Once I looked down ...

Hurray! A free morning! In between things! Yeesh. It's been pretty crazy around here the for last couple of weeks dear readers. An unending rushing stream of meetings, out of town visitors (aka Dad, I know he's singular...but it felt plural), dinner parties (Kosher lamb leg sword fight dinner parties with peer pressure fist pumping chant's of "Do it for the blog!" - excellent excuse for grown people to pick up giant lamb leg, bite into it growling and holding it up in victory...yes, you read right, I'll tell you about it), planning dinner parties, shopping for dinner parties, balancing, being at the market three days a week, property buying adventures, launching dish. private cooking lessons and catering to boutique dinner parties (so. much. fun.), shucking bags of beans, making mini lamb meatball and zucchini leaf soup, stuffing peppers, roasting peppers, drying peppers (see Facebook profile pepper rant), peeling thousands of gooseberries, buying lots of wool things (blankets, skins, socks and other such things) preparing our home for Fall and Winter, picking pumpkins and this awesome event.

Which is what I want to tell you about today. The thing though is this... the evening took a slight...shall we say... twist. Between the location, the people, the food and the event itself, somewhere along the line, my obsessions got the best of me. Quelle surprise right? So there I was, in the middle of it all. With my media badge. The sun, the water, the boats, the cookies, the truffles, the over seven hundred plus (neuroses exposing) people, the chefs preparing for burger battle, the food critics preparing their burger palates and insane badass criteria lists ...I was preparing my strategy for photos, wondering how I was going to eat everything (the burgers were seriously huge), proudly and gleefully admiring the Birri boxes (which I see all day at the market) which were the staple for the chefs burger garnishes and generally scoping out the scene...when I saw this:

It was innocent. I thought nothing of it, (except oh! how cool!) snapped a pic, and went on my merry way, stall to stall, tasting all the awesome concoctions these awesome chefs had, well, concocted, if you will. I had boudin and dark chocolate burger (team GDS! awesome idea, I told you there would be blood...), I snapped a pic. I had a foie gras burger, I snapped a pic. I had a chicken fried chili burger, I snapped a pic. I had a pulled pork and fig burger, I snapped a pic.  But a little secret here ...the pics were all of shoes! Of shoes for heaven's sake. You should have seen me, burger in hand taking a bite, mmm'ing and ammm'ing and oh, these are so good'ing and then eeeever so caaaasually my head would just kind of... turn and look down ... at shoes. I simply couldn't help myself. Once I looked down, that was it. For the rest of the night I walked around snapping peoples shoes, while normal people were snapping burgers. Indeed.

Obsessive shoe snapping:

I also got a bunch of really cool shots (between obsession shots of course) of the "other" stuff, you know, the burgers and the people and the actual relevant stuff... Take a look at dish. on flickr my dear readers until I figure out how to construct a photo page on our little blog here. Yours and mine. Feels cool. In the meantime ...

Time to dish.

The most delicate Mini Lamb Meatball and Zucchini Stem Minestrone

** A little note. Zucchini stems are completely awesome. They have this wonderfully unique flavor and they hold up incredibly well during cooking. They don't disintegrate into nothingness and have a beautiful color to boot even after cooking. You don't see them around often and the zucchini stems that were used for this recipe were brought to the market by a little, old, hunched over Italian lady that picks them from the fields. She brings these goodies often in the Fall. Look out for them at your local market or ask your farmers/vendors where you can get them. It is completely worth the effort. **

Here is what you need for the Mini Lamb Meatballs:

• Ground lovingly farm raised fatty lamb
• One beautiful egg
• Small handful of fennel seeds
• Sea salt
• Ground pepper
• Cayenne pepper, small pinch
• Olive oil
• Finely chopped parsley
• Finely chopped fennel fronds (if you have them)

Here is what you need for the rest of the soup:

• Two bunches of Zucchini stems, chopped about five inches above the starting point of the stem (below that is not tender)
• Onions, finely chopped
• Garlic, smashed
• Water (no broth required because the flavor of the zucchini stem is so amazing)
• Sea salt
• Cracked pepper
• Lemon juice, lots

Here is what to do to make the mini lamb meatballs:

1. Combine all your beautiful  mini lamb meatball ingredients into a big bowl and then get in there with your hands and mix. That is about it dear readers. Once mixed, roll into mini meatballs. Honestly nothing more to it. As little or as big as you like them. I have to thank loving husband here (thank you Axel) who rolled them for me while I was tending to the chopping. We have been cooking together more often these days and I really like it. He has a lovely touch.
2. Once rolled, heat grape seed oil in a pan, medium high heat and brown these little suckers. Don't crowd them because you want to get it over with though. You'll steam their beautiful globeness instead of browning them. Once done set aside. 

Here is what to do for the rest of the soup:

1. In a large soup pot, heat olive oil and add your onions, garlic and sautee for about ten minutes. Then add your chopped zucchini stems. Stir and sautee for another five minutes. Add the rest of your ingredients, your meatballs, cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer until stems are tender and meatballs are happily cooked. About half an hour'ish. Taste to know for sure. Add a little more lemon juice. Super healthy, so delicious and beautiful for fall and winter. That's it dear readers. See you soon. x

Someone gray, someone fuzzy ...

