Strange things are poking out of the ground

It's that time of year where every day brings a new surprise from nature. What was brown and dry yesterday urns to green grass overnight. The plain soil suddenly has something green and fragrant popping out of it, and you start hearing Tiny Tim playing in your head, inviting you to do things that the neighbors would probably disapprove of. Tiptoe-ing through any flour bed is generally a bad thing for the plants ! At the supermarket , crops of seasonal veggies start appearing. One of my favs this time is Asparagus ! It is a nutritional good guy, inspiration for many dishes, and reminds us that everything in nature looks weird at some point in it's development. When asparagus is fully grown, it's a gigantic fern like shurb, but at the stage where we eat it, it can resemble a dinosaur like plant waiting to happen, or.....

Canned asparagus is a crime against nature. Frozen asparagus is somewhat better , but still too mushy for my tastes. I like to eat it where it is , what my father termed as, scared. Exposed to just enough heat to begin to break down the cellular walls of the plant. Blanching ) placing in boiling water for a moment and then plunging into ice water) is an excellent way to do this. This recipe has you preforming this exact form of cullinary art.

Sesame Asparagus Salad

1 bunch asparagus, trimmed (thin is better)
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon honey

Trim the woody ends off of your asparagus and then cut into roughly one inch pieces

 Fill a saucepan with water and bring to a boil, and get a bowl and fill it with very cold water. When the water boils, drop the asparagus sections in and boil for 1 minute- no more ! Remove immediately and place in the ice cold water- this stops the cooking process. Your asparagus should look vibrant green

Next, assemble your dressing ingredients

In a small bowl, measure the dressing ingredients and whisk to combine. Pour over the asparagus and refrigerate for 2 hrs.

Simple as that ! While your dish chills, you will be free to entertain temptations placed inb your head by Tiny Tim. It's spring after all and tulips will not be around forever !

So the snakes found you and whacked you with a Shillelagh

Yesterday was a busy day, and there was little opportunity to blog. It happens to us all ! Sadly it was not something fun like attending various St Pat's day celebrations. Those sorts of days are a thing of my past. The events were fun, but the morning after was not so much fun .One of the reasons  is that the alcohol had a long time to enter into my system without anything in my stomach to absorb all of those beers, shots, etc and slow the delivery to my bloodstream down. The other day I was reminded of this fact when I was watching something on Cooking Channel and watched a chef create a kind of end of the night dish. She called it something to stem off the midnight munchies, but I remembered the combo if fat, starch and protein would work very well to have a less painful morning after a night of indulgence with abandon. I do not have a name for it, but I can say this version is pretty yummy and fairly easy to make.

Late night Fries, eggs and Cheese

Handful of french fries( I made mine from scratch with a frier, but frozen in the oven may be safer)
handful shredded cheese ( mozzarella here)
2 eggs, sunny side up

Cook the fries and place in a bowl. While still warm , top with cheese. Fry two eggs, season and slide on top.

Keep in mind, this is not haute cuisine, nor is it necessarily diet food. It is simply comfort type grub that hill make for a morning with less whacks to the head from those snakes that St Pat drove out of Ireland. Snakes carrying rocks. Doing Irish Step Dancing. On your head. And in the meantime, I offer you this hangover blessing:

 Hangover Blessing
May the road stop rising to smack you,
 may the wind stop trying to take off the top of your head
the sun be gentle and stop frying your eyes
the rain stop being such a banging , banging drum
and until we meet again
May God turn the volume down in your head.

