This week’s box:
Basil, beets w greens, salad mix, cucumber, red potatoes, summer squash, green beans, chard, red onions.
We had the potatoes with chicken and green beans last night. I think I’m going to make a big pot of soup topped with pesto. That should take care of most of this at once.
My friend and erstwhile-writing-group member Judith Yates Borger kindly sent me a copy of her first novel, Where’s Billie, a mystery set in the Twin Cities, Minnesota. Full disclaimer: I’m not going to have anything like objectivity on this book. I saw it through several drafts, and have a great deal of affection for it.
That said, this is a very good book. At the center of the mystery is newspaper reporter Marguerite “Skeeter” Hughes. As a running joke through the novel, she routinely deflects people’s questions about her nickname. Skeeter is given the dud assignment of responding to an anxious mother’s report of a missing teenage girl named Billie. She soon finds there’s a great deal more than a sullen teen run away from an unhappy home. As she puts together her story, Skeeter fills us in on both newspaper and Minnesota cultures. This was a hoot to read–as a non-native, I sometimes laughed, sometimes felt abashed at the spot-on characterizations. In pursuit of Billie, Skeeter also struggles to care for her two daughters, play phone-tag with her husband, and maintain some kind of objectivity as the story hits closer and closer to home. She is shot at, her car is bombed, young girls are being lured into danger, and there’s meth and a connection to the mayor thrown in for good measure.
Borger is a retired journalist, and this background stands her in good stead. The story unfolds easily and quickly in straightforward prose. Skeeter has a dry sense of humor, as well as good insight into her struggles to balance work and home. In the end, the main mystery wraps up satisfactorily, if not neatly–read it and you’ll see what I mean. For Skeeter, though, things aren’t so Minnesota nice; there were a few things, one of them major, that I didn’t see coming.
Where’s Billie has a lot to offer–a solidly plotted mystery, an engaging main character who could easily helm her own series, ethnographic insights into journalism and Minnesota, a nefarious bad guy and a complex yet satisfying ending. It’s good stuff. I recommend it and look forward to a sequel.
On the bus to 5yo Drake’s swim lesson, I’m irritated by the cell-phone conversation of a person behind me. I turn around.
It’s a Buddhist monk.
What’s more ironic? That I’m irritated by a monk, or that a monk is having a cell-phone conversation on a bus?
For those in the NE ‘hood, the converted church building on the NE corner at 26th and Taylor Streets NE is now a monastery, with three Tibetan monks in residence. The house has been repainted traditional Buddhist colors of gold and red, there is a Direct TV satellite on the roof, and I’ve heard talk about an open house this Friday, 24 July 2009, at 5 p.m.
Last Thursday’s CSA box (week 6) from Foxtail Farm included kale, zucchini and yellow squash, green beans, purple onions, cauliflower, carrots, salad greens, and THREE bulbs of fennel. Here are some of the things I found to use them in:
Roasted Cauliflower Popcorn disappeared so fast I didn’t get a picture
Carrot, Dill, (Fennel) and White Bean Salad
All are from 101 Cookbooks.
Outside of the (CSA) box, my husband G. Grod made Philly soft pretzels;
They were a hit, so they’re sure to be on the menu come Eagles season.
I bought a pound of Door County cherries,
we ate them all.
Then I bought ANOTHER pound, and I made Cherry Brown Butter Bars from Smitten Kitchen.
They vanished in less than 24 hours.
My CSA is a half box of produce every week. Week four had a lot, and I wasn’t finished when the new box arrived, which left me feeling a little stressed. But with a batch of tabbouleh and some cucumber-yogurt soup, I dispatched the last of the previous week in order to face the new kids:
Cauliflower, scallions, snap peas, cabbage, garlic scapes, broccoli, cucumber, lettuce, green beans, yellow squash, and beets with greens.
First up was Braised Tofu and Peas in Curried Coconut Milk from Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian that used cauliflower, scallions, snap peas, cabbage and garlic scapes. Not only did it use five things, but it was delicious and pretty to look at. And the fry bread we made to go with it was pretty tasty, too. (Added later: Fry bread DOES NOT KEEP. It turns hard and yucky. Eat immediately, then throw out any leftovers. Another lesson learned.)
