For the Love of Bees – in urban Chicago

I used to work with this very cool graphic designer. She left our office last spring and I knew she was destined for great things. She and some girl friends started Quite Strong ”Creatives of the female variety” and more recently, after time spent in Eugene learning hands on bee keeping skills, she created Bike-a-Bee. SO here’s the skinny – she’s planning on setting up hives in urban farms and gardens all over the city as a community project and will tend them all via her trusty bike. She used to ride to our corporate office in the ‘burbs from the city well before it was the rage and I admired her for that. Being a lover of anything related to nature and near and dear to my heart is the bounty we nourish ourselves with, I understand how key bees are to the success of sustaining crop growth. We’d be lost without them. A friend, Randy, keeps several hives in Vermont and has gifted me with jars of honey worth their weight in gold for all the love he puts into them. And I’ve been known to bring back obscure varieties of honey from Gargano, Italy where agumi (citrus), eucalyptus and lavender are among my favorites. Below is a link to an article published today on Huffington Post that explains it all in Jana’s words. Be sure to read it and watch the video of Jana being Jana. And if you feel drawn to this as I am, donate a little something via the Kickstarter link below. We all need bees and I know Jana is going to be Queen Bee of Chicago one day soon.

Link to Huffington Post Article and Video.

Link to Kickstarter Bike-a-Bee where you can make a donation to help out Jana and her bees.

Molasses Gingersnaps

With no brown sugar in the house and a bowl full of butter and white sugar already creamed I had to switch gears for the cookies I was baking tonight. Since Sam and Michael were little boys, I’ve baked them cookies every year for their birthdays, just a fun little tradition and I didn’t want to end it for lack of brown sugar and I did not want to go back to the store. So to the internet I went and found this recipe…I had all the ingredients and I could top them with the amazing ginger nibs I purchased at The Spice House this weekend. I used butter instead of shortening because that was already in the mixing bowl. They went together easily and required no chilling time, a bonus. I’d concur with all the people who rated this recipe with 5 stars.

Molasses Gingersnaps

Ingredients

yields about 4 dozen cookies

• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup shortening
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup dark molasses
• 1/3 cup cinnamon sugar

 

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir the mixture to blend evenly, and sift a second time into another bowl. Place the shortening into a mixing bowl and beat until creamy. Gradually beat in the white sugar. Beat in the egg, and dark molasses. Sift 1/3 of the flour mixture into the shortening mixture; stir to thoroughly blend. Sift in the remaining flour mixture, and mix together until a soft dough forms. Pinch off small amounts of dough and roll into 1 inch diameter balls between your hands. Roll each ball in cinnamon sugar, and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Top with a ginger nib. Bake in preheated oven until the tops are rounded and slightly cracked, about 10 minutes. Cool cookies on a wire rack. Store in an air tight container.

Batter will be thick, roll in 1 inch diameter balls

Roll in cinnamon sugar and top with a ginger nib

Space 2″ apart on cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, do not overbake.

Applesauce

I started making applesauce when we lived in Italy and there was no such thing on the grocery shelves. It was the start of a fragrant and cozy Fall tradition in our house. Every year around Thanksgiving, as the apples picked in September are not as crisp as they were fresh off the tree, I usually make our first batch. This year, weekends were busier than usual and we didn’t make it to the orchard so I bought several trays of not perfect apples from my favorite neighborhood market. There is a perk to American shoppers wanting only fruit in pristine condition, no marks, no bruises and that is being able to get 8 or 9 less-than-perfect apples for 99 cents. Can’t shake a stick at that. So home I went with my two dollars worth of apples that ended up making over 2 quarts of homemade sauce. I add a little cinnamon, salt, vanilla and brown sugar, the rest is the great flavor comes from the apples themselves. You can use any apples you’d like but I like a mixture of granny smith, gala, honey crisp and golden delicious Leave it chunky with pieces of cooked peel or pass it through a food mill to make it smooth. We eat it warm and cold, for dessert alone or with vanilla ice cream and ginger snaps or with pork chops or roast. Store bought apple sauce may be a thing of the past once you try making this and see how easy it is.

