Autumn Foods

After a long summer, my taste buds have been anticipating the golden season for cooking–autumn. It is the autumn of braised briskets with caramelized root vegetables, the autumn of warm bowls of west african peanut soup, the autumn of baked apple tarts and jarring apple butter spiked with maple syrup.

Now is the season for good eating.

Not that I would ever complain for the beautiful weather we had been having up to a week and a half ago in Portland, where it has suddenly changed to winter mornings and nights. Me pulling out my scarfs and sweaters have also prompted me to begin looking into some of my favorite recipes.

Summer does not prompt one to stay in the kitchen. It’s too beautiful out, it’s too hot to stay by the stove. I never want to turn on the oven. So much of the produce is best eaten raw and fresh, straight out of the berry basket.

But as I walked around our farmer’s market last Wednesday, I saw the last of the summer squash and strawberries and every vendor selling an abundance of delicata squash, barlett pears, and apple cider.

What should be my inaugural fall dinner, and who should I invite?

 

Julie/ Julia Project

When the book first came out in 2005, I devoured it in a matter of days. So when I heard that they were making a movie with MERYL STREEP and AMY ADAMS, I faithfully waited and counted down the days. To add to this dynamic duo, Nora Ephron (director and writer of some of the greatest films/chick flicks ever) is the director.

Oh my.

Of course I watched the movie. Loved it. Honestly, what is NOT to love? Incredible food, great acting (Meryl Streep is superbly hilarious), wonderful story-telling. Really, go watch it.

If you aren’t out the door right now, you can listen to this interview with Nora Ephron on NPR today. It makes me want to cook.

 

Yay, Moses, for making the Chicken Cacciatore recipe from my post in February! It turned out really well, and he said it was actually quite simple. He even made a soft polenta to go with the stewy chicken stew. Good job, Moses!

 

I Need Red Meat

Being the self-professed carnivore, I have an unstoppable craving for burgers once a week. That craving is not satiated by McDonalds-90% soy-dried wafer excuse; rather, I need a juicy, medium-rare beef love with good bread, melted cheese (not American), and a nice, icy Coke. We all know how Chee-Po can call the shots in my day…and in Birch’s day, so what he needs, goes.

Ben writes: “I would really like to know how to make a KILLER hamburger. Are there seasonings or other ingredients that would be good to put in the beef before I cook it? What about toppings and condiments. Are there some that maybe I haven’t thought about that would kick the burger up a notch?”

A few comments on the general topic of burgers before the recipe:

1. Making your own patties is probably the most important part of a KILLER-caliber hamburger. Trader Joes sells 1-lb. packs of ground beef (80/20 fat) for $1.99. That is the best deal I have seen, and makes it even more cost-effective than using frozen patties. I don’t usually add much in the patties themselves because I want to taste the meat. I just add some salt and pepper, a touch of oil, and a little garlic salt and parsley. I have tried putting other things in the patty before, but it compromises the texture and sometimes makes it more precarious in grilling.

2. Grilling your patties–we have a gas grill which makes grilling SO easy. The trick to grilling burgers is to not squish it with your spatula and turn it just once. The bbq has to be hot enough to char the outside and leave the juiciness of the patty intact. I can’t say much for a Foreman grill–never owned one.

3. Toppings and bread–this is what differentiates your burger from others. You know what you like–put it on your burger. Get creative. For example, I don’t really like hamburger buns. Just because they are called hamburger buns doesn’t really mean that I have to use them for hamburgers. If you are shaping your own patties, you can make them any shape you want.

Thursday Night’s House Dinner (serves 9)

Menu:

Grilled Western Burgers with brown sugar glazed bacon

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Blackberry ice cream sodas

For the burgers:

3 lbs. ground beef (i like to have 20% fat)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. freshly ground pepper

1 tsp. garlic salt

1 T. oil

1 T. fresh or dried parsley

1/2 lb. sliced pepper jack cheese

1 pack of bacon

2 T. dark brown sugar

2 wheat baguettes

bbq sauce

tomatoes

spinach

1. Take beef out of packages and let rest in large mixing bowl for 10-15 minutes (to bring to room temperature). Add in salts, pepper, oil, and parsley and mix thoroughly with hands. Gather in your hands and slam into bowl to tenderize meat. Do the slamming 5-6 times.

2. Form into 9 patties–since I am using baguettes, I formed them into rectangles. Remember, they shrink, so make them larger than your preferred size.

3. Preheat grill. Brush oil on grates to prevent sticking. Burgers should take about 4 minutes on each side for medium. Place slices of pepper jack on grilled side, then take them off the grill. Let sit for 5-10 minutes to redistribute juices.