Pound cake and pounds

I get awe-struck by certain things in food history. When I think about the first person who looked at a leaf of something and decided it was good to eat, I wonder at the courage and ingenuity that it took. Then I think about the first person who discovered how to get milk from cow and I think some of those leaves might have done something to the person's logic or courage. It's fascinating to think about. Then one day man discovered that food taste better when cooked, and about a week later he discovered the baked good. Well, slightly later than that. In the 12th or 13th century he started adding fruits to batter and a sweet treat was born. These were baked in less than reliable cooking devices until sometime in the late 1600's when the oven was born. By the mid 1700's the cake as we know it was born, and from that time period comes one of the most versatile, long keeping, delicious creations still around today- the pound cake. It can have changes in flavor, turned into peti fours, turned into strawberry shortcake, sandwiched with ice cream and so much more. A pound cake made from scratch will keep for about 3 weeks where it will happily serve you as a snack, dessert and springboard for some fun creation.

Pound cake is incredibly easy to make. Grab some loaf pans, your ingredients, mix and bake. Originally it was created  using a pound of flour, sugar, butter and eggs. Those measurements were based on the concept that "a pint is a pound the world round"- hence the name pound cake. The actual measurements used today are based on volume and not weight . Leavening agents are also used now to create a more consistent, lighter product.

Perfect pound cake

2 cups butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6 eggs
3 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder

preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until fluffy. Add the vanilla extract. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds with each. Divide the batter between two pans. Smooth top with rubber spatula. Bake 60 to 65 min. Loosen with a knife, and flipped onto a cooling rack.

Think eating pound cake, pasta, sugar, meat, fat, etc will pack on your own pounds ? If you eat any of these without any consideration to your appetite ( meaning eat a cake a day or such) you will gain weight. If you eat according to your appetite, your weight will move to what is normal for your body based on genetic information and many other things. It is proving true for myself and my family. We stopped dieting, stopped exercising, ate real food and the weight is coming off . No guilt, no angst, no effort. No scale either- our clothes are proving to be the indicator. Hubby has dropped 2 pants sizes, son dropped on size and I have dropped 2 underwear sizes ( I rarely buy clothes because my needs are not that great these days. No need for the latest steampunk fashions to go grocery shopping or so forth). But...but...what about cutting out fat ? Cutting carbs ? Calories ? Truth is, the human body NEEDS all food groups ( unless there is an allergy , sensitivity or such). The metabolic system requires things like sugar in order to work at a level where the body temperature is at 98.6 or higher in order to process nutrients properly. Read Matt Stone's blog for some mind blowing thoughts on all that we have been told about losing weight, health and more.

So what exactly does make us fat ? Many things. But for most people , I believe it is a heavy reliance on food made with substances used to create a consistent taste, texture, and satiation. In nature , the taste, texture and aroma of anything it produces will vary from geographic location, soil conditions, rainfall and a million other things. So how exactly does something like a bottle of  Heinz Katsup taste the same today as the bottle you opened a year ago in another state and will be the same taste of the one you open next year on another continent ? The answer is chemical additives, often labeled as natural flavorings. It is the very thing that makes brand recognition  possible. Every box of Cheerios, every package of Arnolds Thins, every pack of Tyson chicken breast owes it's success to chemicals. And I believe it is those very chemicals that interrupt our metabolic system in some fashion that has cause the obesity epidemic. Sorry Clark Griswold, it is not better living through chemistry. It is fatter living through chemistry. I believe that the only way to obtain a normal body weight is to eat according to your appetite ( that is what it was created for- not something to make you feel guilty for having one) and eating food that comes as close to what nature produced. If you add something to it, make sure it is something you cold produce in your own kitchen (you can squeeze olives and churn butter from milk- you cannot extract oil from corn, soybeans or rapeseed , nor make anything a vibrant green color). You will have to take time and effort to prepare the things you put in your body, plain and simple. Kick out Betty Crocker, Campbells, Heinz, Hidden Valley and so on from your cooking, and in turn you will be kicking out the pounds. In the process you might discover that, like bathtub hooch made with rubbing alcohol in The 20's , the invention of process foods was equally as harmful to the body. While bathtub hooch made people blind pretty quick, the packaged food products have blinded us in a different way , and perhaps it is only now that we re beginning to see how that is harming us.