Applesauce

makes about 2 quarts

• 16 apples  washed, cored and cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tsp. ground Saigon Cinnamon
• pinch of ground clove
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Method: wash apples. Quarter, core and cut into chunks. Put 1/4 cup water into large pot, add apple pieces, cinnamon, brown sugar, vanilla and salt. Cover and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally until apples are soft, about 30 minutes. For smooth consistency pass through medium sieve of food mill. For chunky consistency, serve as is with peels intact. I use good quality cinnamon such as organic Vietnamese or “Saigon” Cassia Cinnamon and pure Madagascar double strength vanilla extract from The Spice House. 

Wash apples, cut in quarters, core and chop into pieces 

Cook in a large pot with cinnamon, cloves, brown sugar, salt and vanilla 

Pass through a medium sieve of a food mill for a smooth texture.

Enjoy hot or cold. Freezes great too.

Cranberry Horseradish Relish

I still have the scrap of paper on which I scrawled this recipe while at a stop light some 10 years ago. My radio was tuned to NPR and Susan Stamberg was sharing her mother-in-law’s much  sought after recipe. It is easily enough found on-line but I’d like to share it with you and give testimony that while most will turn their noses up, questioning your presenting the Pepto Bismol colored mush at the table, once they taste it they’ll have one more thing to be thankful for.

Mama Stamberg’s Cranberry Relish

• 2 cups whole raw cranberries, washed
• 1 small onion
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons horseradish from a jar (“red is a bit milder than white”)

Grind the raw berries and onion together. (“I use an old-fashioned meat grinder,” says Stamberg. “I’m sure there’s a setting on the food processor that will give you a chunky grind — not a puree.”) Add everything else and mix. Put in a plastic container and freeze. Early Thanksgiving morning, move it from freezer to refrigerator compartment to thaw. (“It should still have some little icy slivers left.”) The relish will be thick, creamy, and shocking pink. (“OK, Pepto Bismol pink. It has a tangy taste that cuts through and perks up the turkey and gravy. It’s also good on next-day turkey sandwiches, and with roast beef.”)

***I found that puréeing all the ingredients in a food processor works just fine making  less dishes to wash. Also, it tends to melt and get a little soupy so put it in bowl, not a plate or you’ll have a mess.

Braised Red Cabbage

A co-worker shared this recipe with me years ago and I whipped it out for last night’s “Friendsgiving” with The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pans. For a great recap of the entire meal check out Mara’s blog post). Color on a dinner plate is key and traditional Thanksgiving fare of turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing and creamed onions are all shades of brown. Luckily, these gals, with whom I share the love of food, cooking, wine and dishing about it are far from traditional so our plates were as colorful as the conversation around the table. We feasted on cranberry, pecan and orange stuffed buttercup squash, fresh green bean casserole topped with carmelized onions and mushrooms, delicate squash spätzle with ricotta and Parmesan, an eggy bake with leeks and other savouries, a gorgeous salt and whiskey brined turkey and divine apple, sausage stuffing cooked to perfection. My contributions of this  braised cabbage, apples and red onions and cranberry-onion-horseradish “ relish” added a spash of pinky purple to the plates and received their share of thumbs up from these gourmands, I’m sure they’ll be a hit on your holiday table too.

While this recipe uses the reverse steps technically known in braising, it does employ both moist and dry heat. The following exerpt I found online explains braising well. “Most braises follow the same basic steps. The food to be braised (meat, poultry, but also vegetables or mushrooms) is first seared to brown its surface and enhance its flavor (through a process known as the Maillard reaction). If the food will not produce enough liquid of its own, a small amount of cooking liquid that often includes an acidic element, such as tomatoes, beer, or wine, is added to the pot, often with stock. The dish is cooked covered at a very low simmer until the meat is fork tender. Often the cooking liquid is finished to create a sauce or gravy. Sometimes foods with high water content (particularly vegetables) can be cooked in their own juices and no extra liquid is required. A successful braise intermingles the flavors of the foods being cooked and the cooking liquid.”

