken Breast and grilled Spring asparagus with Wasabi sauce.
My recipe...cooked, plated and styled by me at métrogirl photography studios...
P.S. One of my images from this post appeared on Serious Eats...
http://photograzing.seriouseats.com/2009/04/purpletipped-asparagus.html
Check out Serious Eats...

Adventures with the tomato…Part V…roasted red tomatoes…

2009-03-09T17:46:00.000-07:00
The natural world gives us so many things to play with that
are far too exceptional to be ignored.

Like so many of you, my loyal readers, I love tomatoes…

Those fresh, glistening, red ripe (or purple or green or yellow), juicy, heirloom or home-grown, meltingly delicious tomatoes.
The kind of tomato where you make a spectacle of yourself when you take that first succulent, amazing bite and the juice and seeds runs down your chin, your hands and arms.

But you don’t care what others think…
the taste transports you and you are in a tomato-induced Zen-like state.

Over the winter and even now into this transitional months between our frigid Midwest winters and the first tomato harvest, there are nobeautiful and luxurious tomatoes available anytime soon. The first of these perfect and delicious tomatoes don’t appear until here in our farmers markets until at least June.

What to do until then…?

I have eaten my way through the winter stash of my canned and frozen heirloom tomatoes, but my supply was now woefully down to two remaining jars. I feel like a junkie needing a fresh tomato fix...yikes…!

Then I came across this recipe from one of Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa shows that I happened to catch on the Food Network. She slow roasted Italian Plum tomatoes. I never give these a first-look, as they are so pathetic and pale looking and grainy and flavorless to taste. The recipe states that this process of slow roasting concentrates the tomato flavor, which makes sense. I wish I had thought about this much sooner in the winter.

My local produce store has a special on locally grown hydroponic Italian plum tomatoes for fifty cents a pound. So it seemed a very good time to see if slow roasting would transform these pale pink orbs into the true tomato comfort that I was seeking.
For the small cash outlay of $2.00 plus a bit of olive oil, salt, sugar and pepper that I had already had on hand in my pantry, I was willing to give this tomato experiment a spin.

Roasted Plum Tomatoes
or how to have a summery tomato-taste while waiting for summer…
(adapted from a recipe from Ina Garten)

Ingredients

plum tomatoes (a dozen or more)

fruity first-pressed olive oil

sugar

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

sprigs of fresh Rosemary (optional)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.

Half the plum tomatoes lengthwise, and remove the seeds and cores with a spoon.

Arrange the tomatoes on a sheet pan, cut sides up, in a single layer.

I placed several sprigs from my Rosemary plant in between the tomatoes and drizzle with olive oil. This lightly perfumes the tomatoes, but not with an overwhelming flavor.

Lightly drizzle the olive oil over the tomatoes.

Sprinkle with sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Roast for 2 hours or until the tomatoes begin to very slightly caramelize.

Let the tomatoes to cool to room temperature.

The color of these pale tomatoes became rosy red and their flavor was concentrated and deliciously tomato-y and nearly like they were kissed with the summer sun.

Now you have some tasty tomatoes on hand for a wonderful caprese salad, to top any salad, pasta, pizza or just to add their tomato-y goodness to any dish of your choice.
I used mine in a guacamole, added to a tuna salad, for a tasty topping on buffalo mozzarella as an aperitif and tossed with brown rice gluten-free pasta and spicy chicken sausage with a drizzle of olive oil and a bit of grated Parmesano Reggiano...yum...

You imagination is your limit…and to be honest these are better than anything that you can purchase pre-made. For me, these tasty roasted Italian plum tomatoes certainly calmed my intense craving for those summer sun-ripened beauties.

Sure, they are not euphoria-producing as those first juicy, sun-warmed summer bites.
But I contend that they are a luscious substitute until then, and will feed the tomato-addict within.

I store my roasted plum tomatoes in an airtight container in the refrigerator. These keep well for up to 2 weeks, but mine never last quite that long…

let food be thy medicine...

2009-03-08T16:44:00.000-07:00
Let food be thy medicine,
and let thy medicine be food. ~ Hippocrates

Just a quick note to inform all of you, my loyal readers that the focus of this food-blog will shift ever so slightly. This blog will still contain my food images, recipes, travel, fashion, new trends in food, fun new kitchenware products and gadgets, great new food-related books and restaurant reviews.

This past week I was diagnosed with Celiac Sprue, which means that I will now be eating gluten-free. I am relieved to hear of this diagnosis and happier still that I will be using food to help heal me and make me whole.
I feel that this condition will lead me to wonderful new adventures in food which I am so anxious to share with all of you.