In 1492, the first step was made to producing Colcannon

St Patrick's day is coming up. The wearing of the green , the drinking till you are green ( for many) and a lot of potato recipes. For some reason, many people think that the potato is the product of Ireland. It isn't. The potato was originally grown in South and Central America and brought back to Europe by good ole Christopher Columbus. Same is true with the tomato and corn. Consider that fact for a moment- before 1501, no one in Ireland had ever heard of a potato, let alone farm one or eat one. And no one in Italy had ever seen a tomato or corn, let alone grown or cooked one. Thus ends the historical pizza and polenta quest.  While the Irish embraced the potato as a way of heading off starvation ( and ultimately being brought to starvation because of it), the French did not accept it. I think they were too busy playing with ducks.The Italians, who quickly lost the belief that the tomato and potato were poisonous,  busied themselves with learning how to prepare these items.

While many have no problem seeing potatoes in Irish and English food ( Corned Beef and Cabbage is an  English dish), people have problems thinking of potatoes in Italian dishes. I think it is because of our American concept of what Italian food is , or should be. Italians had a longer growing season than the Irish, less rocky soil and no political reasons for small farms . As a result had a lot more potatoes to play with as well as more ingredients to combine them with. The result was a more flavorful dish. Potatoes even wound up in a form of pasta called Gnocchi. This tasty little cross between a pasta and a dumpling makes for a tasty comfort food option, to be sure !

Gnocchi with garlic and sage butter

2 12 oz packages potato gnocchi

¼ c butter

1 clove garlic, de-germed and minced

10 leaves fresh sage , chopped

¼ t salt

¼ t pepper

¼ c grated Parmesan cheese plus 2 T for sprinkling

Bring large pot of water to he boil . Add gnocchi and cook until they float to the surface. Drain. Melt butter in a skillet, and add garlic. Cook till golden , then add sage, salt and pepper, toss a minute, add cooked gnocchi, toss and add ¼ cup cheese. Toss. Sprinkle with remaining 2 T cheese and serve.

Now my mind  is contemplating the awesome possibilities of a slow roasted lamb breast served over gnocchi , or something like that. Fusion flavor- like so many of us Americans with roots tracing back to unlikely sounding cultural combinations . It could happen.

Guerre is still War

Words are powerful things. If you say the word Christmas, people are instantly drawn to thoughts of family, festivities and all that those things have proven to be in their experience. You say the word hate, and it evokes a very different feeling. Then everything changes if you speak the same word in a different tongue. Haine does not sound so ugly and Noel sounds more romantic. With this in mind, consider the following :

Alouette, gentille Alouette
       ( Lark, nice lark)
Alouette, je te plumerai
       ( Lark, I shall pluck you)
    Je te plumerai la tête
        (I shall pluck your head)
    Je te plumerai la tête
        (I shall pluck your head)
    Et la tête
        (And your head)
    Et la tête
        (And your head)
    Alouette
       ( Lark)
    Alouette
        (Lark)
   O-o-o-oh 

Still think of it as a cute French children's song ? It is a work song used by the Voyagers. Still want to shop at Target and worry about those colorful Mimes jumping out from anywhere ? Plucking larks (and other birds ) indeed !

Sadly, I must admit that I have a rather strong French ancestry , and thoughts of that song and sights of these visitor at my patio make me think of one thing- chicken dinner ! But not simply tossing a chicken in the oven. Something , as Paula Deen would say  "is better than it's mamma knew it" . This Pollo alla Olive fits the bill !

Pollo alle Olive

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 pinwheel chicken parts ( legs and thighs)
salt/pepper
3/4 chicken stock
4 cloves garlic, de germed and chopped
14.5 ounces canned cherry tomatoes – chopped
4 fresh sage leaves – chopped
1/2 cup Pitted Black Olives – halved

1. Pour olive oil into a deep sided skillet. Heat over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add chicken {skin side down} . Season with salt and pepper. Cook until chicken is browned on all sides. Turning as necessary. When browned, transfer chicken to a plate.
2. Add chicken stock to hot pan. Allow to evaporate to half volume. Add garlic, tomatoes and sage and pepper. Stir to combine. Cook for 3-4 minutes until mixture is warmed through. Return chicken to pan. Cover and allow to cook until sauce has thickened and chicken is cooked through. Approximately 20-30 minutes. Add olives, add salt to taste.

