At Last

Summer has officially arrived.  At long last.  And according to conventional Pac NW wisdom, it turned up a day early, on the actual 4th of July.  What a pleasant surprise, after all that dreary rain.

With the lovely, hot days, we spend most of our time outdoors: playing, working, cooking, and (the best bit) eating.  Out comes the grill, the uber-simple meals, the ice-cold bevvies....good things are happening in the summer, no doubt about it.

Recently, I was visiting Jennifer Casa's lovely blog, J Casa *handmade, and was inspired by her post of a Martha Stewart recipe, for Mojo Pork Kebabs.  A quick-to-prepare, marinated dish of pork and veggies, that can be prepped early in the day and forgotten about, until hungry bellies grumble, and the heat has died down just enough to light the grill. 

I did alter things, just a wee bit.  The original recipe calls for cucumbers on the skewers, and I am not a fan.  I think it goes back to college days, when for a short time, I had a very odd, rather lurk-y roommate, who cooked cucumbers.  (I don't know which was more unsettling:  the creepy moments when you'd feel as if you were being watched, and looking up, there she was, just lurking quietly, for who knows how long...or the weird, cooked cucumbers.  Shivers.)  So.  No cucumbers for me, thanks.  Instead, we threw some onions and sweet peppers into the marinade.

I also added a pinch of ground cumin to the marinade.  Because why not?  Citrus, pork, garlic...it sort of wanted cumin for a friend, I do believe.

Here you go:

Mojo Pork Kebabs - adapted from Martha Stewart, via JCasa *handmade
-serves four to six

Ingredients
pork tenderloin, about 2 pounds, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
two large peppers, cut into large chunks
1/2 large onion, cut into large chunks
1/3 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 Tbs freshly squeezed lime juice, from 2 limes
1/4 cup orange juice, from 2 oranges
1 tsp ground cumin
pinch red chili flakes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Prepare the marinade.  Whisk together olive oil, lime and orange juices, cumin, chili flakes, salt and pepper.  Pour half the marinade over the pork, and refrigerate in a large ziploc bag, or covered bowl, for a minimum of half an hour, up to overnight.  I made mine in the morning, and grilled that evening.  Reserve the other half of marinade for veggies, and brushing on the pork while grilling.

Before skewering, toss the vegetables in the reserved marinade.  Again, reserve this marinade for brushing.

If using skewers, thread the pork and veggies onto them, just before grilling.  Or, if your skewers are packed away in boxes, as ours are, use a grill pan over the coals, to cook.

Preheat your grill, or barbecue.  When hot, grill everything until done, brushing from time to time with marinade.  Pork needs to be cooked to 165 deg F.

Serve up your Mojo Pork with some fresh, crusty bread, pita, or tortillas.

A perfect meal, for perfect summer weather.  At last.

Eating Outside the Box - Take 2

 
Summer is being its usual, furtive self here in the Pacific Northwest.  While the rains shower, the chilly breezes blow, and clouds roll over us, we keep hearing that ever-so-hopeful saying:  "Summer starts on the 5th of July."  And it looks like that may be the case this year.  Again.  Sigh.

But.  Here and there we spy a few glimpses that summer is upon us, contrary to all atmospherical evidence.  Check these beauties out:

The loveliest of lovely summer fruits, in this gal's humble opinion, straight from our CSA box.  Almost too pretty to eat.  Almost, but not quite.

With the bounty of strawberries we received, I decided to make my first attempt at jam, a new move for me.  And I am so happy I did.  Now we'll be able to savor these gems for months to come.  (Provided I can stash away the jars, before they get devoured.)

I found a marvelous recipe on Food in Jars for a vanilla-infused strawberry jam, with just a little bit less sugar in it, than the standard recipes.  Don't worry, it's still shockingly sweet, you'd never know the jam is a couple of cups shy of the usual amount.  There is a delightful hint of vanilla in the background, as well as a wee tease of tartness, from fresh lemon juice.  And Oh.  My.  Word.  It's some damn fine jam.  Not wildly different from ordinary strawberry jam, which would possibly offend the Mister, as that's his favorite kind...but just different enough to make it perfect.