For the salad mix and cucumber, I went with Food Matter’s Thai beef salad and Super Natural Cooking’s shredded green beans,an easy, different way to prepare that staple.
On Sunday, though, I hit a wall. I couldn’t face making a stir fry using the broccoli, beets and greens. So we went to Black Sheep Coal-Fired Pizza. It was awesome.
That break left me ready for the stir fry. I peeled and grated the beets, so my hands looked like Lady MacBeth’s. The pan was a lovely contrast of red, orange, green and yellow (the latter only because the broccoli was beginning to turn, though)
before the beets turned everything red. Alas, it is their nature. As I expected, the kids wouldn’t touch the veggies (alas, it is their nature), and my husband G. Grod and I ate it because it was good for us and tasted OK. Thankfully there’s not too much left over, unlike last week’s barley with asparagus and green onion sauce, which is the thing that won’t leave.
Tomorrow I’ll make Super Natural Cooking’s Otsu, a soba noodle dish with cucumber and tofu, then that book’s Sushi Bowl to finish out the week and (I hope) this week’s batch before the next arrives on Thursday. I still don’t know what to do with the yellow squash; I’ll probably throw it in the sushi bowl.
My self satisfaction about being a thrifty home-economist locavore is waning, and we’re not even yet at the height of summer. The break for pizza helped, but I’ve got to keep my veggie mojo going or I’m going to be buried in greens.
And because I forgot to post it, here’s a shot of last week’s Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Pesto, from SNC. I know, I need to work on my food photography.
This week, our box of veggies from Foxtail Farm included the following: broccoli, cauliflower, basil, lettuce, garlic scapes, radishes with greens, green onions, cuke, sugar snap peas and a cabbage.
I grilled the broccoli, then sprinkled it with salt, lemon juice and flax meal, from the recipe in Super Natural Cooking. I also made espresso banana muffins from that book. While it didn’t use any CSA ingredients (no local bananas in MN) they were tasty, and photogenic.
I plan to make cauliflower soup with pesto and barley (subbed for farro, which I couldn’t find at my grocery co-op) with green onion sauce and asparagus from this book as well.
From Mark Bittman’s Food Matters, I made a cabbage salad, using several suggested additions and variations: sugar snaps, radishes, garlic scapes with sesame oil and lime juice as dressing. It keeps for days, and has been a great vehicle for leftover grilled chicken.
I’ll also make Bittman’s tabbouleh, since it’s a kind of catch all for leftover garlic scapes, green onions, radishes, greens and the cuke. I’ll also try his yogurt soup with cuke and radish.
And the sugar snaps will go in salad with the lettuce, or raw out of hand, or dipped in a batch of hummus I plan to make. The boys aren’t eating a lot of this, but my husband and I are eating really healthfully lately.
This week’s CSA box was more full than last week’s box, with a greater variety of veggies. I’ve included how I’m using them.
Radishes with greens: sliced with salt and butter on a fresh baguette, in a green salad, on a sandwich with goat cheese and spinach, and in Hijiki and Edamame salad from Super Natural Cooking
Turnips with greens: mashed alongside bratwurst
Kohlrabi with greens: thinly sliced into green salad
Lettuce: green salads, of course!
Broccoli: in Broccoli Pesto & Fusilli from 101 Cookbooks
Cauliflower: steamed and pureed, so I can sneak it into tuna salad for Drake and Espresso Banana muffins, probably not for the kids
Snap peas: raw in green salads
Rainbow chard: chopped and used Mark Bittman’s Pan-Cooked Greens with Tofu from Food Matters, along with the radish, turnip and kohlrabi greens, and as part of the pesto in the Broccoli Pesto & Fusilli
Garlic scapes: Garlic Scape Soup (photo above) from Super Natural Cooking. I learned that chive blossoms make a lovely garnish but while technically edible, taste yucky.