The lies Popeye spread

Back in the day ( the day incidentally is any time frame of the past that you neglect to attach a specific date to out of forgetfulness or desire to distance yourself from the fact that you might be older than dirt) mom's wanted kids to be strong. Perhaps it was so they could involve them in a great number of household chores like cleaning out the basement, mowing the lawn or milking goats who would eat the lawn. Then again it might have been the desire to have children strong enough to grab onto tree limbs and not be blown away when the strong winds blew. Strong winds must have presented quite a danger because most "peasant foods" of the past seemed to be designed to add ballast to the body, as if it needed an aid to stay put through sustained high winds. Peasant food today is a whole different thing. No one was ever given strength and ballast through ramen or blue box mac and cheese. Just cardiac problems and a waist size that will make it unlikely to pass through most doors..

Being strong was so important in the past that the youth of America was exposed to propaganda by this guy

His bulging biceps saved the day time and again, and they were obtained by the copious consumption of spinach. Caned spinach. That green, slimy substance of childhood horror. Often times it was put on the plate, stared at, pushed around with the fork and finally consumption was encouraged with a promise that it would make us strong like the a fore mentioned sailor. What mothers didn't know was that 1. there were better ways to serve spinach and 2. strength was not the only thing gained through eating spinach. Turns out that spinach is a powerful aid in fighting off inflammation, the mortal enemy of the body. Inflammation is a crippling factor with things like Arthritis, but it is also a major factor in heart disease. Compounds in spinach help us to fight off the inflammation response as well as increase our levels of protection against cancers of the Prostate, Ovaries, Lungs and more. It indeed makes us strong, but not in the way mother suggested.

One of the nicest ways to eat spinach is in salad form. Many a recipe has gone around for Wilted Spinach salad featuring a sweet sour dressing with bacon fat. Good eats, but I admit a degree of laziness with salads- I want them now when I want them, and the ingredients have to be low prep time.I like to make a spinach/sliced strawberry salad, but I LOVE to combine spinach with fresh blueberries !

wash, toss together and dress. This year I have determined that I will not buy ready made dressings again because of their factory fats and dubious ingredients ( aka natural flavorings), so this salad was the perfect time to make a yummy dressing from scratch. If sweet and sour dressing combos work on these salads, then similar items in that flavor pallet would work as well. Here is what I used

Maple Balsamic Vinegrette

1/2 c balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup REAL maple syrup( anything less is simply high fructose corn syrup and more sugars with flavoring)
2 t Dijon type mustard
1 c high quality extra virgin olive oil ( I prefer Sicillian olives for their flavor)
salt and pepper to taste

Combine the ingredients in a bowl and whisk till slightly thickened (emulsified)

This dressing will be thinner than bottled varieties, but guess what ? Dressing is supposed to be a light shower on the salad and not an electric blanket. Dressing is meant to enhance the flavors of the salad-not disguise them so you can pass off disliked ingredients to the unsuspecting.It's a vinaigrette - not hot fudge after all !

To make the dressing took all of 5 minutes out of my life, and most of that time was devoted to gathering ingredients. The taste was better than any bottled stuff. And perhaps it was because of all of the cans of spinach consumed in the past with my mother's wishes for a strong child, but the whisking didn't hurt my arms a bit !

Birds or beans ?

