Recent blizzard conditions in the DC area have prompted us to cook a lot of comfort food during the past few days. First on the list was Mushroom and Barley Soup with Meatballs, and that was quickly followed by the Rich Chicken Stew from the Eating Well web site. Both recipes perfectly fit the definition of comfort food since they are hearty, and use very basic ingredients. A bonus is that each recipe makes a large quantity, and the leftovers can be frozen for another time. The chicken stew is made in a crockpot with the sauce finished on the cooktop. The addition of lemon slices (removed before serving), lemon zest, and lemon juice adds a bright taste to the dish, and we decided that we prefer the stew over whole wheat couscous rather than the noodles suggested on the web site.
Shopping during constant dire storm warnings has been interesting. At first, the stores were much better stocked than we anticipated, but as days went by, and the SuperBowl loomed, more and more shelves were emptied. As the next storm approaches, we walked into one store to find the staff hosing down the entire produce section – which was completely bare.
The blog photographer has been busy taking photos of the 28+ inches of snow in the area instead of the usual food photos. Since we are expecting another eight inches of snow over the next day or two, there may be even more comfort food in our immediate future, along with more photos of the record-breaking snow.
During our whirlwind trip to Washington, we did make time to sample some fabulous food. Just to touch on a few of the highlights… The Lebanese tasting plate at Neyla was perfect for our first dinner following a day in the car. Beautiful space, great service, and wonderful food. We have made, and eaten, a lot of hummus over the years, but the hummus at Neyla is in a class by itself. The meal was so good, we returned there for another dinner the night before we left for the trip back to NC.
The meal at Rasika was equally impressive. The photo of the tandoori salmon doesn’t begin to do it justice. For anyone who loves tandoori, this is a “must try”. The cauliflower with peas was a beautiful side dish, and we enjoyed a great chicken entree as well.
No photos from Hook, but we will rectify that problem as soon as we have another meal with them. From the moment we walked in the door, and came under the care of Ari, this was a very memorable evening. The menu is in constant transition, but on the night we visited, the dorade and barramundi were just fabulous! Each entree was prepared in a totally different way with locally sourced veggies – amazing! We will visit Ari and friends again very soon. Oh, almost forgot the parsnip creme brulee… Yes, it sounds very strange, but Ari convinced us to give it a try, and he was definitely on target – for those of us who order dessert rarely, this was a winner.
More memorable food moments – the foccacia at Papa Razzi in Georgetown, some terrific pizza with prosciutto and arugula at Sette Osteria on Connecticut Avenue. Obviously despite the search for an apartment in cold and windy weather, we managed to be well fed. One thing we observed during all of these meals was the friendly yet professional service at every restaurant we visited.
Once we are ensconced in our apartment, we will be looking for farmer’s markets, ethnic ingredients to try in new recipes, and more great restaurants, of course!
The blog authors have been enjoying the holidays, and we hope all of you have, too. In addition to cooking, we are planning a trip to the DC area to look for housing. Allen will be working with the National Institutes of Health, so we plan to find an apartment (with a functional kitchen) for our time there while keeping our home in western NC (see thumbnail photo) as our base.
During the upcoming trip, we will take advantage of as many ethnic restaurants in the Georgetown area as we can fit into our schedule. We will be sampling Lebanese food, tapas, Indian cuisine, Italian, and “fusion”. A complete list of the places we try, along with some photos (if the restaurant lighting is sufficient) will appear soon.
Please feel free to sample some of the many recipes on the site until we get back into the kitchen and start pointing you to specific things to try. A great example of something we love that has once again undergone a change is the Mediterranean Stew (which we just made for the first time in ages). In addition to leaving out the beef, we substituted some terrific chicken Italian sausage that we found at our local Fresh Market for the usual Italian sausage and added an extra can of chickpeas. The end result was wonderful and these changes will now be permanent in our kitchen.
Happy 2010 to each of you!
For some of us, finding the perfect Christmas tree is something of an obsession. For a number of years, we visited tree farms in the Charleston area with reasonable success; generally ending up with a tree that was bigger than we needed. One year, we decided we didn’t have time for the lengthy drive to the Toogoodoo Christmas tree farm that was located on Younges Island. Instead, we made a decision to shop at a stand in Mt. Pleasant that advertised trees from western NC.
Since we had never shopped at a tree stand, we didn’t know that people in Charleston purchase their trees at Thanksgiving – or in early December at the latest. Thus, in mid-December, when we arrived at the parking lot where the ‘Mountain Man’ had set up shop, we found a very limited selection – i.e., maybe three trees. The only attractive one was HUGE, but the man convinced us that it would work for us. The fact that he gave us break on the price and had his helper, who owned a truck, deliver it to our house on Isle of Palms may have helped to make our decision. Several hours later, just as it was starting to get dark, the truck and the tree arrived. After scoping out the delivery routes, it was pretty apparent that the tree would have to come in via the back outside stairs, across the deck, and through the double doors into the living room. Allen and the delivery guy wrestled the tree into the house, at which point, it became our problem.