This week I did minimal prep for the veg before putting them in the crisper. I removed the greens from the radishes, turnips and kohlrabi, then wrapped those greens, along with the lettuce and chard, loosely in a towel. I didn’t clean and dry them until ready to use, which is recommended in several places on the web, yet I found it promoted wilting rather than prevented it, so I think I’ll be back to washing, spinning dry and bagging my greens with a paper towel next week.
Thus far, the CSA share means I’m working with a greater variety of vegetables at a time, and it’s made me more motivated and creative in seeking out ways to use them.
This week’s box from our Community Supported Agriculture share contained the following; I’ve added what I have done or will do (bwa ha ha) with them:
Romaine lettuce: Caesar salad, of course
Spinach: wilted spinach salad with bacon and hard-boiled eggs
Turnips: roasted “croutons” for Caesar salad
Turnip greens: I’ll saute and serve under sushi rice salad
Radishes: thinly sliced on bread with goat cheese, and in sushi rice salad
Radish greens, finely chopped and mixed into sushi rice salad
Scallions: in sushi rice salad, in frittata, on veggie bagel, wherever I can think of
Snap peas: ate ‘em raw
broccoli: make a broccoli and anchovy sauce over spaghetti, from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything
Kale: I’ll saute it with garlic and white beans and serve over gemelli pasta.
We received our first half box of vegetables last week from our fall as part of their Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. It took all week, but I used it all, including the greens from the radishes and the kohlrabi, and the stems from the kohlrabi and chard. I crammed in three recipes in the last 24 hours: pan-fried greens with tofu last night, frittata with greens for breakfast, and “tabbouleh” for lunch. Taboulleh is in quotes because I had to use couscous instead of bulgur, but it turned out well in any case, and was a perfect vehicle for the odds and ends left in the fridge–salad dressing, radishes and greens, cucumber, olives–all of which I served over the last of our lettuce.
I didn’t have to throw anything away, but many of the greens were looking quite tired yesterday and today. Running out of produce (which I doubt will be an issue as the summer waxes) by using it sooner is a much better problem than using it up at the last minute. Running out means I buy anything else I need from our grocery cooperative. Rushing to use it at the last minute almost ensures having to throw something away. And the thrifty housewife in me (goddess knows where she came from–I didn’t get it from my mother) can’t stand that. So I’ll try to use more produce sooner this week. My veg bin stands empty and waiting.
Yesterday was my first day with a CSA share, or half of one, to be precise. I was lucky enough to inherit a few weeks of veggies last summer; the freshness and variety convinced me to invest this year. Today’s box included the following. After some research, I’ve added storage tips and probable recipes.
Spinach: Surprise! Don’t wash right away. Keep in loose bag till ready to use, then stem and clean. I’ll make Tofu with Spinach Sauce.
Kohlrabi: remove greens and store unwashed in loose bag till ready to use. Store bulb in vegetable drawer (cold and moist). Peel and cut up bulb raw to use in salads. I’ll use greens with chard and bok choy in Pan-Cooked Greens with Tofu and Garlic*.
Arugula: wash, dry, and store in plastic bag with paper towel to absorb extra moisture. I’ll make Tuscan-Style Steak with Arugula and Parmesan.
Radishes with greens: Remove greens, wash and store like arugula. I’ll use radishes in Tabbouleh*.
Broccoli: cut off bottom of stem. Store upright in shallow water. I’ll make Stir Fried Beans with Broccoli*.
Bok Choy: Don’t wash till ready to use. Keep in loose bag till ready to use, then wash and dry stalks. For Pan-Cooked Greens with Tofu and Garlic*.
Swiss Chard: Like spinach. When ready to use, trim stems, then remove leaves from them with a sharp knife under running water, letting the leaves fall into a bowl; rinse off additional dirt from leaves and dry. Roughly chop stems, then add to recipe a minute or two before adding leaves. For Pan-Cooked Greens with Tofu and Garlic*, and More Vegetable Than Egg Frittata*.
*From Food Matters by Mark Bittman.
I noticed the change a few weeks ago in the diaper aisle. The former green box of Minneapolis-based Target-brand diapers was gone, replaced by a goldenrod-colored box with a chunky arrow, an “Up and Up” label, and a picture of a reasonably cute baby in a diaper. What it does not have? The familiar Target bullseye. The design of the interior product has changed, too. Instead of primary-colored polka dots with cute animal drawings, the diapers now simply have pastel blue and green dots.
