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…

There will be blood ...

I have a few posts coming up for you dear readers. It has been a crazy couple of weeks. In between, I had to sneak this in. This is a first for me dear readers. A food event that I am on the non consuming end of. I've never been on the non consuming (of course, I am going to consume but that will not be my number one priority... as it usually is) side of a food event before. This will be my first. And it's a competition. For charity. I want to win. For charity! I'm nervous and excited. I'm curious and somewhat (seriously) on edge. Six hundred and fifty people in one space does that to me...that is the number of people that will be there. Breathe in...breathe out... neuroses on display ...

Very public display of innermost neuroses aside, what food event you say? This one. Some really cool people from some really cool restaurants in Montreal, are cooking, yep, some really cool burgers in a competition to help an amazing organization help some amazing street kids get back on their feet. Today I met my Chef, owner and partner in crime. He's cool, charity close to his heart, he's cooked with the poor and in monasteries for orphans. I can't wait to tell you more about him. Let the burgers be made and the games begin.  I assure you, there will be blood ...but in a good way! Come on!

Amazing organization and team GDS ...

Now, since my stories are human ones and will come to you after said event takes place (and I've consumed everything and talked to everyone and shot countless pics and procured secret recipes and for sure have gotten myself into some predicament or other) I leave you with a pesto recipe. A very different one. You'll love it. Ready?

Time to dish.

Sage and Garlic Stem Pesto

Here is what you need ...

• One bunch of garlic stems
• One cup of peppery extra virgin olive oil
• Two big handful of walnuts
• Two big handful of pecans
• Half of a bunch of sage leaves
• Sea salt
• Parmesan or Romano (optional, I did not add any cheese to this one and it was awesome)

Here is what to do ...

1. Ready, this is a doozy ... place all your ingredients in a blender, or mortar and pestle if you have a big enough one and blend! or mash!

Enjoy on toast for breakfast, with or without a juicy tomato, over fresh pasta, as a marinade for lamb or any other animal you enjoy, over fried or cocotte eggs and then crack the yolk in there, in crepes with asparagus and some super sharp cheddar...and so on...and so forth ...

Gathering ...

Today is a day for gathering dear readers. It's a little chilly outside but the sun is out, shining that special light that only graces us as summer is coming to an end. Artists of pen (or stick, stone and feather point, depending on the century, of course) and brush have said it that is the most beautiful light known to man. I tend to agree. Fall is one of my favorite times of year for so many reasons (with the exception of a slight issue I have with what follows Fall, of course). It is my favorite time to cook, eat, be at the market, paint, write, sit still and look, walk, breathe and just be. The sky is huge and the light and everything it illuminates, enchanting. I have always thought of Fall as natures way of giving us a magical feast for all the senses before the sensorial desert arrives.

Well, since it is a day for gathering, I must be off to...well...gather. But, before I go out to collect the herbs in my garden for drying, I have a tomato sauce recipe to share with you dear readers. It is a special one that I look forward to making every year. For those of you who have been requesting it all these years, here it is. For the rest of you dear readers, it's my favorite, and I hope it will be yours too.

Here we go ...

Hang in there ...

One left ...

Ahhhh ....shake it out ...

Time to dish.

Oana's Annual Tomato Sauce

Parenthesis: Yes, I felt a little weird about third personing myself but what the heck, let's be crazy (I may change it tomorrow if the weirdness turns into shame)...And, don't freak out about the cooking time. Just go to sleep or if you do it during the day, pick a lazy Sunday and prepare your favorite series. I just finished with Entourage. I am a little late to the table, as usual, and played catch up so I can appreciate season eight. But that's another story. Here we go.

Here is what you need...

• A big, huge box of plum tomatoes (aka half a bushel), very ripe. If yours are not so ripe, just leave them on the counter, covered with a cloth for three or four days and they'll come around.
• Olive oil, one cup
• Apple cider vinegar, half a cup
• Sea salt, three tablespoons
• Sugar, three tablespoons
• Soy sauce, three tablespoons
• Balsamic vinegar, half a cup
• A big huge sauce pot
• Turkish oily chili flakes, as spicy as you like it baby
• Butter (optional, some years I use it, some not. It depends on what my palate and thighs are saying to me that year), a quarter of a stick.
• Garlic, four cloves, smashed
• A potato masher, yep, that's what I use

Here is what to do...

1. Wash the tomatoes. Still with me? Okay good. Score the tomatoes, a little X on one side of their little round bodies. It does not matter which one. Once scored, place the tomatoes (in batches because unless you have industrial pots, they will not all fit) into boiling water (must be boiling otherwise you will cook the tomatoes too much) for about three to four minutes. This loosens the skin so that you can peel them.
2. Peel the tomatoes, and discard the skins (I have not yet been able to figure out another use for them).
3. In your giant sauce pan, heat your olive oil and add the smashed garlic. Cook until fragrant. Then add your tomatoes and on high heat, bring to a boil. At this point reduce the heat to a low simmer and prepare for ten hours of cooking. What I do is this. Two hours in, I add all the other ingredients, stir and mash the tomatoes with the masher. Then I stir again, leave it for another two hours, stir, mash, check seasonings and then to bed. When I wake up, I stir, mash, check the seasonings and voila, all done. You may add more salt or sugar or acid or spice, depending on your own personal palate but if you do, add it during the last hour of cooking when you have a pretty good idea of what the final sauce is. I say this because flavors concentrate with long cooking times and you may think you need something at the beginning or half way through but it may not be necessary towards the end.

I use this sauce for all kinds of things. Pasta, all kinds, of course. In scallopinis, lasagna and over eggs. Anything Parmesan'ed. Chili. Add some fresh tomatoes, onions, avocado, lime and coriander and you have an amazing salsa. 

Happy Thursday dear readers. Enjoy.