 Braised Red Cabbage

Serves 6

15 minutes prep and assembly. 1  1/2 hours baking time

• 1 small red cabbage (about 2 pounds), quartered, cored and thinly sliced
• 2 medium red onions, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 tart apples, peeled, cored, halved and thinly sliced
• 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons cold butter cut in small pieces
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Thinly slice cabbage, onion and apple. Place 1/4 of the cabbage in bottom of oven proof casserole, season with salt and pepper; top with 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 1/3 of apples and 1/3 onions. Continue to layer cabbage, sugar, apples and onion; end with layer of cabbage. Top with pieces of butter and drizzle vinegar over all. Cover and bake for 1 hour. Remove cover and continue baking until cabbage is tender and liquid has evaporated (about 30 minutes).

Unforgettable Umami @ Next

Tastebuds work, moving from sweet and salty toward the front of the tongue onto sour and bitter towards the back.  Those are the 4 tastes most of us learned about while growing up. The fifth taste, umami,  Japanese for  ”pleasant savory taste”  or umai (うまい) “delicious” and mi (味) “taste” was coined in 1985 at the first Umami International Symposium in Hawaii. Thank goodness for the Japanese and for the masterminded team of Grant Achatz and Dave Beran who created two unforgettable and unique recreations of classic Midwestern taste memorabilia for Childhood, the third themed dinner in the restaurant Next’s ever-changing repertoire. I’d had the good fortune to dine there for the Tour of Thailand dinner and knew I wanted to go back, regardless of the theme. So when the phone rang saying “we got a four top for tonight at 9:45, can you join us?” I knew I had to go and I’m so glad I did. Mind you our Thai dinner started at 5:30, a bit on the early side, but when we left a little before 9 I said “I could never do this with a late reservation”. Never say never…and thanks to an espresso at “dinner time” I was just fine. We were seated at 9:45 and wowed for the next 3 hours. One course after another of mind-blowing creativity, whimsy and fun that escapes most adults after adolescence. My dining companions were exceptional – and we had as much fun as 4 kids on a playground (or carnival or beach or woods). We were walked through plates that beckoned back to our youth. Duncan grew up in England so we had to do some ‘splanin’ since the concept of PB&J is strictly American as is mac ‘n cheese and even chicken noodle soup. We also had flashbacks to Mickey d’s, a small town bakery, the school cafeteria and the comfort of our own homes after a cold day of building snow forts. Every bite was a party in my mouth and the beverage parings were spot on. What, upon first sip, tasted like a very mineral heavy wine melded into a slow dance when accompanied by a nibble of ‘oreo’ from a ziplock bag. Which brings me back to umami. I’d started this post awhile back having purchased a tube of #5 umami paste, that’s when I did a little research on the origin of the word and concept of a fifth taste sense but needed to come up with a good recipe to showcase it. Schazam,  these two creations from ‘Childhood’ shouted umami to me.  While both had sweet elements, the flavor profiles of truffles and foie gras are quintessential umami and one’s I’ll put in my scrapbook memory bank. Thank you Melinda, Duncan and Liz for skipping, running and laughing through an unforgettable evening at Next.

Black Truffle and chocolate ‘oreo cookie’ with white truffle cream center, taken from a ziplock snack bag, just one treat in my Strawberry Shortcase lunch box.

Apple cider doughnuts with foie-sting (foie gras frosting)

Licking the beaters was encouraged, just like at home and the foie-sting was just as good that way as it was on the apple cider donut hole

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Since people have asked for details on the full-blown meal, I’ve posted photos of the other dishes from ‘childhood’ as a video on YouTube. Click on this link . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdH4aRa4gLM