4. Meanwhile, lay bacon out piece by piece on cookie sheet with a lip (to catch grease) or baking dish, then sprinkle brown sugar over the bacon. Preheat the oven to broiler and move the rack to the highest rung. Put cookie sheet in oven for 4 minutes until sugar is caramelized and bacon is golden brown. Turn over bacon pieces and broil again for another 3-4 minutes. Keep an eye on it–broilers are powerful and can easily burn your stuff. Cut the bacon pieces in half.

5. Toast baguettes for a few minutes in the warm oven and put into 9 pieces. Let your crowd assemble their burgers with bbq sauce, tomatoes, and spinach (or some other greens).

 

It’s August- Watermelon Time!

This is my first installment of four recipes on topics/recipes you requested. Hopefully it’s helpful!

As reader Birch requested: “Now that it’s full on summer, how about a recipe for watermelon.”

I have the perfect summer recipe for watermelon, even if you accidentally chose a bad watermelon that is not as sweet as you would like it to be. I was in Orange County this weekend with some friends and in the beautiful, beachy weather, I made this as a side dish for dinner one night.  It’s super-easy, very flexible, and totally up to your tastes. It can be as little as three ingredients or six, dependent on what you like and what you have around. I love it for a light, cool side dish for grilled foods, or packed in a picnic at the park, supplemented by cold fried chicken and rolls.

Watermelon-Feta Salad (serves 4-6)

1 hothouse cucumber (they are shrink-wrapped and their skin is edible so less work for you)

1/8-1/4 red onion (dependent on taste), cut in thin slices

4 oz. crumbled feta

10-15 basil leaves

4-5 cups of cubed watermelon

Dressing:

2 Tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar (or 1 1/2 T. apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar)

3 Tablespoons of olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Whisk the vinegar and oil together and add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

2. Dice the cucumbers into small 1/2 inch cubes. Toss in slivered onions, feta, and watermelon in largebowl. Slice thinly the basil leaves, save two or three for garnish, and toss in as well. Whisk dressing one more time before pouring over salad and toss gently.

3. The salad can be served immediately at room temperature or can be made up to a day in advance. When serving, I like to put it on a platter and top with a few basil leaves.

Optional: chopped tomatoes or halved cherry tomatoes , a handful of arugula or mixed greens, grilled chicken or shrimp. If you don’t like cucumbers, you can just take it out. If you don’t have basil on hand, you can omit that as well, although I love the herby scent of the basil to pull the watermelon and feta together. You can also add mint as well/instead.

*Please let me know if you have questions or if you tried this out! I would love to hear your results and what you think!

 

Ideas for my Blog

So now that I have been back from my travels for a few months, there are questions as to what my blog should be about. What is worthy of readership?

One of the things that I feel challenged by is this idea of writing a cookbook that is simple, beautiful, and based in reality. I love it when I have heard that some of you have tried out the recipes I have typed up from my own experiments in the kitchen. It helps me know whether my recipe makes sense to you, or sounds appealing enough to try it.

Most of the time, we don’t have the time or the funds to make so many recipes from these cookbooks, nor do we have the vocabulary to follow some of those instructions. We have frozen chicken in the freezer, half a pack of dried pasta, and a lemon in the fruit basket. But I also don’t want it to be so dumbed down that I am giving instructions on scrambled eggs.

This is my idea for the month as an experiment. Is there something that you would like to know how to make (or make better) and would like a recipe or some helpful suggestions? Is there a situation or a dinner party coming up where you have no idea what to do or make?

I am hoping to post a blog every week, choosing four different ideas from you guys. Let the options roll in…

 

Books I have read this year

1. Genesee Diary Henri Nouwen
2. A Whole New Mind Daniel Pink
3. Live to Tell Brad Kallenberg
4. Kitchen Confidential Anthony Bourdain
5. Red Moon Rising Pete Greig
6. Around the World in 80 Days Jules Verne
7. Food Matters Mark Bittman
8. Lovely Bones Alice Sebold
9. Confessions of a Shopaholic Sophie Kinsella
10. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix J.K. Rowling
11. For Women Only Shaunti Feldhahn
12. Uprising Erwin McManus
13. Angels and Demons Dan Brown
14. some Sidney Sheldon novel
15. A Thousand Days in Venice Marlena de Blasi
16. A Circle of Quiet Madeline L’Engle
17. A Moveable Feast Ernest Hemingway
18. The Shack William Young

Working on currently:
Velvet Elvis Rob Bell
New David Sedaris book
Girl Meets God Lauren Winner

Any other suggestions?

 

Things to Look Forward To

Well, my sabbatical is ending, and although there are things that I will miss (good chinese food, being with old friends and family, simplicity), there are also things that I am looking forward to.
1. Having my own space again–I miss our house, I miss my bed, and I miss having a closet.

