Where Would We Be Without Our Friends? Pissaladiere Nicoise


Pissaladiere with rough cross-hatching of anchovies, Nicoise olives

Pissaladiere with rough cross-hatching of anchovies, Nicoise olives

Pissaladiere is a French pizza. Its crust is most similar to Neapolitan pizza crust – but it’s thin and more cracker-like rather than thin and chewy. It uses no red sauce – just caramelized onions, olives, and anchovies. Quite a few anchovies.

I’d always thought it was a little bit of a pain to make and so, in my carefree way, I Never. Made. It.

And yes, this was a huge mistake, OK? But with a little help, I was able to overcome my lazybones attitude. Call it Pissaladiere therapy.

Sometimes the best kind of therapy is just hearing a friend say “I did this – why don’t you try it?”

One day my friend Susie stopped by with – count ’em – not one but two Pissaladiere. They were steaming hot and so painfully delicious that we had a hard time thanking her around mouthfuls of crisp crust, gloriously sweet caramelized onions, tangy Nicoise olives, and anchovies, lots of anchovies!

“I was just making Pissaladiere and I thought you and Bonney would like some so I made a couple of extra pies.”

I wish all my friends were like that, don’t you!!?

“Susie, you shouldn’t have – thank you, they’re {Chew, Snorf, Swallow} amazing {Take second piece, inhale it}!! What a lot of work, though – wow!”

“Oh, they’re really not hard to make. It was just as easy to make enough for a couple more while I was making what I needed.”

Knowing Susie, she may well have knitted 3 scarves, a sweater and a doggie jacket while preparing the Pissaladiere, she is – amazing – that way, but I digress! The point is, she did it. Therefore, I could do it. And – by a leap of logic – you can do it!

Encouraged by Susie’s wild bound into mass production of Pissaladiere, I began making my own. I liked the Cook’s Illustrated recipe. I liked Ina Garten’s recipes. I ended up with something that took a bit from both these remarkable sources, to whom I bow down in the evening before retiring. And – you know, it turned out to really be not too tough to make. Read on – in a little while, you will own this dish! Read the rest of this entry »

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Factory Pot Roast and Roasted Root Vegetables


Pot roast gets a bad rap in some circles. “Diner Food”, “Boring”, “Old Fashioned”, “Gramma’s Dinner Choice”, and other, equally vile epithets. I’m here to tell you that properly done, a good pot roast is a sublime thing of joy. The aroma alone makes the house sing “Dinner is cooking and you’re gonna Love It!” and the simplicity and accessibility of the dish means most eaters will dive right in with no qualms.

I’ve made pot roast perhaps two dozen times in the past decade – about twice a year is my average. Last night my audience of critical eaters was kind enough to let me know that this pot roast was the best to date. Doncha love that “to date” thing – you could probably do better, improvement is always possible, but so far, this is the one!” But I digress. . .point being, they really really liked it.

And I know why.

I’ve tried searing the meat, not searing the meat, cutting the roast into pieces, leaving it whole, using flour to dredge the meat, leaving the meat undredged, using no seasoning other than salt and pepper, using a variety of different seasonings, using boiling water, using boiling beef broth, adding tomato, not adding tomato, cooking in the oven, cooking on the stovetop, cooking with X-ray lasers. OK, I’m lying about the X-ray lasers, but wouldn’t it be cool?? Read the rest of this entry »

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It’s a Problem – But It’s a *Good* Problem – What Should We Do With These Eggs??


One of the things we are grateful for is our wonderful neighbors - and their amazing eggs!

One of the things we are grateful for is our wonderful neighbors – and their amazing eggs!

Our neighbor Ginny stopped by and brought us a dozen entirely perfect eggs from her rural chicken ranch. Free-range pets fed on the finest seeds and insects, her chickens lay eggs that – at this time of year – have rich orange yolks, a sturdy shell and a white that hangs together in a perfect circle in poaching water.

But. . .now I’m wondering – what is the perfect dish to showcase these babies?

What dish would you like to see these eggs star in?

I’m open to suggestions. If I end up taking your suggestion, I’ll try it out and write about it in a future post. You’ll get credits and all kinds of good ‘boo!!

So help me out – what can I do with these utterly gorgeous eggs!!

I mean really!!

  • Scotch eggs
  • Deviled eggs
  • Bacon and eggs
  • Ham and eggs
  • Scrambled eggs
  • Poached eggs
  • Fried eggs
  • Shirred eggs
  • Coddled eggs
  • Omelets
  • Pickled eggs
  • Quiche

The list goes on – this doesn’t even scratch the surface!! Comment with your suggestions and help me figure out what to do with these eggs!

