Waking up wanting....

So the other night I woke up wanting.  Not necessarily for food or something tangible...just wanting.  I know this is a food blog and there is a food reference here somewhere.  I lay there a bit - a tad surprised.  I sleep pretty heavily and being awoken by a thought or dream is odd.  I brushed away this wanting and went back to sleep, but I woke with that same feeling.

Once something strikes me I tend to mull it over for a while...a few whys...some whats...and eventually an exploration for meaning.  The subject of wanting is difficult for me.  I have always equated it with something I am lacking.  I want bread with this soup because it is lacking by itself.  I want this move because the current location is lacking in itself.  Metaphors for every occasion.

But today I think wanting is just that - wanting.  I do not mean to discount wants.  I believe someone had a similar conversation with me once or twice...I seem to be 2 years behind. *thoughtful chuckle*  My wants are huge drivers.  I am currently changing my eating habits and they are all about wants.  So I guess waking up wanting in whatever sense is not surprising...food want or not.  So this is what I came to...

I want. And sometimes what I want is not available to me or good for me or...fill in blank.  So I simply can decide to want something else instead.  And because wanting is not about lacking something - it is just about wanting -  I do not have to feel badly about not fufilling it or feel the need to suffer over it, etc.

Sometimes I cannot have what I want - so I choose to want something else.

I want something I CAN have. Something I can feel good about having.

Grandmaster Champion BBQ at the Belted Cow

What an amazing evening.  I will give more details shortly on this Bite Club event but many thanks to Chef John Delpha of the Belted Cow and Suzanne Podheizer of 7 Days for a great event last night. The BBQ was amazing and the company smart and funny!

Here are some of the evening's highlights:

The Belted Cow - Table for 20

The Menu

A Southern Hunter's Brunch

The Chicken

The Pork Ribs - oops looks like I ate them too fast

The Pork

The Beef Brisket

more photos to come!

I Don't Like Mark Bittman

What?!?! Huh!?!?!?  That was my response to M's comment when I mentioned that I was going to make Mark Bittman's Spicy Shrimp for dinner.  I am living with an insane person.

Now Mark is not the most charismatic guy or the most handsome to look at but that man can cook.  In the space of a week, I have eaten two of his recipes and both were outstanding.  My stepmother got me into Mark with his Spicy Shrimp recipe.  It was so simple and was so fun to eat family style - I was hooked.  And then I started reading his column in the NY Times and it was ON. 

So here are the two recipes I tasted this week.  Spicy Shrimp and his Southwestern Sweet Potato Salad.  I have described my tweaks on the shrimp.  Enjoy!

Spicy Shrimp - Mark Bittman

My tweaks....up the cayenne by half a tsp if you love spicy and I add about 2 TB of butter dotted around the pan.  Serve with crusty french bread for dipping.  Use left over shrimp in a green salad with a Lime Honey Vinegarette.

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad - Mark Bittman

No more apple pie....

On September 27th, Shelburne Orchard hosted its 7th annual Pie Fest.  M and I entered two pies.  Well I made both but he supervised. LOL  We had been testing pies for over 4 weeks in preparation for the big day.

McIntosh, Pippin, Wolf, Paula Red....the list of apples goes on and on.  My dining room table was covered in apples.  I tried several kinds of crusts - All butter, butter and Crisco, butter and lard, butter and cream cheese.....butter butter butter.... The fillings were basic as the contest was a classic apple pie contest.  M kept wanting to get fancy and I think ultimately wore himself out.  For a man who does not like apples, he sure put away alot of apple pie.  The ultimate compliment I think and I thank him for his tenacity.

I had a couple of meltdowns.  Crust was not pretty enough...pie exhaustion.  But we finished at 4am the day of the contest.  Before I reveal the pics....here are my top tips.

• All butter is the way to go - though it is the most difficult crust to deal with
• Lattice tops DO count as double crust entries - we were not sure. 
• Lattice tops can hide alot of flaws
• Pyrex glass pie pans are the best - they allow for the crust to brown on the bottom
• I loved Pippin apples - firm and tasty - no falling apart in the pie
• Put sugar in your crust - no question just do it.
• Half and half wash over egg wash
• Murray River salt is awesome!

Now the pictures.....