2. Portland–it isn’t until I have left that I realized how it has become home to me. How nice it will be to not have to figure out where I am going all the time. I love to explore new cities, but sometimes, I just want to know where I am going.

3. Farmers Market–I am so lucky to live 2 blocks away from the greatest farmers’ market ever. There are about 20,000 people that frequent the Saturday farmers’ market, and so many amazing local vendors of honey, pates, baked goods, and obviously produce.

4. Berries–it is the season for picking berries again. Every year, Birch and I go pick strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and freeze a bunch to last us for the rest of the year. I generally make a batch or two of jams. Last year, I made some delightful blueberry jam.

5. Green in Portland–once, a friend visited me from San Diego and he remarked that the shade of green that grows in Portland grows nowhere else he has been. All his trip, he spent looking up at the trees, amazed by this shade of green. There is nothing like summer in Portland, reading a book under the canopy of green.

6. Friends–friends to have bbqs with and watch movies on their shed by projector, friends who go have dim sum with you after church, friends who go to free concerts with you even though neither of you know the bands. I can’t wait to see everyone again. Call me!

7. Restaurants/Cafes–even though I have been away from Portland for 6 months, I have kept up with the food news of openings and closings. I can’t wait to try out some new places like Bunk Sandwiches, Ping (the same owner as Pok Pok), and return to old favorites like Sydney’s, Cafe Umbria (now that I can’t go back to Starbucks for a decent cappuchino), and Nostrana.

 

In the Bay

For the last two months of our sabbatical, we thought (okay, I thought) that it would be nice to be around family and friends in the Bay Area in California, since I moved away 15 years ago for college and never came back. My brother, after graduating from college, came back home. My sister lives in the city (oh yeah, in the bay area, we call San Francisco “the city” as if there are no other cities) only 25 minutes away from my parents. I am the one child who apparently doesn’t love my family enough to stay around. These two months are my attempt to try and make up for that. 

Mother's Day: Wii Fit

Besides the fantastic Chinese food and temperate sunny weather, we have been enjoying life here with my parents. Adjectives people use when they meet my parents are: cute, funny, cool, hip. While we are here, they like it when we cook, drive them around because they can sit in the back and sleep, and do projects around the house. Birch and I have been challenging my mom to do her Wii Fit everyday. My dad decided that it was too hard for him after he tried to do the tree pose with yoga. He doesn’t need the Fit anyway; he has jogged every morning as long as I remember. The dude is almost 70. 

A few years back, we took a family trip to the Great Wall of China in the middle of the summer, and my mom decided early on that she was not going to climb this packed-out hike, and went to shop in a nearby store. I continued on with the rest of the family for a while, but hot and uninterested, I too dropped out and decided to buy a popsicle instead and stand in the

my cute dad

shade. My brother ran ahead, and had to throw up on the side of the wall. Luckily, I was at the base when he walked down, and bought him a 7-up. My sister and my dad soldiered on to the top where a significant number of people had dropped out. My sister was red in the face, drenched with sweat, and panting. My dad looked like he just strolled through a mall. 

 

He doesn’t need the Wii Fit. The tree pose does not have the last word on my dad. 

Other than mastering the Hula Hoop on Wii Fit, I have been baking biscotti. Ever since Italy (where I was paying about $4 for 5 small biscotti), I have been craving biscotti and it’s actually quite easy to make. My first batch: orange almond biscotti, dipped in chocolate. I was pleased–they are more healthy because of the small amount of sugar and a little less butter. My second batch–meyer lemon pistachio. Also quite good. But the first one was better.

They look so impressive and pack easily as gifts. And they keep, if you can control yourself. 

Do yourself a favor and make some this weekend.

Orange-Almond Biscotti (about 2 dozen)

3/4 c. raw slivered almonds

1 stick softened butter (8 Tablespoons)

3/4 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 T. cognac, brandy, or Grand Marnier 

Zest of one orange

2 c. plus 2 T. all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. chocolate chips (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350° and toast almonds on baking sheet for about 5 minutes. Let cool. Keep oven on at 350°.

2. Cream butter with sugar until fluffy, then add eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla and cognac. Mix again. Combine flour, zest, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl and mix thoroughly. Add half the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix well. Add the other half of the flour mixture and mix again. Add the almonds in and fold in until just incorporated. 

3. Form 3 logs onto the baking sheet of about 1 1/2 inches wide and 12 inches long. Keep logs 2 inches apart and bake for about 30 minutes until it is slightly browned on top. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.

4. Move the logs carefully onto a cutting board, and cut into 3/4 inch slices at a slight slant. Lay flat on cookie sheet and bake again (it took me two batches) for 10 minutes. 