Our tree had to be 15 feet tall, and very fat, but we managed to get it into the tree stand (probably purchased that year to accommodate the over-sized tree). Once the tree was upright, we were just about to congratulate ourselves when the stand slowly slid out from under the tree, and the tree fell to the floor, pinning one unsuspecting person under it. Next step, pull the tree upright again, brush off the pine needles, and start over. After several attempts, we finally had to wire the tree to two window frames, and attach the stand to the floor with duct tape. But once we had it decorated (three large boxes of ornaments later), it was one impressive tree!
After moving to western NC, we assumed tree farms would be easily accessible, but that hasn’t been the case. The first couple of years, we found nice trees at different lots, but it didn’t quite compare to the experience of going to a farm. Two years ago, an article appeared in a local paper detailing the story of a couple who had started a “you-cut” tree farm in Henderson County. Somewhere along the way, they gave up on the idea, and decided to open their property to people who wanted to cut their own just to get the land cleared. Perhaps our first clue about how strange this adventure would be was when we called the number listed in the article to check their hours. After several attempts to connect, we resorted to using the email address that was also included in the article. This worked, and the owners sent us a time to visit them, along with directions to a church parking lot somewhere near their house. We were told that we would be given the remaining directions once we called from the parking lot.
In retrospect, we had to wonder … what were we thinking? But we decided to go along with it, so on a very brisk Saturday morning we headed out. We made it as far as Saluda when we realized we had no rope to tie the tree onto the car. A stop at the general store is always fun, since you get to talk with Mr. Pace who is beyond charming. A half an hour later, with our clothes line in hand, off we went. After driving to an area that was completely unfamiliar to us, we found the church and called the number we had been given, and received our instructions.
As we followed the directions provided, we began to wonder if we were lost, but finally turned into a very long driveway. The place had spectacular views of Hendersonville and Laurel Park, and one of the strangest houses we had seen. From the exterior, it appeared to be a single wide that had seen major growth spurts at different points in time. It had everything – including a second story, an upstairs deck, a semi-attached carport and a built-in, ‘enclosed’ porch. And then there was the stand-alone deck on the edge of the property that provided an amazing view of the mountains. But what drew our attention was the picnic table, on which rested the remains of breakfast. Now, it was COLD out there (we were in very warm coats), so we had to wonder, who was eating breakfast outside in that weather? When the owner of the property came out to greet us in shorts and a tee shirt, we really began to wonder!
After admiring the view and hearing the story of how he had found this spectacular piece of property, we were given the drill – just walk around; select a tree; come back for a saw and whatever help might be required; cut the tree down, and pay. Trouble, big trouble … what trees? All over the hill side were very tall trunks with branches on one side and pretty much nothing on the remainder of the tree (see attached rendition; even though we can’t draw, this is frighteningly accurate). The problem that we quickly realized we were now facing – how do you tell the person in charge that the baby isn’t just ugly, perhaps it’s not really a baby? Not even Charlie Brown would have deemed these trees worthy of dragging home. We slowly wandered back down the hill, and watched an ancient fire truck arrive on the scene. Several guys climbed out and proceeded to look for a tree for their church (we still have no idea what a fire truck and a church have in common). They quickly decided that topping one of the magnificent blue spruces on the property was a great idea, something we weren’t equipped to do. The owner of the property had gone in to take a phone call, so we were lucky enough get away by asking the fire truck crew to tell the guy in charge that the trees were just too big for our little house prior to requesting the truck move enough for us to wiggle our car out from behind it, hop in the car, and make our exit. To say it was a truly creepy experience would be an understatement in spite of the chance to see those fabulous views… Of course our next decision to stop in Hendersonville for coffee didn’t work out any better since the Christmas parade was just about to start. This, of course, meant no place to park, and therefore no coffee. The tree that year came from our local hardware store.
As you have surmised, none of this really has anything to do with food, but the stories are definitely “seasonal”. And on that topic, the corner photo was taken during one of the years we volunteered as Santa and Mrs. Claus in downtown Charleston. This experience taught us that with enough “fat packs” and make up, you can turn almost anyone into Santa. If you want more info on that gig, check with Allen about the fun of having the the young women from College of Charleston line up to have their photo taken with Santa… We promise that recipes will appear in the next post!
The dilemma:
A dinner party for eight is planned for Sunday evening, and one week prior to the event, the Thermador double ovens truly lose their minds. This is made crystal clear when an attempt is made to prepare food in advance to freeze and the oven temperature begins to fluctuate by as much as 50 degrees, or more – in both directions from the set point. Many ugly words, and ruined ingredients later, it is obvious that something has to be done, and soon. For those of you who know us, it won’t be difficult to guess which of us went into total meltdown, and briefly considered taking a meat mallet to the oven doors… After calming down and checking the web, we were not encouraged! All of the postings stated that the oven did not work properly and that Thermador was unresponsive to the problem; when we contacted Customer Support some time ago for a related problem, they were not at all helpful to say the least. We were undecided on exactly where to turn and we did not have much time to come up with a fix.