My pie - Classic Apple Pie

M's "Pie"

The Competition

The Mother of All Pies

So the real question - did we win?  Sadly...no.  But I know my pie was up there with the best. The judges came back a few times to retaste my pie.  I need to work on my appearance...needs to be fancier.  I will post the recipes later this week.

But I am now sick of apple pie. I keep finding dough all over my kitchen and I still have a whole bowl of apples left.

Happy Autumn!

Shelburne Orchards Apple Pie Contest

I like pie.  But pie scares me.

I don't make pies.  Well, let me amend that.  I make pies but only with Pillsbury premade pie crust.  But usually I stay away from pies because I don't feel right about the cheat.  Same way I don't like cakes out of a box.

This contest challenged me to make my own crust.  M also joined in so we could do this together.  We visited the orchard yesterday to scope out the apples available and to taste their version of an apple pie.  The apple picking was lots of fun and their pie was...ok.  So we feel we have a chance.

The evening began with a dining room table piled with different apples.  M started on the filling spice mixture. He is very creative with tastes and loved mixing and then my tasting.  He didn't always love my taste "faces".  He loves ginger - I can only take ginger in moderation.

I had gathered pie crust recipes from a veteran pie maker - my step-mother and from a variety of favorite authors - Mark Bittman, America's Test Kitchen, etc.  But I admit I was intimidated.  My one and only pie crust attempt was in my early twenties and ended in disaster.  A crust that had no taste and a chocolate pudding that gushed out after the first cut.  My father and boyfriend at the time were very kind but I knew I made a mess of it.  Not to mention the 3 pounds of chicken breasts drowning in dijon mustard sauce that made us all pucker our faces.  I shudder just to think of it.

So I stood among a pile of butter, lard and Crisco waiting for the magic to begin.  The Joy of Cooking recipe required butter and Crisco. Crisco scares me, but people swear by it for crusts.  The second recipe was all butter.  The food processor is a godsend people.  Forget hand cutting - go get yourself a kitchen aid. 

Tips for a great crust:

• All fats need to be VERY VERY cold
• Use your food processor
• Watch the dough - it will tell you when it is ready
• Ice water is critical to bring it together
• Double your recipe

I rolled out the first crust and it was way to small for the double crust pie required by the contest.  So I pieced it together swearing to myself the whole time.  Oh if you don't know me...here is a unattractive flaw in my personality...

If I can't do something perfectly or close to perfect the first time I HATE DOING IT!!!!!!!

I usually can do things pretty good the first time...pie crust was not such a thing for me.  I was snippy and bitchy and exasperated.  M took a good beating like a champ and laughed at me for being a perfectionist.

I apologized.  And then the pie came out of the oven.  The crust looked good and tasted flakey and delicious.  Next time - double the recipe and voila!  I will take those 80 year grannies down. *smirk*

See M - I am close to perfect!  Lucky man.

More pies to come!

Love, Your Vermont Apple Pie Bitch - A

Green Chicken Chili - Wednesday night dinner.

My mother made this dish first and then I perfected it.  Oh I know its ON mom and I say bring it!!!!! :-)

Green Chicken Chili - serving: A nice big pot full!

 

2 large onions, chopped

 

3 TB Olive oil

 

8 medium size white potatoes, chopped into smallish cubes - think bite size

 

3 large poached or grilled chicken breasts

 

1 and a half jars of green tomatillo salsa (Frontera is a good brand but I made my own which was way easy)

 

1 /2 packet of chicken chili seasoning

 

3 cans of white beans, drained and rinsed (cannelini or kidney)

 

1 - 2 cups of of chicken stock

 

1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

• Bring a pot of water to a boil and add potatoes. When potatoes are firm but moving towards soft, drain and hold aside.
• Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add onions and saute until they are mostly clear and soft. Add chicken cubes and mix together.
• Add beans and salsa and stir.
• Add potatoes and chili seasoning.
• If chili is too thick, add small amounts of chicken stock until it is the right consistancy.
• Let simmer for about an hour but you can eat right away if you like.
• When ready to serve, add chopped cilantro and mix.

Serve with sour cream and extra cilantro. I also serve with crusty bread and Dos Equis Mexican beer.

 

Slow Food Tomato Fest 2009 - Thanks to Anonymous David!

This looks delightful.  Calling out to all my Chicago friends and family.  Please check this out!  I am so jealous.  Thanks David for pointing this out.  Maybe next year....sigh.

Slow Food Tomato Fest 2009

Too many apples....