5. While it is baking, put the chocolate chips in microwavable bowl and put in microwave for 30 seconds on high. Stir for about 10 seconds and if the chips are not mostly melted yet, put in microwave for another 15 seconds. Stir again. Do this until chocolate is smooth and melted. Be careful–chocolate easily burns so don’t get overzealous!

6. After the biscotti have cooled for 10 minutes on a cooling rack (or a plate), dip each biscotti in melted chocolate, shake off excess, then place on wax paper or greased parchment paper on a plate. After you have filled the plate, refrigerate for about 10 minutes or until the chocolate is set. 

*I did only half my batch with chocolate and half without. You can also just put the chocolate chips in the biscotti instead. It’s up to you. Feel free to be creative with flavor combinations!

 

An Overview of our 99-Day Trip

In being back, I have hung out with friends who have plopped down and asked me about my trip. “So how was it? Tell me all about it!” This, I translate to, “I am being polite in asking, so please don’t tell me all about it. Just tell me a few fun facts, then we’ll move on.” Even if they really did want to know all about my trip (which my cynical self cannot possibly wrap my mind around–sorry, sincere friends!), what do you say to sum up 99 days in 5 countries?

It was so much fun. We ate very well.

What do you say? Well, here are some observations:

When Birch and I thought of the potential trip around the world, I think we hoped that at best, we would live life amongst different cultures and different customs and see God and the world more clearly. At worst, it would be a once-in-a-lifetime vacation, seeing the sights and eating the food. One of the clear calls I felt as we embarked on this journey was the one to pray for each city, to listen and see the cities and its people through God’s eyes, and pray specifically for corrupt world systems, for the emotional, physical, or spiritual poverty, for repercussions of wars and oppression on the streets, for the beauty of the everyday in these places.

Staying in a country for more than the obligatory week of touristing allows you to see beyond the shallow surface of what the country boasts. You see beyond the tall buildings, the Taj Mahal, the shopping centers, or the ruins of yesteryear, and you find normal, everyday people.

There were a couple of commonalities that popped up in every country. One thing was clear: America is lucky. We are used to creature comforts more than anyone else. It doesn’t matter what class you are in, if you reside in America, there are certain expectations. Running hot water 24 hours a day. Access to free/ cheap food, entertainment, or drink. Materialism beyond any country (except for HK). Do you know that 80% of what we buy is thrown away within six months of its purchase?  

Secondly, we were amazed at the history in these countries and aware of how young of a nation we are. We went to a museum in Hong Kong and saw the artifacts from 800 A.D., beautiful vases and ceramics, incredible inventions that we still benefit from. In Italy, we saw bronze horses that were created in 30 B.C. and the next 2000 years were stolen back and forth for their symbol of strength and power. Amazing feats in architecture and art, incredible stories behind every one of them. 

Indian Thali

Also, we bonded with locals when we asked about their food. People took pride in their local food. Some might say that math is the universal language. After this trip, I now know that it is food that is the universal language. THANK GOD. Not knowing Italian, or Malay, or Hindi, or French very well, I just got used to pointing at mysterious things on the menu. I was raised as an adventurous eater, so I figure, whatever I end up getting, how bad can it be? In Florence, there were three options for the main entree, so I chose the one that I didn’t know yet: fegato. When it came to the table, it was flattened and breaded and fried. So far, so good. I cut it open, pop it in my mouth…liver. Fegato is liver. Now I know. Using food to learn the language. I remembered never to order fegato again. Even so, you can strike up broken conversations in any country about food, and sometimes they just offer you some specialty and smile and nod, as if they were offering to you their heart and culture and soul. I learned to see the countries through their best food offerings.

We also found that in all the other countries, locals walked a lot more than we generally did. In Paris, the girl whom we rented the apartment from said how Paris is such a walkable city. Everything is so close and so convenient. I believed her–oui, how lovely–until Birch told me that the Eiffel Tower is a 2-hour walk. One way. So walkable, right? This is why these people were so much more in shape than we Americans are. They may eat more butter and cheese, they may have 6 meals a day, they may intake more carbs than is healthy, but man, they burn it off in their two-hour treks. The way Hong Kong people walk–you swear someone invisible was chasing them. Those fragile Chinese ladies in 4-inch stiletos walk faster than I run.

In the end, we conclude that one thing tied together our trip so well. One common thread through these extremely different countries–Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, Italy, France…

Coca-cola!

The beverage of choice, the international, overarching soft drink that has bridged gaps over every difference! That and McDonalds, which we shamelessly visited in every country. May America shine brightly in our overprocessed foods and high fructose corn syrup offerings! 

Boy it’s good to be back!