An Ode to Braised Meat

I have long loved braised meats, or any manner of cheap/fatty cut which requires long cooking in a large pot.  Until recently, though, it had been awhile since I cooked anything.  I think because I think of braises as cold-weather foods, and, although many will disagree, I don't feel San Francisco is ever cold.  Chilly, yes, but not really cold, like an East Coast fall or winter.  Lately, though, it has been endlessly rainy and very cold, as in 40s cold, and for weeks on end.  I finally had to shut my windows at night, and turn the heat on (gasp!).  Thus, the braising.  I should admit that it was initiated by a late Friday evening venture into the Salumeria to buy dinner.  Given the time, there weren't many options, outside of a large, delicious looking osso bucco.  Thus began the braising.  Although I got into a slight bit of trouble for providing dinner close to 11, it was a huge hit.  Capped off by slurping up the marrow from the large veal bone.  Despite the reminder of work (another topic entirely), it was amazing; I adore bone marrow, of any kind.  I ended up reusing the braising liquid for a large beef shank I bought the following week, which, though tasty, was not quite as good.

Then there was the carnitas; amazingly simple, I had no idea.  Who knew milk, stock and an orange could generate such a beautiful pot of perfectly caramelized meat?  Then last night, there were pork ribs.  I am a fan of the braise, no question.  See attached recipes, no modifications.

Osso Buco
Pork Carnitas
Orange and Soy-Pork Ribs

Salumeria

Flour + Water is my neighbor.  Whenever I happen to be outside near my apartment round 5, there is, without-fail, a line extending down the block.  How can this be?  There are so many amazing restaurants in San Francisco, I can barely decide where to eat.  Regardless, I must somewhat ashamedly admit, I have never been to Flour + Water.  It is not that I am disinterested, or that I am doubtful it is worth the wait.  It must be, given the omnipresent line.  It is that when I want to go out to dinner, I want to go out, not just walk across the street.  Especially if it requires planning, which this evidently does.  Who puts in place a plan to walk across the street?  I can't, it just seems wrong.  I could wait in the line, but this also seems absurd to me, given I could just as well sit at home on my sofa (or sprawled flat on my back in the center of the living room, which seems to be my favorite place of late).  If they had pick-up, I would have probably bought at least 10 pizzas at this point.

Back to my point, though; the Salumeria, which was recently opened by the owners of Flour + Water.  I love to live in the city for countless reasons, but near the top of the list is that I like to walk to wherever I am going.  Friends tease me about this, because within a 2-mile radius, I will nearly always walk to my destination.  If I am not in the mood to walk, I won't go.  If it is an appointment, and there is no choice but to take some other means of transit, I will do so, but very, very irritably.  When I run out of coffee beans, I walk to Ritual, or Four Barrel.  Recently, more so to Atlas cafe for Stumptown, because it is oh-so-close, and I cannot be out of coffee, and never think ahead.  I will walk to Rainbow Grocery, or Bi-Rite, and out to dinner in the Mission no matter what vertiginous heels I am wearing  The Salumeria, though, is now my neighborhood best friend, and by a long-shot.  After work, if I can make it home in time, I drop by and get a salad.  I nearly always get some wedge of cheese, and if I can rationalize a treat, the duck liver mousse or a slice of terrine.  I have bought jars of pasta sauce, and cartons of berries; prosciutto.  It is expensive, but all of it is good, and it always gets eaten, and not wasted.  On weekends, I like to get espresso, and sit in the courtyard of Central Kitchen.

If you live in SF, or are even just visiting, you should go.  You may see me there.

Salumeria, Mission SF         

green goddess

I did not realize this originated in San Francisco until I got a sudden-onset, rapid craving to have a jar sitting in my fridge always. To put on sliced radishes, roasted broccoli, chicken; apples, even. It was initiated by a salad I ate from the recently opened Salumeria two blocks away, which I now frequent at least once weekly. I perused a number of recipes, but I essentially made mine up because I was too lazy to go to the store again.

