autumn...quickly because i have too many other things i need to get done. :)

tonight i pulled a super yummy beef stew out of my arse:
i threw some beef in flour and then seared it in ev olive oil in my stew pot...i threw in some red wine, an onion and, a little later, some veg stock...added a handful of fresh savory, all chopped up and some fresh rosemary, too...then some carrots, portabellas, red cabbage and spinach...oh! and some finely chopped garlic, the juice of a lemon, and more than a touch of bragg's. then i put the lentals in. on low heat i simmered it for a while and then i added more flour (all flour used is unbleached, unbromated whole wheat) and some earth balance to thicken it as it cooked. it is WICKED yummy. baby django kept saying "yummy" as i fed it to him. from the mouths of a babe...it must be good!


<3

heatwave...

it has been so hot in maine this week. i have been trying to find a pocket of cool air somewhere, anywhere...the air has been hot. heavy. like pudding. who the hell wants to eat, let alone COOK in weather like this??

working at the Cape Arundel Inn throughout this heat wave gave me some great ideas for food to prepare for such hot weather. chilled food. and of course, delicious food.

some of the featured items this week:
gazpacho. a to die for garden vegetable tomato based soup slightly spiced with shaved aged cheese and croutons and balsamic honey drizzle. i like mine really spicy...and spice makes your body cool down. perfect.

fried green tomatoes with this AMAZING creamy basil dressing. a recipe i vow to get for us all.

chilled beef that has been cooked medium rare with heirloom tomato salsa, paired with a chilled red potato lobster salad.

chilled food. it's smart and you can cook it in the early hours of a day you know is going to be hot and leave it in the fridge until late in the day when you wouldn't want the oven or grill on. it's a great idea if you work all day, too...and don't feel like expending energy when you retun home all tired and shriveled and sweaty.

<3 i work with some brilliant foodies, for sure. <3

our favorite lemon tea cake

my children, who are all under 10, ask for this cake consistently as their birthday cake. it is sooooo good. a dense lightly lemony cake that is just sweet enough. it is sinfully moist on the bottom as it soaks up the sugary lemon juice and has a lovely crust of sugary goodness on top. it is absolutely a perfect cake to pair with fresh whipped cream and some sort of berries, but is just as good alone.

you will need:
a bundt pan
1 cup of butter, softened, plus a little extra to butter the pan
1 3/4 cup of raw sugar with 1/4 of a cup separated from the rest
2 lemons, zested, pitted and juiced...
1 1/2 teaspoons of pure lemon extract
4 eggs
3 cups unbleached white wheat flour (i love king arthur's brand)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk

preparations:
1. butter and flour the bundt pan and preheat oven to 350 F.
2. beat the butter and 1 1/2 cups of sugar together until creamy.
3. add the grated zest from the two lemons to the sugary butter. beat well.
4. add the eggs and the lemon extract to the mixture and beat thoroughly.
5. add the flour, baking soda and salt and gently fold into the butter-sugary-lemony-eggy goodness. as you stir the dry ingredients into the wet, add the milk. you may add more milk if the batter consistency is too dry, but it is intended to be a little gloppier than a box cake mix might be. it should be beaten thoroughly, but not runny.
6. spoon mixture into the bundt pan and bake for about one hour. when cake has plumped up nicely, is mildly browned and a wooden skewer can be inserted and extracted and remain clean, it is done. take it out to cool a bit.
7. while cake is baking add the remaining quarter cup of sugar to the juice of the two lemons and mix. the sugary juice will still be granular, and thats okay. when the cake is done and has cooled a little while, turn the pan over onto a serving plate and shake that baby out! then, pour the sugary juice over the top, letting the granules stay on the top to harden. the juice will run down the edges and puddle at the bottom of the plate where it will soak into the cake and make every problem in your world dissappear if not just for the moments you're eating it. :)

enjoy!!!

my bastardized bolognese sauce...

we love pasta in my household. and i do love making sauce. not the kind i remember my mom making that took all day. i just don't have that kind of time...but an hour to prepare an amazing sauce that can yield two hardy family meals isn't such a sacrifice...and once you taste how yummy this bolognese is, you'll know it's well worth the time even if you only make the batch big enough for one dinner. this recipe will yield enough sauce for two dinners comprised of a pound of pasta each.

you'll need a cast iron skillet. and also...for those of you weak hearted folks out there who fear the anchovy...you'll need to ditch your fear for this one. anchovies are the not so secret any more secret ingredient of this dish.

fixins:
1 pound box of pasta prepared al dente (i have a weakness for nice expensive imported pastas. i love orechietta, aka ear shaped pasta, with this rich flavorful sauce.)