Well it is well known that men's eyes are bigger than their stomachs. This is why I have a huge bowl of Vermont apples idling away in my largest bowl. Despite promises to consume these lovely fruits from the men of the household...the bowl remains full. So it is up to me to make this right.

In keeping with my current interest in Gluten free cooking, I give you Maple Apple Crisp.

Maple Apple Crisp - serves 8

7 tart apples, peeled, cored, sliced
4 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 TB. maple syrup
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 c. rolled oats
1/2 cup butter, room temp.

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix apples, lemon juice, vanilla and maple syrup. Toss to coat.
  
• Layer apples in a 9 x 12 inch glass pan.
  
• Combine brown sugar, cinnamon and oatmeal in bowl. Cut in butter to make pea size pieces. Sprinkle over apples.
  
• Bake 45 minutes until golden brown and crispy
  
• Serve with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream

Oh yum...cheesy bites that are REAL cheese.

I am dieting. *sigh* I said it and just as I said it - I found these. I may have to take a day off.

Shy Brothers Farm - Hannahbells

Evil evil people.

Here is the NYTimes article written by Satan to tempt me.

It worked.

A Plethora of Tomatoes

The CSA is burying us in tomatoes. I have never been a big fan of tomatoes or should I say raw tomatoes. Something about the squishy seedy texture. I avoided them for a long time. To be fair to myself, the typical tomato is a sad tasteless thing.

America has killed the tomato. *bows head*

Or so I thought....then the Heirloom varieties raised their ugly, deformed little heads. Purple...green...blood red...maroon...shaped like brains or tumors and oh so delicious.

One of my favorites salads is the Italian Insalata Panzanella. But in the past I would pick around the tomatoes and feast on the dressing coated bread. But Heirlooms have made that behavior a thing of the past.

*angels sing* Here is the recipe and this....is what I will eat ALL WEEK. Amen.

Insalata Panzanella

Salad for 2

1 Ciabatta or any dense peasant bread (probably not best with a seeded bread)
8 oz. fresh heirloom tomatoes (get a really ugly one!), chopped in chunks - not too small now
1T. red wine vinegar
fresh lemon juice
small bell pepper, sliced
1 garlic clove, peeled
1/3 red onion, sliced
Fresh basil
1/2 avocado
2T. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Rub your salad bowl with the raw garlic clove. Toss the bell pepper, the tomatoes and the red onion in the bowl. Sprinkle salt/pepper over tomatoes. Slice the avocado on top and add the basil.

Dressing - mix the vinegar, lemon juice and oil together. Add chunked bread to bowl. Pour dressing over salad. Toss and eat.

And IT'S ON!!!!!!!!

My submission for the Newman's Own summer recipe contest.

Newman’s Own Lighten Up! Italian Grilled Vegetable Salad

Serves/Makes: 6 Prep: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
8 ounces boxed couscous
2 red peppers – sliced into 1inch chunks
1 green pepper – sliced into 1 inch chunks
1 red onion - sliced into 1 inch chunks
4 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
4 ounces fresh spinach, chopped
2 teaspoons roasted minced garlic (available in your produce section by the jarred garlic) - optional
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
½ cup Newman’s Own Lighten Up! Salad Dressing
4 ounces Feta cheese, crumbled

Wooden skewers

Directions:
Prep and heat grill for vegetables.

Cook couscous according to package directions. Set aside and cool.

Toss the red and green peppers and the red onion in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and salt and pepper. Slide the vegetable chunks (kabob style) onto wood skewers. Place the skewers on a hot grill until vegetables have grill marks and are softened. Approx. 10 minutes.

Add grilled vegetables, fresh spinach, oregano, parsley, lemon juice, and the Newman’s dressing to the couscous and toss mixture. Chill salad for 1 hour.

Toss with Feta cheese before serving.

Stress.

Sometimes only a cheese pizza and cold Pepsi will do.

Gluten-Free Girl and her Blueberry Polenta Pancakes

Gluten free cooking is a bit out of the norm for me. I am all carbs all the time and going without wheat just seems - well whats the point? But I do understand that some people avoid it from an intolerance standpoint.

My friend B is not friend of gluten and came to stay for the weekend. I wanted to do my famous Sunday breakfast for her but alas my pancakes were on the NO list. So I went looking for some GF alternatives.