I did have a time getting it to the setting stage, it took way longer than the suggested amount of time in the recipe.  But then I went here, and learned some good things about getting jam to set properly.  The main key for me, was to bust out the thermometer, and wait until the temp read 220 deg F.  And Voila!  That was it.  Perfectly sweet, perfectly set, jam.

I'm feeling just a teensy bit proud, I must admit.  And ever-so-slightly hopeful that I can manage to successfully can a few other goodies this summer.

Go visit Food in Jars, and make this jam.  I'm telling you.  Damn fine jam.

Eating Outside the Box

I think a new title is in order for this season's CSA recipe series, don't you?  Last year, it was Out of the Box...this year, I've put a little twist on it. 

We have the pleasure of partaking in Helsing Junction Farm's CSA program, for the second year running, and I must say, I am all kinds of pleased.  As was to be expected.  Aside from the obvious benefit of eating local, organic food, I get the perk of a little "surprise!" moment, when opening the box each week.  Every time I pop that lid and delve inside, the wheels start turning...cookbooks fly off the shelf into my hot little hands...Food is about to happen here, people.

Let us not forget to mention the awesomeness of less grocery shopping each week, by the way.  Less time spent trudging the aisles, searching for something that sounds good (and is preferably organic, hopefully local)...more time spent creating something delicious with what is right there in front of me.  This is the way to cook.  (And eat.)

Last's week's box contained a beautiful assortment of early-season fare (I feel like I should say early-summer, but it doesn't seem right, given the rubbish weather), including garlic scapes and arugula.  Oh joy!

I had a bit of walnut butter that I'd made a few days before (recipe follows), so it was just a natural progression to come up with a Garlic Scape, Arugula, and Walnut Pesto.  Right?  Obvious.

Garlic scapes are the shoots that spring from hardneck garlic bulbs, that must be snipped off, in order to allow the plant to put its growing mojo into that bulb.  They're slightly milder than garlic, not as much heat, but full-flavored and scrumptious.  Such a treat, especially as they're only around for a very short time each year.

The walnut butter is super easy to make, and a wonderful substitute for bog-standard PB&J.  It's not quite as smooth as peanut butter, but I think it's a little more versatile.  It's oddly great combined with goat cheese, arugula, and avocado (in a recipe from Tom Colicchio's  'wichcraft), marvelous spread on crackers with a little marmalade or fruit chutney...ah.  Endless possibilities.  Plus, and I just realized this, walnuts are grown around here.  What a fab, local substitute for peanut butter, huh?

If you cannot be asked whipping up a batch of walnut butter, just toss some walnuts into the pesto.  The end result will be the same.  (Although you won't have a lovely jar of walnut butter sitting in your fridge.)

Oh PS - I'm doing the "You be the guide of your destiny", sort of recipe, again.  Create, my friends, create!

Garlic Scape, Arugula, and Walnut Pesto 


Ingredients

4 or 5 garlic scapes, coarsely chopped
small bunch arugula, (roughly 1 1/2 to 2 cups, packed)
EITHER:  a couple tablespoons walnut butter (recipe follows)
OR:  a generous handful toasted, coarsely chopped walnuts
olive oil
juice of 1/2 to 1 whole lemon
freshly grated parmesan, about a handful or so
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

If you are using walnuts, rather than the walnut butter, throw them into the bowl of your food processor first, and give it a go around, until they're fairly broken down.  Add the garlic scapes, arugula, a bit of salt and pepper, the juice of 1/2 a lemon, and a glug of olive oil.  Whiz everything around until it's somewhat smooth, and taste.  Add more olive oil, if the pesto is too dry, more lemon juice if you want to jazz it up a bit.  A bit more walnut butter will round out the edges.  Add in the parmesan, process again, and recheck the seasoning.  Make sure you have added enough salt, because it will bring all the flavors together, plus, if you're adding the pesto to hot food, it will lose its edge somewhat.