The diapers are still the least expensive in the aisle. Diaper math tends to make my eyes bleed, since they purposely put such a weird number in each box, and each brand uses different numbers. I’ve used a calculator before (diapers cost about .$25 each), but once I figured out that Target-brand diapers were fine, and always inexpensive, I decided to stop messing about. Yeah, other diapers fit better and leak less. But as I head toward the dubious milestone of five years of diaper changing, I care less about my child’s comfort and instead hope any discomfort might just speed the learning process along.
Back to the new look for Target-brand. It was announced at Reuter’s last month, and has received some press already. In the past, most Target brand items have aped the color scheme of whatever brand they compete with, but with the Target bullseye. Now, though, the intent is to set the product apart on the shelf, though it still lists the brand name item to compare prices with. The Up and Up products look less cheap than they did with the old packaging, but still are inexpensive compared to other items. And that, in a nutshell, is the niche Target has mastered: better design at lower prices. For photos of Up and Up packaging next to the former Target brand, visit Under Consideration and My Private Brand, which also has photos of Target’s new reDesign brand for home items.
I’m intrigued to see what happens. It’s interesting they removed the trademarked bullseye. Yes, the chunky arrow is eye-catching, and it’s a clever metaphor, too: arrow->Target. But Target is one of the biggest and most well recognized brands out there. Messing with the store brand, especially in an economic trough, is a big risk.
In other Target news, they’re leading the way in bag recycling by NOT recycling. Instead they’re upcycling–taking existing plastic bags, fusing them in a brief heating process that created a new, stronger, bonded, reusable bag called a Retote. The process uses less energy than what’s needed to recycle bags.
Here in Minnesota, we almost have a new senator. Fingers crossed that they can get this resolved within six months of election day.
Lifetime and Bravo have finally settled their lawsuit over season six of Project Runway, which will air this summer on Lifetime.
Meanwhile, Bravo comes back swinging and doesn’t bother to pretend it’s not a rip off, with The Fashion Show, with judges Isaac Mizrahi and Fern Mallis.
For those of us left with a bad taste in our mouth after Top Chef Season Five, no date has yet been set for Season Six, though casting took place earlier this spring. Better yet, at least two Twin Cities chefs auditioned!
Meanwhile, though, Bravo keeps the culinary reality goodness alive with Top Chef Masters, kind of like an American Iron Chef a la Top Chef. (link from ALoTT5MA)
Phillip Becht, of Minneapolis’ Modern Cafe, at the City Pages, on three types of food:
1. Work eats
2. Kid eats
3. Family eats
His simple approach reminds me of Mark Bittman’s Mimimalist recipes.
I wish my kids ate a lot of broccoli. They do like the gingerbread spice cake and pizza sauce that I hide pureed broccoli in, though. Heh.
The name, ChinDian, is pretty self explanatory. The chef, Nina, is Chinese. Her husband is Indian, and the cuisine at their restaurant is a blend. Friends and I visited recently and had a fabulous meal. We sampled five appetizers and devoured them all. The shrimp toast was crunchy on the outside with some chew in the middle with toothsome chunks of shrimp. The fried wontons were pleasantly non-greasy and utterly craveable. Crispy eggrolls and the chicken-chive dumplings were warm and savory, while the soft spring rolls tasted fresh and herbal.
To drink we tried the hot ginger tea, the cold ginger tea and the berry lemonade. All were pronounced excellent, though I favored the hot tea because it was a cold, wet night. I had the chow mai fun, fine rice noodles, with tofu. It was well seasoned, with excellent contrasting textures and flavors from sliced onion, carrot and the tofu; this dish easily can be gummy and lumpy. I also tried my neighbors’ mock duck broccoli and General Tso’s chicken; both had deep, rich flavors.
Chef Nina reminded us when we began to save room for dessert. It was hard with such a tempting array of items, but I managed, and was glad I did. The crepe with cream in berry sauce was not too sweet, topped generously with berries, and a wonderful complement and finish to a very good meal. I look forward to dining there again.