 Who could not love a dressing called Goddess anyhow?

2C. basil
1C. spinach leaves
1/2 avocado
2 anchovies
2 cloves garlic
2T olive oil
1/2C. greek yogurt
1/4C. lemonaise


Add basil, spinach, garlic, anchovies, olive oil to blender, then puree.  Add remaining ingredients, then mix.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

salad

I love salads. I've grown adept at throwing together really good ones very quickly for dinner. These two are especially amazing, I think.

arugula salad
arugula or mache
sunflower seeds
avocado
blue cheese
roasted/salted almonds
dried sour cherries

splash of balsamic vinegar, hazelnut oil

kale salad
finely sliced raw kale, preferably purple kale
3T dried blueberries
3T balsamic vinegar
1T rice vinegar
1T honey
1t salt
1/2C. grated parmesan
1T olive oil
roasted, sliced almonds

macerate berries with vinegar an hour or so in advance. in a large bowl, mix vinegars, oil, honey and salt; add to kale with berries and let sit 20min. add parmesan and nuts.  avocado is also a good addition, or chickpeas.

san francisco chicken salad

Best chicken salad ever (to date)

left-over roasted chicken
lemonaise (to taste)
greek yogurt (to taste)
savory (fresh; to taste))
mustard (to taste)
dijon diced radish (1-2)
hot sauce (splash)
pinenuts - ~2T, lightly toasted
salt + pepper (to taste)

Dice or shred chicken. Add lemonaise/yogurt until it is as creamy as you wish it. Add remaining ingredients to taste. Mix and eat on bread, crackers, or sliced pink lady apples (as we did, tonight).

San Francisco Restaurants: Part One - Italian

Just as I was moving here, I read an article in the NYTimes about San Francisco and Italian food . At that moment I was, and had been, pursuing an obsession with pizza. Cooking it, but eating it. We had been making crust from scratch, sauce from scratch, and whipping out pizza margheritas from the grill. We also near-perfected a pizza with sauteed broccoli raab (near-perfect meaning our crust was about as good as we could get, but could not reach the quality of a brick-oven/other 5000deg beast). I was also at that time travelling to SF on a work expense account, so I could eat out. It started out with eating at 54 Mint , which was really good. Specifically I recall eating an amazing panna cotta with balsamic glaze, which was stunning. I also loved the plaza so much I considered moving in there, except that I would have had to stay in the plaza for my own comfort and safety level. This was rapidly followed by a trip to Una Pizza Napoletana, of NYC fame. Una Pizza lacked glamour, but the pizza was outstanding, with perfectly charred crust, and hard-to-make spot on margherita. When I moved to Potrero Hill, I became enamored with Piccino , at that time a tiny maybe 10 tables haunt with an excellent short wine list, pizza, a handful of delicious desserts where one could nearly always score a table with two people. This has changed since Piccino expanded to a larger, and decidedly more upscale space down the block. The pies are still excellent, but I have to admit missing the smaller, more neighborly, cafe-style space. Having moved to the Mission and tried Delfina's Pizzeria, I have to say that it's margherita cannot be beat. It's the pizza I dream of when I've been here by myself and have no one to split it with, though I could regrettably down a whole one myself if I dared. Moving on from pizza, I have been to SPQR, Perbacco, but for amazing pasta and atmosphere to-die-for, Farina is my pick. You could not ask for a more stunning interior space, and the fettuccine with pesto is the best I have ever eaten. Even in Italy.

moving west

I've moved west! There are infinite food possibilities here. Unfortunately, I've mostly been eating lately. And riding my bike. I should say bikes, as I have two - a kawasaki ninja as well as my old specialized. But, I vow to start cooking again soon. More than a tamale out of a bag from the grocer on the stovetop, or a poached egg on greens. Or, worse, a peanut butter pretzel clif bar with a glass of milk. Followed by a glass of pinot noir with a chunk of mt. tam a few hours later. I have developed a wine problem, although I would prefer to call it an appetite. More on that later. SF food is better, everywhere. Trust me.