Join me if you will as I eat my way to good health at feasting on…gluten free pixels…

For more information on Celiac Disease and eating gluten-free, please go to Celiac.com

kitchen tip Tuesday…the Epicurean cutting board

2009-03-03T00:00:00.000-08:00
”Good cooking is an art, as well as a form of intense pleasure…
A recipe is only a theme, which and intelligent cook can play each time with a variation.”
~ Madame Jehane Benoît, Chef (1904 –1987)

When I looked at the essential equipment that helps me create and cook, one of the hardest workers in my kitchen is my Epicurean cutting board. This particular cutting board is made of Richlite, an exceptionally durable wood-fiber composite that has been used in commercial kitchens for over 40 years. The two culinary schools where I take classes both use these boards in all their kitchens. (Please see the header of my blog above for a view on one of these kitchens.)

The Epicurean cutting board is a hygienic, nonporous surface that won’t dull your knives like plastic and other surfaces can do. It also does not harbor bacteria, or absorb unwanted flavors and odors. It is easily sanitized as the board is dishwasher safe. T he hole in the corner of the board provides a convenient hanging option for proper drying or storage.

I also find that this cutting board is so aesthetically pleasing that it can double as a presentation piece for breads, cheeses or sliced meats. So much so, I eventually acquired an additional board just for buffet presentation of cheeses and veggies at parties.

The surface that I use as the Epicurean cutting boards is so durable that it was originally used for skating surfaces in permanent skateboard parks and as the surface for skateboard events in the X-Games.

After I began culinary classes, I wanted to have one of these wonderful boards for my use in my own humble kitchen. I had seen this cutting board in many high-end kitchen equipment stores, and the price was a bit steep for my pocket. I shopped around the internet and found that the best price (and where I purchased mine a year or so ago) can be found here: epicurean cutting board.

peppery paradise…

2009-03-02T00:00:00.000-08:00
Imagine that one little seed that tastes like a combination of a mild black pepper, ginger, cardamom and coriander. Then you have the warm, spicy, a tad bitter, Grains of Paradise with their full, delicious taste and a lovely, citrus aroma. I discovered grains of paradise two summers ago at a stall that was selling fresh and dried herbs and spices at Chicago Green Market in Lincoln Park. The very knowledgeable owners of the spice store relayed a few historical facts about grains of paradise. They are commonly used in the cooking styles of West Africa and North Africa, where they have been traditionally imported via caravan routes through the Sahara desert.
In Europe, it was often substituted for black pepper--until Vasco da Gama reached India in 1498 and replenished supplies of black pepper. The seeds were first named "Grains of Paradise" in the Middle Ages, when they were enjoyed as flavorings. They were often used throughout history to flavor alcohol. In fact, while England's Queen Elizabeth I used the grains for spicing wines and strengthening beer, King George III later declared the practice illegal and issued a heavy fine on any brewer who possessed the grains--as well as any druggist who sold it to a brewer.

In the Caribbean islands, natives use the seeds for medicine and in voodoo rites. West Africans use the spice as a flavoring, but they also chew the seeds for their warming and digestive properties.

In the early modern period, the craze for the spice waned and it became more common as a flavoring for sausages and beer. Today it is largely unknown outside of West and North Africa, except for its use as a flavoring in some beers ( including Samuel Adams Summer Ale), Vosges Haut-Chocolate's 'Field Songs' Truffle, gins and the Norwegian aquavit.

Grains of paradise or Aframomum Melegueta is commonly referred to as alligator pepper, Guinea pepper or Melegueta pepper. Wade into the swamps of the West African "pepper coast," and you'll find this herbaceous, leafy perennial. Its trumpet-shaped, purple flowers develop into 5 to 7 cm long pods containing numerous small, reddish-brown seeds. The Melegueta plant is not related to the pepper vine but is a member of the ginger family. The sphere-like seeds of Grains of Paradise look very much like cardamom seeds. (Cardamom is also a member of the ginger family.)

The seeds have a pungent, peppery taste due to aromatic and essential oils, which are the dominating flavor components. They provide a warm spicy bite with slightly bitter overtones. The flavors are reminiscent of cardamom and coriander.

A New York Times article written by Amanda Hesser has popularized grains of paradise. She wrote, "I put a few between my teeth and crunched. They cracked like coriander releasing a billowing aroma, and then a slowly intensifying heat, like pepper at the back of my mouth.
The taste changes in a second.
The heat lingered.
But the spice flavor was pleasantly tempered, ripe with flavors reminiscent of jasmine, hazelnut, butter and citrus, and with the kind of oiliness you get from nuts. They were entirely different from black peppercorns and in my mind, incomparably better.”

That summer, I took home my first jar of grains of paradise and have been exploring its uses ever since. I love to use grains of paradise in soups and salads, stews and pastas to give my usual fare a bit of different kick. So far my favorite way to use grains of paradise, where I find that their flavor really shines is as a finishing spice on fresh vegetables and pan seared cod fish or scallops. The pepper elevates and enhances the pure flavors of fresh clean food to an make it an extraordinary meal...if you will, this pepper will elevate it to paradise.