The pesto should be a lively green, with a vibrant hit of garlic, and A smooth, peppery background, from the arugula.  Yum.

There are endless ways of serving this:  toss with pasta, over roasted or grilled veggies or fish, on crackers or sandwiches...get into it.

Walnut Butter - adapted from 'wichcraft
-makes about 3/4 cup

Ingredients
2 cups walnut pieces
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 300 deg F.  Toast the walnuts on a sheet pan, in the oven, until fragrant.  Keep an eye (nose) on them, it should take anywhere from 5 to 7 minutes, depending on the size of your walnuts.  Check often.

Process the toasted walnuts in a food processor, until roughly chopped.  Slowly add the olive oil, and continue to process, until you have a spreadable, but not overly smooth, butter.  (It will not have the smooth texture of store-bought nut butters.)  Season with salt and pepper.

This will keep for up to one week, in the refrigerator.  (Note:  In the 'wichcraft recipe, this is actually referred to as Walnut Pesto.  I just like to call it walnut butter.  It makes sense to me.)

By the way...I am keenly aware the my posting has been fairly sporadic these days.  We're in the midst of house buying, and I seem somewhat unable to focus on any one activity for longer than five minutes.  You can most often find me, if not wandering aimlessly, trying to remember what I was doing, gazing off into the distance, caught daydreaming about a new life, in what may be a sort of dream-come-true, kind of place.

We're still in the inspection phase of buying, and I do know better than to count my chickens before they hatch...but...shall we count these instead?

Apples!

Fruit trees!

How much fun will I be having?

May your day be filled with dreaming, as well.

Wanna-Be

Some days, I find myself pondering a bit at the shape my life has taken.  And often having a private giggle over it.  Getting stoked on bread baking, defending the coolness of knitting, my days' highs and lows dependent on (among just a few other things) successes and failures in the kitchen...is this Laura Ingalls wanna-be the person I envisioned I would one day become? 

Truth be told, I can't really remember.  As a child, I do remember digging on Laura, and figuring life would be so much lovelier if I could wear long dresses all the time.  Any character out of "the olden days" excited my interest.  I spent a rather large portion of my childhood pretending to be someone else...A pioneer seeking a new life, on the Oregon Trail...a Jane Eyre that was not so proper that she had to run away from Mr Rochester...a member of the Swiss Family Robinson, stranded on an island in an awesome treehouse...an escaping Von Trapp, singing my way over the Alps.  (Siblings and cousins were recruited for many of these capers.  Provided they follow my vision.  Of course.)

So, I suppose it's not overly surprising that I find myself here, drawn to the crafts and traditions of the past, romanticizing a simpler way of life.  All the while feeling very fortunate to benefit from modern convenience.  No late night jaunts to the outhouse for this voting, speaks-her-mind, wears-pants-if-she-feels-like-it, gal, that's for certain.

One convenience in particular makes my dedication to handmade a whole lot more do-able:  my trusty bread machine.  I only use it for kneading, because who can be asked sparing either the time, or the energy on working the dough into a good texture?  Not me.

I often tweak my Go-to Loaf recipe, based on what sounds good, or what is lurking in the cupboards, and this version is my latest incarnation.  A handful of seeds, a pinch of fennel, butter and honey create a heavenly, soft loaf, with a good, crusty exterior.  Just the thing to bring out your inner Laura.

Fennel, Sunflower, and Sesame Seed Bread
-makes one large loaf

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 Tbs melted butter
1 tsp honey
2 tsp fine sea salt
2 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 cup mixed sunflower and sesame seeds, plus more for sprinkling on top
pinch coarse sea salt (I used a Himalayan pink salt)

In the pan of your bread machine, pour the warm water, then add the yeast, melted butter, honey, and salt.  Leave for about 5 or 10 minutes, until the yeasts comes alive and looks frothy.