The weather here is finally starting to feel spring-like, and nature is responding. You can see tulips and daffodils poking through their beds like little green thumbs up signs of approval. Trees are beginning to show the first nubs of flowering buds, and several new species of birds can be spotted . Birds have been one "thing" that my husband and I share an appreciation of. Birds, as a matter of fact , seem to appear or play a part of interesting moments of my like. Listening to the mournful sound of loons on family vacations and feeling a deep soul level comfort for some reason ( I now understand the why - not important). The hysterical fear/comedy on  the occasions that sparrows would fly down the furnace vents and suddenly appear in our house (and the pandemonium that was created in attempt to get them out and not "kill"us). Yes- birds will crack open your skull, suck out your brains and gouge out your eyes. Thank you Alfred Hitchcock for that mental image. Spending several peaceful afternoons watching hummingbirds with my husband ,basking in the knowledge that I was once again pregnant and this one was going to go the distance so to speak. Years later, waking to the sound of birds with my husband next to me, making weird jokes about "the noisy, pointy birds"who were not feeling content with our plans to lay there "just a little longer", and voicing a strong opinion about it. 

For the first time, we have an actual patio, and through the winter I have been tossing birdseed out , simply because I took a scene in Mary Poppins to close to heart as a child ( "feed the birds, tuppence a bag"). In return, the geese, ducks and sparrows have provided non stop entertainment . This is a very good thing because most TV these days has no appeal to us, and the birds provide instant inspiration for homeschool lessons.Over the past week new species have begun to appear, and the show is becoming more interesting. Over the weekend we began window shopping for patio furniture  , discussing possibilities for the space ( I want to grow some herbs and greens) , and a better system of feeding the birds. I sat contemplating, and wondering if I might have to choose between birds or beans.

Green beans that is. While many people think green beans are okay or must be covered in a cream sauce and topped with french onions, we have discovered a new  to us way of eating and loving them, and they can work hot or cold. There is an Italian name for these, but I cannot remember what it is. Let's just call it Green Beans with Basil and tomatoes

Green Beans with Basil and Cherry tomatoes

1-2 lbs of fresh green beans

1 pint grape tomatoes

8 leaves of basil, cut in ribbons

4 cloves of garlic, de-germed and chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup butter (NOT margarine, real butter)

salt and pepper to taste

Get a 3 quart pot and fill it with water. Bring it to a boil while you work and assemble a large bowl with ice water and something to strain beans out of. Then get a dutch oven and begin to heat it.Wash your green beans and pick through any that look not so great.

 Line them up so one side is even and cut off the end that has a stick/stem

then cut into bite sized sections

Keep doing this until you get em all done. I find putting on some music or a TV show makes the work go faster. Meanwhile, get a pint of those grape tomatoes

and slice those babies in half. Yes, time consuming, but let the lyrics of The Ting Tings or Elvis take you away as you work. Or listen to the sounds of the birds ! Next, grab some fresh basil

spend some quality time sniffing  and wondering if you can grow  it this big and beautiful with your low light situation. Snap off about 10 leaves, roll and cut into ribbons ( a chiffonad)

Let the aroma take you away- it really does ! Next , grab a head of fresh garlic,

 break it open to release the cloves, peel , de-germ and chop.
You will have everything ready , and the process goes quickly from here. Place some salt in your boiling water . Place the olive oil in the heated dutch oven. Place the beans in the water for one minute and toss the garlic into the oil and start to sweat. Remove the green beans from the boiling water after a minute and place in the ice water to shock. This keeps them bright green and pretty. Next add your tomatoes to the dutch oven, smashing them slightly to help release the juice. Add salt to taste. When the tomatoes are sweated and partially broken down, drain the beans and add to the tomatoes. Cook for about 5 minutes, adding a spoonful of the bean cooking water if it gets too dry. Add in the fresh basil, toss and serve .

This one is good warm or cold. And as to the beans, my son and I grew them indoors one year as a homeschool science project, and got enough beans to snack on one day. I cannot help but be curious as to how many beans I could grow on the patio, and how much the birds and squirrels might molest them in their visits to our low brow avian cafe ? Birds or beans- I am going to have to think about this one.