If you want to try Grains of Paradise, grains of paradise are available here.

Sunday links: beeting the system…

2009-03-01T16:10:00.000-08:00
We all love fresh veggies and for myself, beets in season are among my favorite vegetables.
But I am not so sure about the sugar products that come from genetically modified American sugar beets.

I am posting this Sunday link so you all can be a more informed consumer on this subject if you will read The Politics of the Plate: Beeting the System.

Sunday links: the price of tomatoes…

2009-02-22T10:34:00.000-08:00
During the course of my week, I read quite a bit of food-related literature, either in print or on-line. I thought it would be good to share one or two informative food related articles that I read each week with all of you on a regular basis and link you to that site...hence the name, Sunday links...

The week, I read an article in the new March 2009 Gourmet Magazine by Barry Estabrook that absolutely needed to be passed on the USA food-lovers that read my blog. The article is also available on-line, and it is linked below.
I seldom purchase tomatoes during the winter months, but there are those few times I wanted to add the color to food still life that I was photographing or to a holiday platter that I have put one or two tomatoes in my market basket.

After reading this article, I will be ever so much more thoughtful about where I shop and what I choose when I need to purchase off-season, non locally grown produce. Please take the time to click over to Gourmet Magazine on-line and read this article.

Thank you all very much in advance.
The articel begins, “If you have eaten a tomato this winter, chances are very good that it was picked by a person who lives in virtual slavery.”
Click to continue reading:
The Politics of the Plate: The Price of Tomatoes

snowy day Madeleines…

2009-02-21T16:19:00.000-08:00
All day I watched the snow falling.
It continued drifting and sifting outside my window, coating the trees and the nearly frozen creek with a perfect blanket of confectionery white. It was as though a deranged baker went happily mad with his stash of powdered sugar.

The powdery snow made me crave a sweet vanilla cake, covered with snow-like powdered sugar. My favorite tiny vanilla cake has always been the French Madeleine.

OK, OK...so I have a very active imagination and easily influenced, especially when it comes to sweets.

Madeleines are perhaps most famous outside France for their association with involuntary memory in the Marcel Proust novel, À la recherche du temps perdu (Remembrance of Things Past), in which the narrator experiences an awakening upon tasting a madeleine dipped in tea:

“She sent out for one of those short, plump little cakes called petites madeleines, which look as though they had been moulded in the fluted scallop of a pilgrim's shell. And soon, mechanically, weary after a dull day with the prospect of a depressing morrow, I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake.

No sooner had the warm liquid, and the crumbs with it, touched my palate than a shudder ran through my whole body, and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary changes that were taking place…at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory…”

But, I was not the large-near-natural seashell size Madeleine that I so often purchase from Fauchon when I am in Paris…

Non…!

I wanted the tiny, pop-in-your-mouth instant gratification in-one-single-bite petit Madeleines covered with snowy confectioners’ sugar. So, I pulled out my new petit Madeleine pan and got to work.
I hope you enjoy this simple and elegant recipe for mouth-watering sweet, (but not too sweet) mini-cakes that are perfect with a cup of hot tea on snowy day.

Snowy Day Vanilla Bean Madeleines
(Adapted from a recipe in Ina Garten’s, Barefoot in Paris )

ingredients
1 1/2 tablespoons melted Butter, to grease the pans

1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted Butter, melted and cooled

3 extra-large Eggs, room temperature

2/3 cup Sugar

1 ½ teaspoon pure Vanilla Extract

the scrapings of one whole Vanilla Bean

1 cup all-purpose Flour

1/4 cup Cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher Salt

Confectioners' Sugar

directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Thoroughly butter and flour the Madeleine pans.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed for 3 minutes, or until light yellow and fluffy.

Add 1/4 pound of butter and mix.

Sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt, and stir into the batter with a rubber spatula.

I found that refrigerating the batter for 20 minutes before filling the Madeliene pans (and between each batch) makes it much easier to portion the batter into the petite Madeline pans.

With a teaspoon, drop the refrigerated batter into the pans, filling each shell almost full.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until they spring back when pressed.

Tap the Madeleines out onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper and allow to cool.

Then dust them with Vanilla confectioners' sugar (see recipe below).

This recipe makes about 100 petit Madeleines (or about 45 of the larger size if you must).

vanilla confectioners sugar

In a sugar shaker combine powdered sugar with a vanilla bean pod that I had been previously scraped of the seeds for perhaps another recipe.

Dry the vanilla bean well so that it is brittle and break it into 1-inch pieces.

I let mine sit in a dry place in my kitchen (on top the stove) for a few days.
When it is brittle, add these vanilla bean pieces to the confectioners’ sugar.

Let this mixture sit for at least a week or longer and you will be rewarded with confectioners’ sugar that is deliciously perfumed with vanilla that has many uses.