it's been a long time...........

which means there is a lot missing! but i'll try to do better hence forth. need to eat: oysters from Island Creek Oyster Bar on Commonwealth Ave. This was the first of my birthday dinners, and it was amazing! I also had the most amazing calves brains at Hamersley's Bistro in the South End. I've got to get Boston food while I still can, we're headed west in the coming months!

wild blueberry pie

I've had the luck to find wild blueberries twice this summer, once at the farmer's market a few weeks ago, where Jon grudgingly allowed me to fork over a small fortune for a pint, and last Thursday in my CSA share. Our CSA, the Farm Direct Coop, is amazing. Last year was our first experience with a CSA share, and we were somewhat disappointed. The weekly pick up yielded far too much lettuce and greens, which never looked very fresh/appetizing, and hardly any fruit. The lack of fruit was somewhat excusable, as I didn't really notice that this particular CSA was a vegetable share when we signed up, so I supposed I should have been happily surprised when we got any. The CSA was in it's first year, so I am sure it will get better. However, when when the FDC was able to open up more shares this year, we moved up off the waiting list and signed up. They have separate fruit and vegetable shares, and even offer a local cheese share. Everything has been absolutely top notch thus far, and a few things were really amazing, including the pea tendrils, strawberries, peaches and the wild blueberries. The first pint of blueberries I bought I mixed with normal, highbush variety to make a pie (not being quite extravagant enough to buy several pints). Somehow, the crust I made did not turn well. Recently I decided to switch from an all-butter pastry dough to a part shortening variety. I think I was overtly conscious of the humidity that day, and simply did not add enough water to the dough, and it would not stick together when I rolled it out. Subsequently, the crust was flavorful, but not at all flaky, and the top was sort of pieced together in spots. I decided to give it another go this weekend, and it turned out much better. I do think the pie would be over-the-top if made entirely with the wild berries - too bad I don't have any birthdays in July.

Wild Blueberry Pie

Pastry Crust (doubled-crusted pie)
2 1/2C. all-purpose flour
1/2t. salt
12T. unsalted butter, cold
1/4C. shortening, cold
4-6T. ice water

Place flour and salt in a large food processor; pulse until mixed. Cut butter into ~1/2inch chunks and add to processor. Add shortening in ~4 spoonfuls over flour mixture. Pulse just until pea-sized chunks of butter and shortening are still visible. Sprinkle 4T. ice water over mixture. Pulse until mixture just starts to come together. Squeeze a handful of dough to see if it sticks together; if it still appears crumbly/your hand appears dusty, repeat, adding ice water 1T. at a time. When mixture holds together, pour onto counter top and smear with the palm of your hand until entire mixture is smeared. Scrape into 2 balls of dough, one slightly larger (this will be the bottom crust), and form ~1inch disks. Refrigerate at least 1h, up to 24h.

Filling
30oz. blueberries (I used 12oz. wild berries, and the remainder highbush berries; ~6C. total)
1T. lemon juice (~1/2 lemon)
1C. sugar
2T. all-purpose flour
2T. cornstarch

Place a large jelly roll pan/cookie sheet in oven and preheat to 425 (preheating the cookie sheet will enable the bottom crust to crisp better). Mix berries in a large bowl. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Mix remaining ingredients in a separate bowl, then toss with berries. Roll out large piece of dough. Place in a 9inch pie dish, then place in fridge while rolling out the top crust. Roll out top crust, and cut decorative holes if desired. Remove bottom crust from fridge, then add berries. Place crust on top, and crimp edges. If you want a glossy, browned crust, whisk an egg with 1T. water, and brush lightly over top. Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until berries are bubbling in center of pie. Check periodically to make sure crust is not browning too much, and cover with foil if necessary. Cool at least 1h on rack before serving (this will help set the filling).