Rick Nelson of the Star Tribune recommended ChinDian along with Obento-Ya recently.
Apparently 5yo Drake and 3yo Guppy can eat at Punch pizza once a week for years and not tire of it. Not me, so I’ve been trying to expand our family-dining horizons and tried the recently opened Black Sheep, whose coal-fired pizza is different enough from Punch’s wood-fired pies to feel like a change.
Black Sheep has two sizes, a handful of menu pizzas, then a long list for making your own. Though not as fast as Punch (what could be?) the pizza was delicious, more evenly cooked, and much less oily. We were in a hurry, so didn’t try any of the alluring appetizers, or the home-made ice cream sandwiches. But we devoured both small pizzas, and will happily try Black Sheep again, though only in good weather. Street parking was sparse so we had far to walk on a day with a vicious wind chill. Rain, especially like today’s, would also be unpleasant for the long walk.
I found OMG, Shoes at Big Brain Comics, and had to have it. It’s an illustrated ‘zine-style shoe memoir by Sarah Morean, in the manner of Ilene Beckerman’s Love, Loss and What I Wore. Morean uses pencils and watercolor to detail 44 pairs of shoes, with a sentence or two about their history.
It’s a charming little book, made even more so by its deliberately cute black faux-lizard soft cover and assortment of decorative bindings. I chose a simple pink bow, but there were faux pearls and other pretty, shiny options. At $5, it’s a bargain; I feel like I went shoe shopping in someone else’s closet.
This Gun for Hire was the first show in Take-Up Productions‘ new film series, “From The Vaults of Universal: Seven Classic Film Noirs”, on Mondays in February and March 2009 at the Heights Theater in Minneapolis. It starred Veronica Lake, in her famous side-parted -do, and introduced Alad Ladd as hitman Raven, who utterly stole the film.
Willard Gates: Raven… how do you feel when you’re doing [indicates murder headlines]…this?
Philip Raven: I feel fine.
From the screenplay by Graham Greene, Raven is in trouble after he’s paid for a hit in marked bills. Not only are the police after him, but so is the man who double-crossed him. Lake becomes involved in the complicated case that involves chemical weapons, spies, blackmail and murder. The plot is much less important than the look, performances, and atmosphere, which melt into a powerful whole.
The noir formula is turned on its head; Ladd is more of an homme fatale, while Lake is the innocent drawn in by her attraction to him. Ladd is best in the first half of the film, when he is inscrutable and unpredictable. Toward the end, his character explains his history, and I found the end manipulatively redemptive.
Next Monday is a double feature, Criss Cross and The Killers. The shows start at 7:30pm, but get there early. The Heights was nearly filled on Monday night, and the shows might sell out. Also, be sure to leave time and money for the Heights’ excellent popcorn, which you can get with real butter.
February is a big month in our family. My husband G. Grod and usually pick a date somewhere in the middle to celebrate his birthday, my birthday and Valentine’s Day. This year we went to neighborhood gem Restaurant Alma.
Alma has been doing what more and more restaurants finally came around to doing, which is focus on local, sustainable, seasonal foods. It has a small but flexible menu that changes seasonally. You can do a $45 prix fixe for three courses (salad, first and second), or order a la carte.
I started with the bitter greens; G. Grod had the prosciutto. Next I had the beet and farro risotto. For entrees, I chose the arctic char, which was perfectly cooked, and in a lovely winter preparation with potatoes and hollandaise. G. got the duck two ways, both of which were scruptious. For dessert, he had the milk chocolate roulade and I chose the oatmeal stout gingerbread cake.
Each dish was beautifully plated, with an amount of food that left us full but not stuffed. The service was friendly, attentive and helpful. The dishes themselves were a marvelous mix of complementary taste and texture. Alma is a splurge for us, so we don’t go often. But we’ve gone periodically through the years since it opened, and we’ve had lovely meals every time. I appreciate its proximity, food focus, quality AND consistency.
Made with local Empire and Keepsake apples, using the Cook’s Illustrated recipe for pie dough with vodka, which I rolled out with my new French-style rolling pin.