Add in the flours, and set the machine to the dough cycle.  (Mine is 1 1/2 hours, including the rise.)  At the add-in beep (or near the end of mixing, if you, like me, never manage to be in the same room at the time it beeps), add in the fennel, sunflower, and sesame seeds, and let the dough finish its cycle in the machine.

At the end of the dough cycle, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board.  It will likely be quite sticky, but this is a good thing.  If you add too much flour, your bread will be too heavy.  With a bit of practice, it's easy to work with, using a dough scraper, and flouring your hands to keep the dough from sticking to them.  Shape the dough into a large round, using this technique, then cover with a large plastic garbage bag, and leave to rise until doubled in size.  Depending on your room temperature, this will take anywhere from three quarters of an hour, to an hour and a half.  Give or take.

At the end of this second rise, you can either bake the loaf, or punch it down, reshape, and allow it to rise one more time, the end result being a lighter, more pillowy bread.  Do not rise more than 3 times, or your yeast will lose its oomph, and not have enough left in it to rise in the oven.

When the dough looks to be nearly risen, and you can gently push a finger into it without it springing back immediately, preheat the oven to 500 deg F.  Set the kettle to boil some water, and place two baking sheets, one with rimmed sides, in the oven to preheat.

Set up your ingredients near the oven:

A very sharp serrated knife, or razor blade
A spray bottle of water
Potholders
Sunflower, fennel, and sesame seeds, and coarse salt, for sprinkling
A dough scraper for lifting the bread from the board
Kettle of boiled water

Remove the rimless baking sheet from the oven, and carefully transfer the risen loaf to the sheet.  It may fall a little bit, but not too much if you're gentle.  Working quickly, but carefully, slash the dough across the top, 3 times, about 1/2 an inch deep.  Spritz with water from the spray bottle, and sprinkle with seeds and salt.

Place the loaf on the upper shelf, in the middle of the oven, and with the utmost care, quickly pour the boiled water into the rimmed baking sheet, while it's on the lower shelf (you don't want to transfer a sheet pan of boiling water), and shut the oven door.  The faster you can manage this, the less heat will escape, and the better your bread will be.  The water from the spray bottle, and the steam rising off the baking sheet, conspire to give you a beautiful, crisp crust, so don't skip this step.

Set the timer to 10 minutes, and spritz with water a couple of times, if you like.  When the timer goes off, re-set it to 10 minutes, and turn the oven down to 425.

Now the bread will have been baking twenty minutes.  If it looks to be browning rather quickly, turn the heat down to 375, at this twenty-minute mark.  If it still looks rather light, keep the heat at 425.  Bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, until the bread is golden brown, and sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom, for a total of 40 to 45 minutes.

And there you have it.  I do believe Laura would be envious of our time-saving techniques and gadgets, don't you?

The bread will keep for 2 days, wrapped in a plastic or paper bag.  To reheat, and re-crisp the crust, spritz with water, and bake for ten minutes, at 350.

Have a lovely day.

Refresh

Well, yesterday got away from me.  I didn't quite manage to get to posting that promised recipe, because, you see, important things needed attending to.  Important things including such responsibilities as:  a sunny day, an afternoon swim with the gals and our kiddos, and yoga, also with the gals.  But I'm here now, although the sun is no longer, with a summery recipe to refresh and revive.

Perhaps it'll encourage that sunshine to come back, and stay awhile...

This is one of those last minute, "hmmm...what have I got around here to throw together, quickly?" sort of dish.  I made some veggie sushi last night, to celebrate the somewhat reluctant appearance of the sun, and needed a little something fresh and easy to go with it.  The veggies were all those left over from sushi prep (I really prepped far too many veggies, but who's complaining?), the rice noodles have been lurking in the back of my pantry for eons, and the fresh herbs came from our CSA box.  Add a squirt of this, a squeeze of that...and away we go.  Dinner in five.