pick-your own fruit

I spend half the summer trying to figure out when and where to pick fruit that I can stock-pile in the basement freezer for the winter, to make jams, and to generally eat copious amounts of fruit without feeling guilty over the amount of money I've just consumed in a very short timespan. I am fully aware that between the 2 of us, no matter how much fruit we purchase, we seem to eat all of it within 2-3 days of purchase (this is a generous estimate). This doesn't so much apply to apples and oranges in the winter, but all forms of berries and stone fruit during the short growing season. In Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire there are many, many fruit and vegetable farms. This is a wonderful thing. However, I have several qualifications for a topnotch, visit-every-year (or multiple times per year) farm. It seems simple, but I want to pick great fruit at reasonable prices at a farm that is focused on growing produce, not on 'agritainment'. A nice produce stand is a plus, but not necessary. Many places I have found are more of a novelty, where people drop by on there way home from the beach to pick a pint of raspberries. Many of these places also are more focused on entertaining families, with petting zoos, ice cream stands and hayrides. I can understand the rationale; these farms are trying to make money, and set themselves apart from the other farms. However, I want to pick lots of fruit, and therefore don't want to pay grocery store (or more) prices, since I am picking it myself. I know I am getting better fruit, but there should be some discount for labor. I love to see families picking fruit together; it's a great learning experience as well as a productive activity. But, if the fruit picking part is more of a sideshow to the ice cream stand, I would rather not deal with these people. Anyhow, as I visit more of these places, these are my favorites:

Verrill Farm, Concord MA
We went strawberry picking here; the strawberries were amazing and well priced. And this was in a year where we had a solid month of rain and no sun. I would imagine other years are even better. The farm stand also had great vegetables; we purchased chiogga beets, bunches of radishes and some great greens. Concord is a beautiful area, and a nice place to have lunch/shop on your way home. Also near De Cordova Sculpture Park and Museum.
Brooksby Farm, Peabody MA
We picked apples and strawberries here. Great location, well-priced fruit.

TBD
Smolak Farms, North Andover MA
This farm lists daily picking conditions on their website. We are planning to pick peaches here in a few weeks. The are planning to have sour cherries in 2010! This would be a miracle.

Farm stands:
Green Meadow Farms, South Hamilton MA
Everything at this farmstand is wonderful. They have a CSA, and carry loads of veggies.

porch tomatoes

Tomato blight? Not my tomatoes. My six heirloom plants, purchased as seedlings from the Seed Savers Exchange, are doing amazingly well. It seems that the combination of big pots, miracle grow soil, watering daily, and the porch roof locating works. I did have a minor catastrophe when I had to retroactively put the cages on (note to self: next year do this early, when the plants are small). Several of the vines split, and I had to mend them with tape. It sounds ridiculous, but they really do heal themselves and all of my taped vines survived. It does make me wonder how it is that a plant can produce a fruit that it can't seem to bear the weight of without human intervention....... Some plants seem to be more prolific producers than others, but I am keeping a tab on the tomato yield per plant:

Amish Paste: 6
Brandywine Sudduth: 1
Trophy : 5
Green Zebra: 5
Hungarian Heart: 3
Unknown (lost label): 2

As of now, there are 50+ green tomatoes out there, and ~10 turning pink or orange. I love climbing out onto the roof and monitoring the tomatoes every day. Jon makes fun of me, but I really love those tomatoes.

raspberry curd

We tried to go cherry picking several weeks ago. Well, technically we did go picking, but we did not come home with any cherries. I have determined that cherry orchards don't exist in New England. The thing is, we searched high and low, and found a website that indicated they had sour cherries. We called, and they said the sour cherries were available for picking. They seemed somewhat pricey, but food prices have gone up, and the orchard was a little further than we would have like to drive, but we love cherries, so we went. There were no sour cherries. They had bing cherries, which looked more like dried cherries, all cracked and shriveled on the trees, and the woman indicated a row in which there were 'red cherries' (i.e. not as ripe) that were similar to sour cherries. Let me tell you, these were not cherries worth eating, much less worth picking. But, we had driven all that way, so we had to return home with something. The raspberries were delicious (but pricey). I made both a raspberry tart, and raspberry curd. I don't know why, but it never occurred to me that you could make curd with something other than citrus. We mostly at the curd mixed with yogurt, but it would be excellent drizzled over pound cake, mixed into oatmeal, or even in a smoothie if you wanted a dash of sweetness.