 

 

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Darwinian Nachos – An Apex Choice for Dinner


Almost My Birthday Dish!

October 21st is the International Day of the Nacho. It’s right after my birthday, which is one reason why I have such an affinity for this brilliant dish.
OK, I have lots of reasons, including sheer deliciousness, ease of preparation and versatility. But it doesn’t hurt that it’s almost my birthday dish.

As served in restaurants across the US, nachos are often a weighty, substantial offering – it’s funny to see them as a 3000 calorie snack item in the Appetizers section of the menu.

As served in many parts of Mexico, those same nachos are typically a delightful and relatively light quick snack or appetizer with a perfect blend of salt, savory and heat and a beautiful mix of ingredients.

A couple of decades ago, we first started making nachos in the more traditional Mexican style, but over time, this dish has evolved. Today, it incorporates veggies, beans, greens – it’s become a complete meal, all done in one pot, er, tray. Read the rest of this entry »

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Poor Man’s Caesar Salad – we Love our Kale


Wilted Kale Salad

Periodically, when we’re in the dead of winter, we begin thinking deep, green thoughts. At those times, this salad comes irresistibly to her mind and Bonney turns into a slicing and chopping foo’ in the kitchen while she preps the kale for this gorgeous and entirely delicious salad, adapted from the popular “Poor Man’s Caesar Salad” at Lupa’s in NYC.

I admire her energy and I love the result – living proof that you do not need to cook kale to make it entirely lovely – you just need to chop it properly and marinate it in a lemon (or vinegar) based dressing. In fact, if you love to play with your food, this is a great salad to mix with your hands, as “massaging” the kale with the dressing makes it even more tender. Read the rest of this entry »

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Three little steps – W. African style ground nut stew


2013-02-02 18.43.51I love stews! There’s something magical about tossing a bunch of stuff in a pot and simmering it for a while until it’s done. Bonus! Most stews taste wonderfully better on the following day, after the flavors have had a chance to marry more thoroughly, making them perfect for long-range eating.

The wonderful New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik in his “The Table Comes First” notes that the cookery for essentially all dishes can be divided into three parts. I learned this by listening to Bonney talk about the book as I cooked the stew, which I realized was indeed a three-parter! I’ll talk about the three parts in the “Method” section of this post. Read the rest of this entry »

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Comfort Food for a Rough Day – We Always Think of Cheese


Yesterday, we had a bit of a storm here in the Pacific Northwest. It generated nothing like the deadly tidal surges of Hurricane Sandy, I mean nothing, but it was still the largest storm we’ve had in more than 30 years, according to Mr. Salmon, our neighbor and long-term resident of our small beach community just north of Seattle. “Everything that was on one side of my garage was washed to the other side,” he observed, pointing at a garage door broken in by the very high tides generated by a combination of unusually high tide and an unusually strong windstorm.

Our front yard. The Shore Pine made it through the storm!

It was a little wild out there

After spending the day huddling inside from the storm, venturing out only to see if we still had a deck or front yard, we came to our evening meal badly in need of comfort. To us, that means one thing, and one thing only. OK, it might even mean two or three things, but last night we were like hungry lasers, intently focused on Mac and Cheese.

The Great Comfort Foods –  and Why Do They All Involve Cheese?

Everybody enjoys unique and different comfort foods, from Soup to Sandwiches to Potato Pancakes. Read the rest of this entry »

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LARDER: The pulse of love – scratch homemade refritos


No more cans! Homemade frijoles negros refritos.

It’s so easy to make delicious fresh, homemade refritos. Once you start making them – and see how easy it is – you’ll be giving your canned refritos away to neighbors. Well, OK, go ahead and keep a few cans for emergencies, but these homemade beans are a revelation. Smooth, creamy, with a slightly chunky texture – and the taste!  Once they’re refried, the beans will keep for a week or more in the ‘fridge. Refried beans also freeze well – freeze them in smaller amounts and defrost as needed. This recipe makes a vegetarian (but not vegan) style refritos negros. Read the rest of this entry »

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With a little help from my friends – Roasted Vegetable Lasagna