Gluten Free Girl is good at what she does and she does a lot of GF cooking. Here is a link to her recipe for Blueberry Polenta pancakes. A few notes:

• Very tasty - rave reviews
• Being gluten free - the cakes do not rise well. So expect a flat pancake not fluffy
• I would make a blueberry compote (recipe below) for topping instead of putting the blueberries in the batter. They tend to just be bulky and not evenly distributed due to the flatness of the pancake
• Butter is key - don't leave it out!

Alise's Blueberry Maple Compote

2 cups of fresh or frozen blue berries
1 cup Vermont maple syrup
1 TB of corn starch or King Arthur's Signature Secrets Culinary Thickener
squeeze of fresh lemon for brightness or 1tsp. almond extract

In a saucepan, heat blueberries and syrup until the berries burst. Add the thickening agent - if you are using the King Arthur product just add directly to the blueberry mixture. If you are using corn starch, dissolve in 2 tablespoons of water before adding.

Remove the pan from heat and add the lemon or the extract. Serve warm.

LUNCH!!!!

• Homemade chili with leftovers mixed in - grilled zucchini, red beans and rice and leftover steak
• Adam's Village Seed Bread with Doe's Leap goat cheese spread with garlic chives
• Watermelon chunks
• Ice tea

Last night, we picked purple beans from the CSA. Made a fresh bean salad on the fly.

Cold Lemon Purple Bean Salad

3 cups purple beans, trimmed
12 half medium red onion, sliced thin
1/2 cup feta, crumbled

Blanch the beans for 30 seconds in boiling water. You want them to stay crisp! Add the other ingredients and toss.

Lemon Vinaigrette

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in jar with lid and shake vigorously. Add to vegetable mixture and toss.

And today is a brand new day...

Just back from NYC...will have some food reviews to post. Also, its CSA day! Will post tonight.

Her Competitive Nature Comes Out

I am itching for a fight. No...a showdown...NO a Dinner Impossible episode!!!!!!! I have thought about competitively cooking for a while. Visions of me in a white apron holding that fabulous pie/cake/entree/appetizer and humbly accepting that WHOPPING check while my fellow contestants look on with seething envy.

"How does she do it? It tastes like pure heaven. Bitch.", they mumble under their breath.

Of course, I am there just for the pure joy of cooking - the money and the admiration are nothing next to the satisfaction I feel from just nourishing my fellow human beings. *sigh*

Of course those who know me are now crying BULLSHIT and they would be right. I have a mean competitive streak. Even the other night it lead me to tormenting a 12 year old after wiping up the floor with him at UNO. Hey, he was the one that started talking smack first. But I digress...

Cooking contests...I am ready to join in on the fray. I have won one contest for some Thai spiced nuts - insert Keith Carradine joke here - I will post the recipe later on. But I need more...maybe the country fair in the fall...but that is too far away. I am scouring this web site for possible options. Anyone got any they think I should go for?

The Dressing Makes All the Difference

So since receiving these lovely (though I have to admit also gritty) salad greens, it has felt a bit...um...sacriligious to put regular goopy store bought dressing on their delicate leaves. Inspired by my step mother who has a famous old Grey Poupon jar that doubles as a salad dressing maker, I make a fabulous EASY dressing for almost any type of salad.

Honey Mustard Dressing by Yours Truly (psssst...thats me)

1 TB Grey Poupon Country Dijon mustard (yes yes I have tried others including the REAL french ones and NOPE not even close)
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil
1/2 tsp. fresh chopped garlic
2 tsp. honey
pinch of salt and pepper

Now all of these measurements are subject to your personal taste. I say add all the items and then start adding more and tasting along the way. Some people like a more tart taste - more vinegar. Others - more sweet hence more honey.

If you are really fancy - blend them all in a blender for a really creamy dressing. I prefer a jam jar and the old "shake" method = less dishes to wash. I can also keep the extra in the fridge for the next day.

I encourage you to dress the salad as opposed to just pouring it over the greens and eating. Greens really don't need a lot of help to taste good. So go easy and toss the greens lightly with some dressing. Soggy leaves are nasty - even if its with this fabulous dressing.

Enjoy!

A

First PickUp from Bread and Roses

What a lovely way to close a day. I arrived just at the tail end of pick up. Here is the list of delights that I picked.