Raspberry curd (adapted from Thane Price)
2 1/4 lb raspberries
1lb sugar
4T butter
4 large eggs

Place berries and 2T water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered, 5 minutes, or until fruit is very soft. Press mixtures through a fine mesh sieve into the top half of a metal bowl, or double boiler. Add sugar, butter and eggs. Place over a bowl of gently simmering water, and gently whisk until the sugar has dissolved and the butter has melted. Continue to simmer, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. If mixtures isn't as thick as you would like, you can return to the stove and cook for longer. It will thicken as it cools.

Ladeled into hot, sterilized jars this will keep for 3 months in the fridge.

Paella

There's not much better than a great paella. The right paella recipe is a combination of absolute essentials and then pretty much whatever you want. The base requires the right rice, broth, saffron, chorizo, oil and salt. My standard additions include chicken thighs and shrimp, with peas to add a little extra color, plus whatever I have or can find that would be a good fit. To get the right texture you must avoid stirring once you've added the broth. I like to make it outide on the grill using a jelly roll pan (one that you don't mind discoloring a little). You can buy a special paella pan, which is like a slightly deeper round cookie sheet with dimples on the bottom. I've had fine results with just a standard jelly roll pan. Don't forget to squeeze the lemon on as you eat it.

Adapted from Zingerman's Guide to Good Eating.

The essentials:
1 1/2 C paella rice
6+ cups of chicken broth (or fish)
1/2 tsp. saffron
4 oz chorizo (the spanish, cured version), cut into 1/8 inch coins.
4 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. coarse sea salt
4 Tbs. chopped parsley
Lemon wedges

The regulars:
6 chicken thighs, with skin, about 1 lb.
1/2 lb. or more shrimp
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas

Other options:
1/4 C. Roasted red peppers
1/4 lb. clams
1/4 lb. mussels
Any kind of seafood

• 30 minutes in advance, add the saffron to 1/4 cup boiling water.
  
• Get everything read and take it out to the grill. Heat the broth to a simmer with the safron and safron liqiud.
  
• Heat the jelly roll pan over high heat on the grill. Add the olive oil and let it heat for a minutes, stirring to coat the pan.
• Add the shrimp and cook, flipping once, until just pink (~4 minutes). Remove and set aside.
• Add the chicken thighs, skin side down and cook several minutes.
• Add the chorizo and salt, cook for several minutes,stirring to distribute oils.
• Flip the chicken to the non-skin side, coating in oil and move to one corner to advoid getting rice on top.
• Add the rice to the pan, stirring to coat in oil. Cook the rice in the chorizo and oil for several minutes, stirring. Spread the rice evenly over the bottom of the pan.
• Add most of the broth (4 to 5 cups), spreading evenly around the pan. Even the rice out into an even layer again.
• 8 minutes into cooking, add the shellfish and peppers if using, arranging around the top. Do not stir the rice.
  
• Allow to cook, without stirring, for 15 to 20 minutes. The time will depend on the rice. Sample a bite at about 12 mintes to test the texture and salt. Taste every few minutes. Add more salt if needed. Continue to cook until the texture is right. Add more broth if it has dried, being careful not to end with too much. Ideally, it wil finish with little or any broth left, so that the bottom develops a slight crispyness.
• At the 12 minute mark, add the shrimp again and the peas.
• When the rice is done, remove from heat. Sprinkle with parsey.
• Serve with a lemon wedge on the side.
  

fenneled beets

I discovered a new beet recipe. Many, many recipes pair roasted beets with a minted viniagrette, and I can see why. I've substituted parsley, or other fresh herbs I have on hand, but it's just not the same. I've been eyeing this recipe from Deborah Madison for beets with fennel vinaigrette, but I so love the minted beets that I have been unable to stray from my old stand-by. I somehow acquired a large supply of beets in my drawer, so I finally tried the new recipe. An extremely simple recipe, and a completely different tasting one. I can't quite put my finger on it, but the beets acquire a flavor that is greater than the sum of its parts. Maybe it's the sherry vinegar???