I am going to tell you about someone special today dear readers. Someone gray. Someone fuzzy. Someone I love with all my heart. You may remember meeting her here a while back. Today, I am going to tell you guys about Napa. It must be today because she does something really special and this morning she did it and I just couldn't take the cuteness by myself anymore. I had to share. So here I am this lovely sunny glittery morning, sitting on my bed paying bills, going through paperwork, creating constant distractions to get myself out of said paperwork, ordering daily planners, calling governments, landing on a special agent and wondering how some people survive (I mean really), and all of a sudden perched right in front of me, is Napa. Holding a little piece of plastic in her mouth and dropping it right under my nose. She then proceeds, with big anxious Napa eyes, to look down at it, then up at me, then down at it, then up at me, then down at it, then up at me, imploring me, saying come on! throw it! let's go! It's the cutest thing ever. She brings me crumpled pieces of paper, elastics, a toy pac pac ball that fits in her mouth (barely, it's awesome ), pens, sticks and once, I kid you not, I spotted  her walking toward me with a duster in her mouth. It was twice her size. I wanted to eat her. We play for hours sometimes. I throw, she brings back. Playing fetch with a cat is awesome. Especially when she instigates it. With this look. It's the best.

This look ...and paw on leg ...

Eyeing the target ...

She is also so smart and notices everything. Neurotic and a bit of a diva. When she gets mad (usually because I pester her) she gets a bit of a crazy look in her eye and then pounces on me (well, my ankle, to be precise) paws spread. I looked for her for a long time. When I got her she didn't purr. I taught her how. She was the runt of her litter and because the other kittens wouldn't play with her, she went and promptly attacked the younger litter. Smaller than her. She is a bit nuts. She was her daddy's favorite. She is always beside us no matter where we are. She runs happily to us when we call her and she has a beautiful voice. I love when she speaks. She is also the same color as our blanket.

 

Time to dish.

Completely Unrelated to Post Awesome Ambercup and Sweet Mama Squash soup

(Very healthy this one is...oanayoda ...)

Here is what you need:

• One Ambercup Squash, steamed and sliced, skin on (gives gorgeous color)
• One Sweet Mama Squash, sliced, steamed and peeled (after steaming)
• Two garlic cloves, smashed
• Olive Oil
• Milk, one percent
• Chicken Broth
• Plenty of dried thyme
• Sea Salt

Here is what to do:

1. So easy guys. And incredibly delicious, healthy and awesome. So: steam both squash in a bamboo steamer. Set the Sweet Mama aside but roast the Ambercup at 400 degrees until golden brown (this will not take long because squash is already cooked, we are just looking for caramelization here).
2. In the mean time, heat up extra virgin olive oil, add smashed garlic cloves and sautee until fragrant. Then add your chicken broth, about a liter, dried thyme, about half a tablespoon, and bring to a boil. Then add your milk, about two cups. Add both squash. Cook for about five minutes.Take half the soup (reserving some whole squash pieces for serving) and puree in a blender. Add back to your pot with the non-blended portion, stir, plate, drizzle a little olive oil, enjoy. It's the best. **I serve mine with cheddar crostini and sauteed red long chili peppers as a garnish**

And now, the recipe ...

I know I know, you can't take it anymore! You must know! Which is it for heaven's sake?! Steadfast food snobs or complete culinary converts?! The anticipation is killing you! Well ...

The chip is out of the bag ...

Success. My closet guilty pleasure is now, well, let's just say the chip is out of the bag. We have achieved the very elusive complete culinary conversion dear readers.  The chip bag is empty. I repeat, the chip bag is empty.

I knew I had it in the proverbial chip bag when I started to pile on the cheese. Picture this: the bottom slice was broiled, oiled, rubbed with garlic, cheesed, topped with chips and cheesed again. Then, it started. The subtle peeks over the shoulder, the what did you put on top of that it looks not too bad proceeding to wow, that looks really really good proceeding to when will it be ready? (either they were hooked or they were really hungry).

Between you and me, I made sure to open the oven at the most opportune times allowing for maximum olfactory advantage. When your battle is this epic you have to pull out all the stops.

The moment of truth:

 

 

 

    

Let the crumbs speak for themselves.

Fellow food lovers, you should have seen it. The senses kicked in and salivating, savoring, crunching began and sounds were coming out.  Then, behold, the widening of eyes, the flavors registering and, the ultimate compliment:  this would make great pub food, you know, in a bar, after beer, and lots of drinking ... soooooo goood ... Yes!

For those of you who are looking at this thinking you shouldn't ... you totally should. I'll give you a few reasons so you can sleep at night. Laugh as loud as you will but this is the perfect fall food (yes I dare) in moderation because it replenishes salt lost during the summer months of heat and sweating. It gives the needed fat (yes, needed fat) to prepare the skin for the moisture depletion of the next 6 months of dehydration (at least on the east coast Canadian end). It gives you antioxidants from the fresh garlic and the good fats from the olive oil.

