Rizzo e Zucca (Rice and Butternut Squash)

Winds of Change

It was windy this morning with a tiny hint of chill in the air. This got me excited—it felt like fall had actually arrived (although warmer temperatures will stick around for a while). Right about this time of year my cooking habits change. My grill is used less and less, and my giant Dutch ovens start to see the light of day, on the stove or the heat of the oven. It’s all about the braising and the slow cooking, now.

My cooking technique is not the only thing that changes; my tastes change as well. I veer toward comfort food and fall-off-the-bone meats with mashed potatoes. Rice dishes become the norm. Apples, sage, sausage, and squash become my go to ingredients—as well as plenty of pork. And then, there is the Italian food…

Italian cuisine is a no-brainer in my house because it is approved of by my entire family. The recipes I choose are usually hearty, relatively simple, and definitely satisfying. A slow-simmered Sunday gravy (a.k.a meaty tomato sauce) can be the perfect end to a weekend of football and other sports. Throw in a nice bottle of wine and some fresh crusty bread, and I am a happy girl.

This week’s recipe is a typical Italian fall dish: one you will see often grace my autumn table. It’s easy to make, and oh so satisfying. Rizzo e Zucca comes from Lidia Bastianich cookbook titled, Lidia Cooks From The Heart of Italy. This is not your typical Italian cookbook. The recipes are mostly from the lesser known areas of Italy, and are the food that would be eaten everyday, by locals.

Rizzo e Zucca (Rice and Butternut Squash)
Adapted from Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy by Lidia Bastianich Read more…

Baked Farro, Bacon, and Butternut Squash

Costume (Butter) Nut
Do you remember your Halloween costumes from when you were a kid? I do. I remember being Raggedy Anne, and of course there was a mouse costume in there somewhere. One year I was a flamenco dancer, and I went as Wilma Flintstone another year. My favorite costume of all time had to be Cleopatra—partly because the make-up was totally fun, but the real reason was the mondo-cool dress.

My mom had this super-groovy one shoulder gold lamé disco dress that was just awesome. And because I was tall enough, I was able to wear it to be Queen of The Nile. Costume aside, the Gold Lamé Dress will forever live in familial infamy. I don’t remember actually seeing Mom wear it, but I have to assume she did at some point. It was just too fantastic to not wear it. Long live the 70s!

Why am I talking about Halloween costumes midway through September? Because it has been the topic of discussion around the dinner table for the last week. The planning has begun. For the boys the issue is do we care or not, and are we just too cool for Halloween? It’s Middle School. Gone are the Halloween parades, class parties and costume contests. In their place, the real world, where they have tests and homework assignments.

My daughter is in full planning mode which, frankly, scares me. Here’s why. Last week I came home to find her locked in her room (a.k.a. The Lab) furiously working on something with duct tape and scissors. Two hours later she emerges and proceeds to tape (yes, tape) a cardboard dragon costume to our Bassett Hound, Rocket. While we all found it funny, except for Rocket, it is this type of impulsive ingenuity that can make finding a Halloween costume for her difficult. It also means that her choices can be, well, different.

I am all for being your own person and not following the crowd. In fact I encourage all my kids to find their own beat. But someone please tell me why she thinks that being a squash for Halloween would be so totally awesome!? And where I can find a Butternut Squash costume? ‘Cause I doubt I’ll find it at Target alongside all of the frozen options…

Having me make the costume is not a possibility. She’s going to have to go a different route, because this is the only butternut squash I will be making…

Baked Farro, Bacon, and Butternut Squash Read more…

Roasted Cauliflower & Hazelnut Salad

I’m So Fancy.
Last week was the Fancy Food Show at Moscone Center in San Francisco. It’s a long day, and I usually end up with a stomach ache by the end. At no other time is it appropriate, let alone encouraged, to try the Salmon Jerky one minute, and wash it down with a coffee soda the next. (By the way, not a fan of the coffee soda.) Add the endless array of kale products and…you get my drift.

Despite the wacky mélange of fine foods, it’s a lot of fun. Plus there are the foods I never pass up because chances are I won’t get to taste them anytime soon. Legitimate Iberico Ham from Spain? 50 year old? (Yes. You read that right) Balsamic Vinegar? Real French Cheese? I’m talking the gooey stinky stuff that will change your life. Then there’s the Wagyu Beef! (O.M.G! The Wagyu Beef!)