Roasted beets with anise vinaigrette, adapted from Deborah Madison
1.5lbs. beets (I used a combination of yellow, purple and chiogga)
salt & pepper
1t. anise seeds
1 garlic clove
2t. sherry vinegar
2T. olive oil

Preheat oven to 375deg F. Peel beets and cut into 1/2in. dice. Toss with a sprinkling of olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread in a single layer on a sheet pan and bake until beets begin to caramelize, and are tender, around 35 minutes. Crush anise seeds with garlic clove and a pinch of salt. Whisk in vinegar and olive oil. Pour vinaigrette over beets and marinate for several hours or overnight (this really makes a huge difference).

rhubarb marmalade

Moving along with my jam-making spree, I made a batch of rhubarb marmalade. It made roughly 6 80z. jars of preserves, and took ~2lbs. of rhubarb, 2 oranges (juice and zest), 3/4lbs. of sugar and half a box of no-sugar required pectin. I also grated ~1 inch of ginger and added that, too. I have become more daring with the pectin, and used less than half of what was called for. It is still sweet, but you can taste the tartness of the rhubarb more. I do think you could use less orange, because this stuff is pretty orangey. It has a nice peach hue, but I was expecting it to look more pink.

rhubarb souffle

When presented with too many leftover egg whites recently (probably as a result of making too much ice cream), and not having enough for an angel food cake, I began to scour my cookbooks for interesting recipes. In the Silver Spoon cookbook, I came across a recipe for rhubarb souffle. Given my love for rhubarb, this immediately seemed appealing. Also, the entire concept of making fruit souffles seemed to create endless possibilities. It essentially involved making a rhubarb compote on the stove top, then stirring the compote into whipped egg whites. That the recipe said to stir and not fold the rhubarb into the whites seemed odd to me, as well as clearly destined to deflate the whites, but somehow it seemed to work. In retrospect, there isn't a drop of fat in the recipe, which probably explains it. It miraculously also seemed to be more stable than past souffles I have made. Lifting it out of the oven, it looked amazing, like a giant pink meringue.

Rhubarb Souffle, The Silver Spoon
7oz. rhubarb, sliced into thin matchsticks
1C. powdered sugar
3T. superfine sugar
4 egg whites (120g)

Sprinkle powdered sugar ove r the rhubarb and sit at room temperature 2 hours. Preheat oven to 325 deg F. Grease a souffle dish, or other oven-proof dish with butter and coat with sugar. Add superfine sugar to 2T. water in a sauce pan, and bring to a boil. Add the rhubarb and cook for 2 minutes. Beat the egg whites until stiff; add rhubarb mixture and beat for 1 minute. Pour into prepared dish and bake for 25 minutes.

spring-early summer ice creams

I hauled out my ice cream maker recently, in a blatant attempt to demonstrate to Jon that ours is in desperate need of replacement. When we received it as a gift nearly 10 years ago, it seemed to be a complete extravagance - who really makes their own ice cream? Apparently, us. We have used it so much that the container is warped to the extent tht the top barely manages to stay on when it's churning, and we long ago had to tape down the button with packaging tape. Last year, Jon ordered a new blade to replace the one that had cracked and been repaired with duct tape (this was sweet, but also irritating, since this was one of my arguments for replacing the machine). So far this spring, I have made three ice creams; fresh mint, strawberry and mint/basil. There really is something special about homemade ice creams. Last year we developed a chocolate-strawberry-balsamic recipe, inspired by a gelato we used to purchase at Zingerman's. I am going to make it this year with my strawberry jam - hopefully it turns out as good. Tonight I am eating the strawberry, and thinking that it would make a good combination with the mint/basil in the freezer.

napa cabbage

I feel very fortunate to have been exposed to two new vegetables recently: kohlrabi and napa cabbage. When we got the kohlrabi, it arrived with pea tendrils, and I was miraculously able to find a salad recipe which used both. For the napa cabbage I improvised a recipe from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, and despite missing several ingredients/not quite having enough of a few things, it was amazing. I imagine it would be even better made as described.