Summery Rice Noodle Salad with Lime and Sesame Oil Vinaigrette
-serves 4 as a main, 6 as a side

Ingredients*
Approximately 200-250 gram package thin rice noodles
1 1/2 to 2 cups julienned or finely sliced vegetables:  carrots, celery, sugar snap peas, spring onions, cucumber, green peppers
1/2 to 3/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro, stems included
1/4 cup chopped mint
1/2 cup coarsely chopped peanuts

Vinaigrette
6 Tbs soy sauce
juice of 1 1/2 limes
2 to 3 Tbs sesame oil
4 to 6 Tbs mirin (if you don't have mirin, substitute 1 to 2 Tbs of honey)

*Note*   The ingredient amounts are approximate.  This is one of those recipes you make to suit your tastes.  If you prefer a sweeter vinaigrette, use more mirin.  If you like it saltier, up the soy sauce.  Use more or less sesame oil, depending on how aggressive you want the dressing.  Taste as you go, substitute another ingredient if you feel like it, and be creative!

In a large bowl whisk the vinaigrette ingredients together.  Set aside.

Cook your rice noodles according to package directions.  If you picked up your package at an international market, like I did, and it has no discernible directions, other than such ever-so-helpful gems as:  "Cook a little while, then it completes." Or:  "After stirring, put it in a dish, then you can have it"...If these are the extent of your directions, then just boil the noodles, and check every minute or two (mine took about 3 1/2 minutes), then drain, and run under cold water.  Allow to drain for a few minutes in a colander, gently squeezing the excess water out of the noodles.  (If you leave them too wet, your dressing will be diluted.  Thin rice noodles are pretty springy once cooked, and can handle a bit of a squeeze.)

Toss the noodles with the dressing, then throw in the veggies and herbs, and top with peanuts.  Serve with some thinly sliced green chili, or a few dashes of Sambal.

There you have it.  Couldn't be simpler, or more refreshing.  A wonder of a salad for a hot day, when you cannot be asked spending much time inside, away from that precious sunshine.

Here's hoping it returns soon!

Long Weekend

We've just returned from our annual Father's Day surf trip.  Most years, we head down to the Oregon Coast, to celebrate the Mister by doing what he loves best. Usually Summer Solstice and International Surf Day fall on the same weekend, giving us further cause to celebrate.  (This year the dates didn't line up.)  We used to rough it, and camp for the weekend, but these days, we tend to rent a house.  I suppose that means we're getting older, but it saves getting soaked in the rain showers.

Here's a bit of what we got up to:

Surf checks...

...fun and games...

 ...wave jumping...

 ...ladybug love...

 ...bodyboarding Kiddos, with the Boy showing the Girl how it's done...

 ...a little mermaid action...

 ...pure bliss.

Ah.  That's the stuff.

Happy Summer Solstice to you.

And Happy International Surf Day!

PS - Back tomorrow with a recipe.  And guess what...the season's first CSA box has arrived!  It's that time again!

Lucky

I'm somewhat tardy on this post, but well, better late than never, I suppose.  Check out this wee treasure:

A lovely glassybaby candleholder, which I won (!) on a giveaway, courtesy of Dreams on 34th Street.  Lynne was kind enough to mention The Well Fed Soul on her blog, in this post, about a month ago.  (Thank you, Lynne!)  I have been meaning to post a photo of my glassybaby for some time, but with all these dreary, rainy days, I have not been able to get the right light, to do the piece justice.  At last, on Monday, the sun broke free from the ever-looming clouds, and allowed me to (finally!) capture a decent photo.

Glassybaby is a Seattle business, that creates unique, beautiful, handblown glass.  They also donate a portion of their profits to charitable causes, many of them local, with an emphasis on, in their words, "health, healing, and quality of life."  And I am now the proud, fortunate owner of one very beautiful piece.

Lucky me!

Have a beautiful day!