So I've been on a writing hiatus....and now I'm back. It's Spring, time for new leaves, and new gardens. We had our annual community garden clean-up last weekend. My horehound and lemonbalm are going gangbusters so I think this year I'm going to try making either cough drops or cough syrup with them. I'm planning to plant radish, kale and tatsoi seeds this week and try my hand at beets and cilantro as well. Squash and beans will follow, I just haven't decided what kinds yet. We all decided that we want to have some picnic parties in the garden this year and really make it feel like a community space. Hooray for Summer fun! Meanwhile I've been inspired by a recent post on The Bitten Word to clean out both pantry and freezer and see what I can make. Last night I thawed some tomatoes and basil and added thyme, Italian seasoning, red chili pepper flakes and some frozen spinach and cauliflower. The latter was of indeterminate age- no expiration date on the package but it all cooked up fine. I served it over a blend of leftover pastas, ran out of parmesan but happily a bit of sea salt and Nutritional Yeast saved the day. What are you cooking and planting?

not quite pesto

When the end of the day renders you with just about enough strength to wrestle a stuck cork out of the wine bottle, you know that dinner has to be basic. My basil is in full force right now,but the weather has been pea soup humid. The very notion of turning on the toaster oven to roast pignoli( pine nuts) makes me cringe.
Cue entrance : the pesto alternative!

Ingredients:
1 can artichoke hearts in water( if you are watching your sodium, drain the artichoke hearts and use about 3-4oz filtered water)
generous handful of basil rinsed and roughly chopped
a good wedge of lemon to taste
olive oil to taste

Take a can of artichoke hearts in water and pour the whole thing in the blender, add a generous handful of basil leaves ( rinsed and shredded), lemon juice to taste and a few dashes of olive oil, cover and puree. In the time it takes to boil some angel hair pasta you have created a lovely delicate sauce. Add cheese if desired- I used a Pecorino /Asiago blend. And of course pour your favorite summer white wine or mineral water with lemon. -Cheers!

Ice Box Review or what to do with leftover party food

So the fridge is full of leftover bits of this and that and your pantry is out of control. In an effort to get a march on your spring cleaning, or more importantly because things are falling out every time you open the fridge door, you decide to tackle the towers of Tupperware.

Once you have identified the things which are absolute science projects and thrown them out you are feeling quite noble. Perhaps its time for a coffee break or a beer or a nice glass of wine. That's ok, time is needed to contemplate part two of this endeavor: what on earth to do with the stuff that's still safe to eat.

And here is the answer: the beloved casserole.

The options are myriad and yummy . For example say you have some leftover tortilla chips, some cheese, some bean dip and some leftover mac and cheese and possibly some leftover salsa. Line a casserole dish with tortilla chips, cover the chips with some shredded cheese, mix the mac and cheese with the bean dip , the salsa and if you have a tomato or a bit of green veggie like kale, broccoli or spinach dice it up and mix it in. Put this mixture in the casserole , cover with a bit of cheese more chips and another bit of cheese. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 15- 20 minutes or as long as it takes for all the layers of cheese to melt and the contents to be hot all the way through.

Rice , cheese , and veggies is another good way to go. You could also use a shredded green in place of the tortilla chips. Everything tastes better with cheese whether it is animal based dairy cheese or vegan. A little avocado or guacamole in place of cheese can also be quite yummy if not quite so melty ,shorten the bake time a bit if you go this route.

Taste, experiment, enjoy! Just remember if you can't recollect when you opened the jar of salsa lurking in the corner of the fridge and you can't find an expiration date, please err on the side of caution and toss it. Food poisoning is just not fun for the whole family.

Bacony goodness, part one.

Bacon, it's not just what's for breakfast anymore. On a recent foray to my favorite cheese boutique I found something I had dreamed of last year whilst making a bacon feta and chocolate omelet. Bacon Chocolate Bars. Yes you read that right. Sweet, salt, rich and smoke plus a little dark chocolate antioxidant benefit to balance out the so not -good -for -you-ness. It's a thing of beauty. And for those of you who don't do dark chocolate- there is also a milk chocolate bar. I haven't tried it. I just can't wrap my mind or my taste buds around the concept of milk chocolate and bacon- I just love that intense dark chocolate flavor. Dark , bold coffees, deep red wines, and deep dark chocolate bars. This bar may set you back as much as $8, but if you love bacon and chocolate, well what can I say, its a worthwhile purchase. Leaving the palace of cheese, I ran into friends having dinner. Excitedly I told them of my discovery. With great reverence one of them asked-"May I hold it, just for a moment?" Her lips quivered. With much regret she relinquished the bar, excused herself from the table and made a fast dash to purchase her own bar. Ah, the power of perfect flavor! You know you need to get your own now - share with friends, two squares is rich enough to satisfy most mortals, 4 squares if you are a choco-baco-holic. Here is the link for more info http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/product/bacon_exotic_candy_bar/exotic_candy_bars. Enjoy!

Night Moves

Saturday night found me at Kartabar on Thayer St. I was looking forward to a fun night celebrating a friend's birthday and catching up with friends I had not seen in a few weeks. I'd had some decent pizza there once before outdoors , on a sunny afternoon, but this was a completely different experience.