Napa and Savoy Cabbage Salad with Peanut Dressing
1/2-3/4lb napa cabbage, sliced
2-3 carrots, grated or julienned
1 cucumber, sliced into matchsticks
3-6 scallions
1/2lb savoy cabbage, sliced
2T. chopped mint
1T. sliced basil leaves
1/4-1/2C. peanuts (optional)

Peanut Dressing
1/4C. roasted peanut oil
2 1/2T. apple cider vinegar
1T. soy sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1 serrano chile, diced
2 scallions, diced
2T. mint leaves, chopped
2T. basil, chopped
2T. cilantro, chopped
pinch salt

Make dressing: combine everything and mix together. Add salt to taste.
For salad, toss together vegetables and herbs. Pour dressing over top and toss to mix. Sprinkle with nuts if using.

Note: the recipe as written calls for thai or anise basil, which I didn't have on hand. I also made it without the nuts, and it turned out fine. The amounts of herbs can be varied to ones liking, and it can be made without the chile, but it is not nearly as good.

strawberry jam

We finally got a day of sunshine, after what seemed like a beautiful spring turned into an entire month of rain in June. Somehow, the strawberries managed to pull through. We've been getting quarts from our CSA share every week, and we picked over 20 pounds of strawberries in Concord last weekend. We ate so many both our fingers and mouths were red and sticky, and even my tummy was starting to hurt (only a little). I tried a new tart recipe that I was not very satisfied with. Then we made jam. I made two kinds of jam from a recently purchased book, Jams Jellies and Chutneys, by Thane Price. My first batch was strawberry-rhubarb, which I added fresh grated ginger to half of, and vanilla bean to the remaining half. Both of these tasted amazing, and of the moment I cannot decide which I like better. The larger batch was pure strawberry jam, and the recipe was interesting in that the sugar, berries and lemon juice were mixed, then macerated overnight. Following this first incubation, the mix was boiled, then incubated for 48hours. A friend recommended that I try Ball's no-sugar required pectin; I was extremely excited about this, since my major objection to many preserves is that they are just way too sweet for my liking, and that the sugar disguises the pure fruit taste. After purchasing the pectin, I noticed that the recipe enclosed called for some form of juice (mostly apple or grape, depending on the fruit); I had neither, and since I wasn't planning on going sugar-free, but just sugar-less, I chose to ignore this addition. All of the preserved set fine, and I used half the amount of sugar indicated. I may try less next year, but I didn't want to completely ruin my first shot.

Happiness = an egg on top

Nothing is more thrilling than an egg on top. It sounds odd, but putting an egg on top of an otherwise basic dish really turns it into something special. The penultimate 'egg on top' dish is the Korean bibimbop. I distinctly remember the first time I encountered this particular dish. I was in college, and a woman I worked with picked it up for lunch. At the time I had little exposure to ethnic food outside of greasy Chinese, having grown up in the rural Midwest where ethnic food meant Italian. Imagine my mother's shock when I came home requesting hummus, which I was first exposed to at my dorm cafeteria. When I saw Kristin eating the bibimbop, not only did I think it looked odd, but it did not smell remotely appealing. Then, somehow, the third or fourth time she ate it I suddenly acquired a craving. As takeout goes, this is as good as it gets. I like to eat it in or out, vegetarian or not, and I love the kimchi and other sides that come with it. I love it so much that I rarely stray from this menu item, which is atypical. However it's done, it has to have the egg on top. I eat an egg on top of greens, lentils, pasta and rice dishes. I like eggs in any format, but when it's on top, it has to be sunny-side up. Happiness on a plate.