1 can of crushed tomatoes
1 small can of flat anchovies
4 large lobes of garlic, crushed and minced
2 large shallots, crushed and minced
extra virgin olive oil
a bit of red wine
the juice and pulp of an orange or grapefruit
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, mottled and finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh oregano finely chopped
1 teaspoon of fennel seed, mottled
1 pound of ground meat (turkey, beef or even fresh tuna..i've also used sausage out of the casing)
a bit of light cream
butter (i like to use earth balance's buttery spread)

preparations:
1. coat the cast iron skillet in extra virgin olive oil and heat on medium low.
2. saute the garlic and shallot until translucent, but not brown...add can of anchovies with the oil it was packed in to the garlic and shallot, as well as half of the fresh herbs and the fennel seed and simmer and stir a bit...allowing the herbs to release their flavor and letting the anchovy disintegrate  (don't worry noone will ever know it's in there...and it makes this sauce taste amazing!!)
3. add meat to the pan, turn up heat to medium high and brown.
4. squeeze the orange juice onto the meat and let the pulp fall right in. add a couple of tablespoons of butter (or erth's balance) and a bit of wine, maybe a few tablespoons or even 1/4 cup, and simmer, melting the butter and cooking off the alcohol.
5. add tomatoes and the rest of the fresh herbs and simmer on medium low heat for 1/2 hour. add a dash of cream and simmer once more...letting thicken.
6. salt and pepper to taste.

like i mentioned earlier, this will be enough sauce for two meals...so pack half of it up right away or someone is liable to nosh on it and it'll be gone before you know it! it freezes well...

the half that you are using should be tossed right into the pasta which you can top with a mixture of grated parm and romano cheeses (make sure they're good quality...it makes a huge difference)...serve with some yummy bitter green, like broccoli rabe and some crusty italian bread with a little dish of olive oil garnished with sea salt and crushed red pepper for dipping bread in.

roasted chicken with wood ear mushrooms and baby rosemary potatoes...

something I love to do every week is roast a couple of chickens. it's a dinner that presents itself as if i've done a ton of work...when really i throw some food in a pan and stuff it in the oven. and walllaa! a gorgeous dinner browns with such little efffort that i can return emails while it cooks! PLUS!!!! the best part is, when i roast two, even though i cook for a hungry family of five, i have lots of left overs which turns into an easy slow cooker dinner later in the week. (that recipe will come later!)

fixins:
2 chickens (approx 4-5 pounds each)
2 lbs of rinsed baby potatoes...or the littlest red potatoes you can find (or you can chunk some red or yukon gold potatoes if babies aren't available)
1 cup of re-hydrated wood ear mushrooms, chopped (or shiitakes if you can't find wood ear)
fresh rosemary, chopped finely (about 2 tablespoons full when all is said and done...can't have too much fresh herbage!)
extra virgin olive oil
4 lobes of garlic, crushed and roughly cut
2 shallots, crushed and thinly sliced with skin on (the skin makes the gravy we'll make later nice and brown!)
coarse sea salt
freshly ground pepper
water

prep:
1. heat the oven to 400 F. prepare the chickens by rinsing them, removing any guts that are inside and rubbing them with extra virgin olive oil. put them breast side up in a large roasting pan and sprinkle some sea salt and freshly ground pepper onto them.
2. in a large mixing bowl put potatoes, wood ear mushrooms, rosemary, and shallots...drizzle with extra virgin olive oil until coated...toss in some sea salt and and freshly ground pepper and about 2/3 of the garlic.
3. put the potato and mushroom mixture into the pans surrounding the chicken.
4. sprinkle the remiaing garlic onto the top of the chickens.
5. pour a little water into the pan to coat the bottom and stuff that baby in the oven.

cooking time will vary depending on the size of your chickens. you'll need a meat thermometer, because from experience, there is nothing worse than thinking the chicken is done when it isn't and having to have the kids wait while you shove it back in the oven. i cook chicken to about 160 F, measured in the breast.

for a nice, easy gravy, pour most of the drippings from the pan into a sauce pan and heat over medium low heat...add a little flour to the rest of the warm drippings and stir it in until it is dissolved...add this to the sauce pan and stir...it will get nice and thick...you can add salt or pepper to taste if necessary.

this is a great supper to pair with my favorite kale salad...i'll post it next!

(pssst...remember to wrap and save everything that is leftover for an easy chicken stew late in the week! potatoes, mushrooms, chicken! it's all going to get used!)