Kartabar is a scenster see and be seen place. Go for drinks, go to cruise, go to dance. Expect to see older men buying drinks for pretty young things and lots of drinks on fire. Dinner not so much. Dance music is blasting so much that you can forget having any meaningful conversation in a large group. If you are a beer fan your choices are pretty limited to Guinness and Blue Moon. The wine list did feature a Natura Organic Carmenere that was sublime- like drinking velvet. However this is more of a cocktail establishment, especially ones that can be set aflame.

The menu held a questionable interest- flavors that intrigued but on closer inspection were not going to meld. One order of calamari marseilles and a lobster ravioli later and it was like getting halfway through a first date and really wishing you were elsewhere.

The calamari marseilles would have been great if there had been more than a hint of olive and a bit more fresh basil. The idea was good, the basil flavor on the calamari was divine- had the olive decided to show up it would have been one mouth tantalizing rendezvous. The lobster ravioli was shaped like little fish- a great eye candy, but so empty inside. The lobster was missing that special something that keeps you wanting more. The sauce flavor was sharp with tomato on mine and almost entirely lacking tomato on another diner's order. I was rather underwhelmed.

I'm sorry Kartabar. Maybe drinks and dancing sometime down the road, but really, I'm just not that into you.

Snow Food

Yesterday we were supposed to be hit with 8-12 inches of snow. I cleared my afternoon schedule and planned to hunker down for a snow day. Snow days are a treat, a day to play and tackle some at home projects, a few things at the home office and cook. I put on my apron and headed for the kitchen to make carrot ginger soup. The buckets of snow did not fall in my part of the state. I have to say I am sorely disappointed. But now I have beautiful gingery carrot soup.


Gingery Carrot soup is really easy to make and the variations are endless but here are the basics.
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, yellow or sweet vidalia
6-8 large carrots
fresh ginger root
4 cups water or soup stock either vegetable or chicken
Optional seasonings (adjust to suit your tastes, if using soup stock you may not need much, if using water you may want lots)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp curry
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp paprika

Adding a little celery and an apple could also be great flavors to add , but again optional.

Chop the onions into small chunks or dice depending on your texture preference. I use organic carrots- wash them, trim the ends and then test a piece to see if the outer peel is sweet enough. If its sweet I don't peel them because there are good nutrients that you get rid of in the peel. If , however you taste a bitter flavor in the peel than by all means , peel away. Then chop the carrots into chunks.

In your favorite soup pot, put in 2-3 tbsp olive oil, add the black pepper, thyme, curry, paprika.
Put the heat on enough for sauteing and put in your onions and carrots. Saute til onions are soft 3-5 min usually. While the onions and carrot are sauteing - peel and chop a good 2-3 inch chunk of ginger root- feel free to use more if you crave an intense ginger kick! Please note the chunks of ginger can be a little fibery- I don't mind this but if you do you can remove them once the soup is done. If you have a juicer you could also juice the ginger root and just add the juice to the soup.


Put the ginger in with the carrots and onion, add your 4 cups of water or stock. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 20 to 25 min. Remove from heat and let the soup cool. Get your handy blender out and when the soup has cooled enough, ladle the carrot and onion chunks into the blender, cover and puree. Pour back into soup pot. You can puree all the veggies or leave some chunky depending on how you like your textures.
Reheat the soup to desired temperature. Serve with a garnish of parsley or chive and a grilled cheese sandwich.

Winter Comforts- Chowder

Everyone has their favorite comfort foods. I have many. Wine, chocolate and pasta are in the top 5. Shrimp and grits vs. lobster mac-n-cheese are tied. Good soup or stew on a dreary, arctic day is a definite. As I write this it feels about 10 degrees out although the barometer says it is somewhere in the 20's. It's dour, grey, and there are flurries. I decided that really bright flowers and hot soup were needed to replace the sunshine I won't see until sometime tomorrow. Did I mention it's really dreary out?

I made chowder for the first time ever this week. I've eaten it so many times -corn, clam , scallop, monkfish., red, white, clear, New York, Newport , New England and Bahamian. How hard could it be?

It all started because I had made shrimp. Not just any shrimp - Whole Foods has fresh, wild-caught Maine shrimp in right now. They are so fresh and good I suggest you drop everything and go get some, really , they're that good! Steam them briefly - ask the guy at the counter and he will tell you the timing. It's barely 2-3 minutes. These are pink shrimp and they are beautiful. Season them with salt and pepper before steaming and save the water after . I used it to make the chowder.


This was one of those un -shopped-for ,hmm... what should I do with the shrimp broth? thoughts, that became lets make chowder. A quick consult to Joy of Cooking showed I was missing a few key things like cream and booze. Well, shoot, it's not Mardi Gras yet and half and half would just have to do.

Ever since having Bahamian monkfish chowder I like the idea of a little heat so I sauteed the onion, garlic,parsley and sweet potato chunks in olive oil with a generous dashes of Tabasco sauce. I used the regular Tabasco, but I'd be curious to taste the Chipotle Tabasco in the chowder-that would add a whole dimension on to the flavors, would it overwhelm the sweet corn and potato ? Perhaps I'll try that next time along with adding a bayleaf and bit of bourbon or sherry, but I digress...

After sauteing I added the shrimp broth leftover from steaming the shrimp and some leek broth, a little curry , thyme, paprika, more black pepper, micro-pinch of oregano, frozen corn niblets and simmered until the sweet potato is tender. I stirred in some half and half and the shelled cooked shrimp and simmered a bit more. The result: a yummy pot of spiced sunshine and a really warm belly. I'm going back for grateful seconds.