Well, there’s been a marriage to put on. And we moved. And. . .and. . .you know, keeping up a blog is work. But it’s also a joy, particularly when fantastic people like Angela, at Spinach Tiger http://www.spinachtiger.com encourage you to keep writing about your passions – life, people, stories – and food!!Here in the Northwest, we’re enjoying peak season for a wide variety of gorgeous vegetables. Summer squash! Pattypan squash! Leafy greens, radishes, golden beets, fresh corn – the harvest has been a bountiful one this year. And herbs – we have more fresh green herbs in the kitchen garden of our new home then I’ve ever imagined we could! Anybody need some tarragon?I wanted to do something with all these veggies and we were hungry for something with a little authority, a bit of substance. So I thought – “Roasted veggie lasagna”! And yup,  there it was – Martha even had a recipe, which made me eager to come up with my own version. Here it is: Read the rest of this entry »

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Custom Cookbooks – A Blend of High and Low Tech


Overwhelmed by Cookbooks

Imagine thirty feet of tables covered with three rows of cookbooks placed spine up for easy reading.  The floor underneath is covered with boxes holding more cookbooks.  This is temptation central, otherwise known as the Friends of the Library Book Sale.  Other topics fill other tables, but right now I’m focused on the cookbook section which promises spicy Mexican meals, Indian cooking made easy, Mediterranean menus which promote good health, bean dishes, vegetarian dishes, French cooking for the gourmet, White House favorites, thirty minute meals, casseroles for every day of the year, desserts to highlight any meal, and Northwest specialties.

The list could go on, but it’s making me hungry.

Some books are easier than others to pass over because I rarely make desserts, even more rarely eat red meat, and favor spicy one dish meals.   Maybe just one recipe in a book looks tempting, so I ask myself, “Do I really want to pay a dollar if I’m going to use just one recipe from a book?”  Why do I even ask?  After half a century of eating my own cooking, a new recipe that both my husband and I like is a treasure.

Now imagine my bookcases.  I’m an avid reader who is a committed Anglophile, especially the years of Elizabeth I, plus I like science, history, and anthropology. And so many books have to be kept and reread.  When the floor under the bookcase begins to sag, it’s a hint that I need to thin out. Last time the row of cookbooks was my target.

Technology Offers a Solution

We recently got a new computer printer with a built in scanner that makes it easy to quickly copy recipes.  I spent an evening going though the cookbooks and putting post-it notes on pages to copy.  Some books had just one or two post-its while other had so many the tops drooped like the tails of over fed birds.

I dedicated a day to the scanner, but copying all the recipes took less than two hours.   Technology! A three hole punch made all the pages ready for an old fashioned three ring binder. I categorized the new recipes into vegetables, poultry, lentils and beans, meat and fish, international, salads, desserts, pasta, cheese, breakfast, and canning.

A Personalized Cookbook!

I love my new one-of-a-kind-just-what-I-like cookbook!  Now instead of trying to think of what to fix next week and then going to check the recipe while I make out a shopping list, I thumb through my own personal cookbook and see what looks good at the time.

It’s easy and efficient.  I’ve even been motivated to fix some recipes I copied because “someday” I wanted to try them.  Now I have a personally customized cookbook that makes  life both easier and tastier.  Why didn’t I do this years ago?

Of the recipes I’ve tried so far, here’s an unusual and very tasty vegetable side dish from page 78 of the Totally Garlic Cookbook by Helene Siegel and Karen Gillingham. It’s a palm size paperback shaped like a head of garlic. Try doing *that*, O Kindle!! I’ve made a few modifications, feel free to try your own.

Green Beans with Walnuts and Garlic

Serves 4-6

  • 1 pound green beans, string and tough ends removed. Or not. If they’re fresh enough, green beans need next to no preparation.
  • Coarse salt (Kosher or sea salt) to taste
  • 1/2 bunch parsley
  • 1 cup walnut halves
  • 10 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 1 chicken bouillon cube (Ed: We recommend a teaspoon or so of “Better than Bouillon”)
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/3 cup olive oil

Drop beans into boiling, salted water.  As soon as water returns to boil, remove beans and immediately plunge into iced water.  Drain well.  Place blanched beans in a large bowl and set aside.

 

Remove leaves from parsley and place in food processor fitted with metal blade.  Set aside 1/4 cup walnut halves for garnish.  Place remaining walnuts in food processor with parsley.  Add garlic, bouillon cube (Ed. Or 1 tsp. “Better than Bouillon”, and pepper.  Process until mixture is like paste.

With the machine running, slowly drizzle in olive oil.  Mixture should be the consistency of thick syrup.  This is much like a kind of pesto. Tip: You might want to add the juice of half a juicy lemon – your call!

Pour over beans in bowl and toss to coat beans thoroughly.  Serve at room temperature garnished with walnut halves.

Jane Roll is an educator and world traveler who lives in Seattle when she’s not in some far away place, learning about new cultures and cuisines

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