I guess this would be a good time to dish so:

Here is what you need:

2 slices of bread of your choice (crusty outsides and soft insides are my loves)

1 small clove of garlic

1 bag of lays ( big or small depends on how grand pow!pow!pow! you want your sandwich to be)

peppery olive oil 

extra old cheddar (shaved or grated), no mild will do.

mayo (good stuff please, it is a chip sandwich after all)

yellow mustard (go retro!)

Here is what to do:

1. Pre-toast both slices of bread in the oven at 350 to your desired crispiness. Drizzle the "bottom toast" with olive oil, rub it with a fresh clove of garlic and top it with cheese. Gingerly place the chips on top of the cheesy bread (they drop like lead if you are not careful).Then, you guessed it, gingerly, place the cheese on top of the barely balanced chips (if you lose some, cheese or chips, panic not, just pick up, discard and replenish).

2. Once perfect, place cheesed chip bread in a 350 oven for as long as it takes the cheese to melt (for me, 1.5 minutes on broil and on the very top rack)

3. At this point, adorn the "top toast" with mayo and yellow mustard and place (I know you know what's coming here) gingerly, on top of your perfectly finished chip sandwich.

Bon appetit dear reader.

And thank you for keeping an open mind.

Happy Halloween dear readers.

Together for the ride ...

It was exactly a year ago today dear readers. At 5:05pm. I remember the day well. It was cool, like today. It was gray and chilly and I was sitting in my study, debating. It was a pretty scary idea. The idea of taking my innermost (nutty, neurotic included) thoughts and putting them out there in the world. For all to see and scrutinize. I sat and thought, and typed. I swore I would always be honest. No matter how whacked. It went on for a few hours. And then, I clicked publish. 

And off we went. Together for the ride. 

I want to thank you, dear readers, for being there and cooking with me and commenting and not judging my confessions and neuroses and enjoying and, most of all, to thank you for reading. I love knowing that you are there. It warms my heart. We've crossed all continents and cultures in this past year and it has been a heck of a ride. I can't wait to continue.

In honor of this special day and in honor of humble beginnings, I'm going back. To the beginning. Here is how it all started. Happy One Year Anniversary dishchronicles. A glass lifted to many more adventures.

Humble beginnings ...

Ever since I can remember, I have been in love with food. My earliest childhood memory is of raiding the cupboards for the freshly delivered yogurt from the milkman. My grandmother took great care to place the jugs out of reach on the highest cupboards possible but at the tender age of four, I had a plan. The stories of my being caught precariously balancing on teetering books, jug in hand, little palms covered in yogurt because I stuck my hand inside the jar to get it out (how else could it be done) and guilty look on my face topped of with a thick creamy yogurt mustache always bring me a smile. Good times.

I was the cause of great drama in the kitchen to the dismay of all the elders in the house, with incessant nagging about how and why. Not paying attention to me was not an option.  I was this mini fireball whirling around with a thousand questions. I loved the noise, the smells, the colors and textures, the arguments the ladies would get into when there was a question about what the best way to do something was. I was right there with my opinion should they need it.

You can imagine then, how well this went off in Romania in the very early eighties withvery stern Eastern European grandmothers and aunts trying to prepare for company. The occasional threats of spankings and being chased around the house with a shoe in their hand waiving furiously and mumbling something I could not quite make out due to running for it were well worth it.

As a teenager, my tastes were not so discerning (aka: I was broke) but even when I made my mac and cheese out of a box or my hamburger helper, yes, out of a box, I felt compelled to make them my own. I was adding all kinds of things to them, some good and some not so good but always experimenting with textures and flavors. I am about to let you in on a secret. Only three people in the world know this about me. One of my favorite things discovered during this frugal period was the chip sandwich. Yes, you heard right. The chip sandwich. To the horror of the one person who has actually witnessed my creation (the other two know only through legend), and to be frank, to mine because I cannot believe my first dish shared will be a chip sandwich for goodness sake but here we are, I would bite ravenously into what I consider to be the snack of all snacks.

Now, you have to be brave to try this. You will battle food snobbery, face disbelieving friends, deal with grimacing faces and shouts of are you nuts! and how could you eat that! but if you can get past these things, you will discover one of life’s very guilty pleasures.

The original, in all its plastic 60’s style glory, was composed of the whitest sugary Wonder Bread (yup, here I am with Wonder Bread in my blog) so soft that if you pinched it, it would be thin as paper and super salty and crispy regular lays chips. Step one, separate your bread slices. Step two, place a mountain of chips on top of one slice. Step three, place your other slice on top of the pile, squish down hard and voila! I tell you the soft texture and sweetness of the “bread” against the crunchy crispiness and saltiness of the chips …perfection. When I was feeling fancy, I would add yellow mustard. Mmmmmm …

 Okay, nostalgia and shock aside, since it seems that by some cosmic joke this was meant to be the first recipe I share with you dear readers (I hope you don’t judge me and tune in for the next one) I will write here a more shall we say … delicate version of the abovementioned so you can have high class snack with your beer. I am going to test the recipe tonight on two unsuspecting dinner guests and let you know how that went. Steadfast food snobs or complete culinary converts … stay tuned…