Our attempt to resolve the problem:
Initially, there did not seem to be a viable solution. We first looked at repairclinic.com for pointers on how to approach the problem. Their technical support crew sent us a list of tests to run to isolate the problem and offered a huge inventory of parts to purchase once we had identified the malfunctioning component. However, before we went down this road, it occurred to us that we should at least attempt to contact someone at Thermador for some assistance. A detailed, and pointed e-mail was sent off, and much to our delight, we received a response on Tuesday. In the following days, numerous people at Thermador became involved, and by the latter part of the week, we were moderately hopeful that a solution was in sight. Although the local repair people did little to facilitate a “fix”, Thermador stuck with us, and sent out the needed parts via Fed Ex on Friday.
The solution:
At Thermador’s repeated insistence with the local appliance company, the repair did take place on Saturday. By noon that day, the ovens were fully functional, and we were indebted to everyone at Thermador who played a role. While we won’t name names (nor share e-mail addresses and cell phone numbers), everyone we were in contact with made an effort to resolve the problem to our satisfaction, and in time to entertain our guests. Of all the customer support people we have spoken with over the years, no one can top the delightful person on the other end of the phone at Thermador. We can’t thank them enough, and we were happy not to call the invitees and tell them that we were suddenly hosting a “bring your own toaster oven” event.
Now for the menu which we all enjoyed… We decided on a grazing, tapas-style menu that included, among numerous other dishes, the Ham and Cheese in Puff Pastry from an earlier post; the Teriyaki Chicken Burgers that were done in miniature this time around, grilled on our pannini griddle, and drizzled with the Simple Aioli; a Black Bean Tart with Chili Crust, and much more. We were inspired to turn dessert into a small Julia Child tribute in the form of dessert crepes with some wonderful orange butter. In all, a successful end to a stressful week – thanks, Thermador!
Since our resident wild turkeys didn’t think that they should be part of our Thanksgiving dinner, we decided to humor them by fixing a favorite Paula Wolfert recipe for slow-roasted duck. This is one of those dishes that smells good for hours while in the oven, and tastes just as good as it smells. We paired the duck with a cranberry chutney, and a salad of thinly-sliced fennel tossed in a lemon and olive oil vinaigrette. Deciding how to use the remaining shredded duck is a problem we don’t mind tackling.
As we move into the holiday season, we will be taking photos of some appetizer recipes we enjoy, along with cookies we will make to share with friends. After several attempts at making more *healthful* cookies, with less than rave reviews at our house, we will be using butter in quantities that make even us gasp …
During a recent telephone conversation with Fran Bonscher, a friend who, with her husband John, lives on Cape Cod, we were discussing holiday entertaining, and various ideas for appetizers. Fran mentioned an Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa) recipe using puff pastry that sounded good, and easy, so we immediately tracked the recipe down on the web, and gave it a try. The recipe is as simple, and lovely as Fran promised, and while we did add one ingredient, leeks, when we made the recipe, it certainly is lovely as originally written.
We recently noticed the miso stocked at the Hendersonville Community Co-Op is a local product. The American Miso Company was started in Rutherfordton, NC in the early 80’s. Their organic miso comes in a variety of “flavors”, and we decided to try a container of Mellow White (Miso Master Organic). The purchase inspired us to search out some recipes to try this “new to us” product, and the first one we discovered on the Epicurious site comes from a May 2007 issue of Self Magazine. We don’t recall finding many chicken recipes that take so little effort but offer so much flavor. The chicken can be marinated a short time, or longer if you prefer. On this particular evening, we served the chicken with roasted butternut squash and some sliced avocado – it doesn’t get much easier than this… The leftover chicken is excellent served as a topping for a green salad.
A low-fat apple oatmeal crumble recipe in the October 2003 issue of Gourmet Magazine recently caught our attention as we were looking for some new ways to enjoy apples. We love cooked apples for breakfast, and this looked like a nice change. Rather than the 4 servings called for the original recipe, we have been making this in two larger baking dishes (1 cup capacity) and topping it with some of our favorite Fage Greek yogurt as a breakfast option. The recipe can easily be doubled, and since we make it the day before, it provides a quick but elegant breakfast. Changes to the original recipe are numerous, including the addition of dried cranberries and toasted almonds.
Once we discovered Paula Wolfert’s method for cooking polenta in the oven, recipes using polenta became much more interesting. Eliminating the need to stay at the cooktop, stirring the sometimes lava-like cornmeal and water mixture that could easily bubble onto your hand if you weren’t paying attention was considered a major “win” in our kitchen. For those of us who love stone-ground grits, the bonus was realizing that they could be cooked using the same technique.
But, back to the leeks and chard… Anyone who read some of our earlier pasta recipes on the blog probably noticed that we love the combination of these two ingredients. Cooking them together and then placing them on top of polenta rounds not only provides a visually appealing dish, but one that tastes wonderful. The addition of bacon for the bacon-lovers in the crowd adds just one more interesting texture. We have been making this dish as an entree, but it would make a perfect side dish, too.
Housekeeping Note: Due to the growing number of recipes, the file was no longer loading quickly, so the index has been broken into three sections. We have also added a “vegetarian” category in the index to keep track of the numerous vegetarian options on the site.