• 1/2 pd. Arugula


• 1/2 pd Mixed greens


• 3/4 pd Spinach


• Radishes
  
• Turnips


• 1 huge bunch of Choi


• Does Leap Goat Cheese


• Jerico organic eggs
  
• Garlic Chives

Last night's dinner: Adam's 7 seed bread, Does Leap goat cheese, garlic chives, Malden Smoked Salt flakes and a lovely mixed greens salad.

Maybe a roadtrip down south - y'all?

As I looked over the last few postings I noticed a trend my posts...BBQ. Here is an article from the NY Times on South Carolina BBQ. Mmmmmmm.....

Scott’s Variety Store and Bar-B-Q in Hemingway, S.C.

Oh this must be my problem!

http://consumerist.com/5285728/take-currency-symbols-off-the-menu-restaurant-patrons-spend-more

Westford Farmer's Market Opens Tomorrow!

I am so excited my town's farmers market opens tomorrow. My neighbor Mark is the local bread supplier - Mollybean Breads - named after his precocious daughter Molly. That little blond girl walked right up to my door and invited herself in. I have cats you see. :-)

Also, Bread and Roses CSA will be there. I signed up for the small share with the weekly dose of Doe's Leap Goat Cheese. Consuming more goat milk than cow's milk nowadays.

Come on out! Then off to the Burlington Farmers Market on Saturday. I am in heaven!

Westford Farmers Market - Friday 3:30pm - 6:30pm

The Quest for BBQ

I have loved BBQ since I was little. My grandmothers were from North Carolina and they made that delicious peppery-vinegar BBQ. Top it with some coleslaw on a squishy white bun and you were in heaven. My grandmothers have both passed but my mother carries on the tradition but with her own flair - gourmet buns, more hot sauce then my grandmothers would have thought proper and her own stellar coleslaw.

But as I grew older the saucy BBQ of Texas also caught me. That lovely beef with a slight carmelization and then doused with sweet and tangy sauce. Um....um...where am I? Oh yeah BBQ.

Vermont has amazing food. We do. Local...fresh...tasty. But a little lacking in spice. So when I heard of a new BBQ place in Waterbury opening up - I convinced M to take a ride. (it was really hard I tell you - "Hey want to go for BBQ?" *his eyes glazed over and he reached for the keys*.

The name of the place escaped me...I mean Waterbury ain't that big. The place proclaimed to have excellent BBQ and southern sides. We traveled to Waterbury and no luck. Thanks to M's web phone we found LocalFolk Smokehouse in Waitsfield. The place was a lovely dive for bikers. $2 dollar drafts - a bonus for M and quick service.

The menu read like a typical Smokehouse. Combo plates of ribs (pork), pulled pork, BBQ chicken. Sides - mac and cheese, baked beans, slaw. The decor was very divish and rustic - as they should be though my chair was a bit rickety and seeing as I was about to consume large amounts of BBQ made me nervous.

We started with grilled andouille sausage. M is a big sausage fan and for me it is a guilty pleasure after reading Upton Sinclair's The Jungle one too many times. "How many workers lost fingers in the making of this sausage?" The sausage was ok but I wanted more spice in mine. So - Grade C.

We ordered the Pork Ribs and the Pulled pork with Mac and Cheese, Baked Beans and Slaw. I missing one side and maybe M will help me out. Can we hear the WAWAHHHHH please?

No carmelization on the ribs or the pulled. The sauce was ok - tangy like I like it. But the ribs were tough not fall of the bone as is expected. The pulled pork was the better part of the meal but still lacked those lovely crispy bits. The side were poor. Greasy mac and cheese, so so baked beans, slaw that had NO seasoning - the cardinal sin!

We left disappointed. Good dive bar for a good beer and fun location but skip the food.

Luckily I found the name of the bbq place in Waterbury - Cider House BBQ. Stay tuned for Thrusday night's bbq adventure.

On the menu at home tonight - stuffed chicken breasts with goat cheese, baby spinach, sun dried tomatoes over salad greens.

A

The Dead Have Arisen!

And they have risen in Burlington, Vermont. Hi all....its been a while. But I am ready to start blogging again.

I won't go over the last 6 months in detail. The bare facts are...I live in Westford, Vermont in a beautiful, cute saltbox house in the woods. I have a newly planted herb garden and I am now starting to cook regularly.

So we are off....tonight since there is a dearth of good Mexican food I will be attempting healthy chicken enchiladas!

Wish me luck... A