The real point of this gastric free-for-all is to learn what is new and trendy, and what we will see on the market shelves in the coming year. That said, here are my takeaways from this year’s Fancy Food Show:

1. Power to the Veggies
Kale is still king, but it now has competition in the form of broccoli, cauliflower and sweet potatoes among other vitamin-packed vegetables. Everywhere I looked there was a different snack item proclaiming it’s particular health benefit. And Chickpeas! They’re everywhere.

2. Caramel is Taking Over
There will always be plenty of candy at the show. That’s just the nature of the beast. In years past chocolate, in any form, dominated. This year, I was surprised to see that while there was plenty of chocolate, there were caramels in every form and flavor including some infused with a variety of hot and trendy spices. (It’s all about the turmeric, y’all.)

3. There’s Something About Mary
Mixology is still the rage, and walking down the aisles there were plenty of options to liven up your cocktail party. Most interesting was how many booths were either offering you a bloody mary or at the very least inviting you to try their bloody mary mix. Others were pairing bloody marys with the beef jerky they were actually there to sell. (Which is a whole other craziness…Jerky everywhere.) Of course, the bloody mary could be another manifestation of the power veggie movement that happens to involve Vodka. I am okay with that.

4. Here for the Pate
Many vendors and attendees were thrilled about the ban on fois gras being struck down by the courts, and they showed it by handing fois gras out to everyone. I was happy to be right in the middle of it. Watch the shelves for some really great pates in the coming months as vendors ramp up their offerings.

5. Doing Things Right
One thing that was blatantly obvious this year is the number of vendors who are very concerned with making sure that if they are going to make something, they make it the way it should be made…almost to the point of obsession. These producers aren’t making products just because they can. They are making them because they really care about producing food for people that is the purest form of the product. For example, Italian pestos that are created in the same manner that it has been made for hundreds of years. Bottled lemon juice that literally tastes like you bit into a lemon because they take the time to add lemon oil to a specially constructed bottle. All throughout the show, there were vendors like this who were passionate about what they produce. I was inspired.

I have to say that this year was the first time in a while that I walked away from the Fancy Food show excited. It was not the same old stuff, only re-packaged. We found a number of products that we are excited about, so be on the lookout for new things in the aisles. And, of course, we’ll let you know about them.

In the meantime, jump on the veggie bandwagon and try the recipe below. It’s a great way to get your vitamins and liven up your winter palate.

Roasted Cauliflower and Hazelnut Salad
Adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi

Cauliflower, raw or lightly cooked, is a useful salad ingredient, above all in winter when there isn’t a great variety of fresh vegetables available. It soaks up flavors particularly effectively and benefits from anything sweet and sharp. This Roasted Cauliflower and Hazelnut Salad is inspired by a recipe from a brilliant Australian chef and food writer, Karen Martini. Read more…

Gam’s Apple Chutney

Interpretive Cooking

Every family has a Thanksgiving recipe handed down through the generations. Even if it just opening a box, it still counts as a family tradition (or at the very least, a funny commentary on whether or not your ancestors could cook). Case in point, my paternal grandmother was a disaster in the kitchen. In fact, my grandfather did all of the cooking during a time when it was definitely not the norm, and they always came to our house for Holiday meals.

My maternal grandmother was just the opposite. If you read my posts regularly, you will know about Gam’s recipes—she was a really great cook. I have come to realize that she was pretty bad at actually writing her recipes. When you consider she was a teacher for most of her life, it seems sort of strange that her recipe writing would be that “open to interpretation”. It may be more a generational thing than her inability to get her point across. Gam never had a problem getting her point across. She made her opinion very clear…often.

In my cookbook collection, I have some “antique” cookbooks that were written at a time when people, mainly women, did a lot of the cooking. Certain steps were implied, and were not written down—it was assumed the reader just knew. I would definitely put my grandmother’s handwritten recipes in this category, especially because they were written for her own use. She didn’t elaborate. That thought was underscored when I pulled out her recipe for apple chutney in anticipation of Thanksgiving leftovers.

My favorite part of Thanksgiving are the turkey sandwiches the next day and I really like them with some thickly-spread apple chutney. For me, Gam’s apple chutney is the best. But I had to read through her recipe a few times to make sure I understood her thought process. There were a few important pieces of information missing, but I managed to channel my inner Mary Jane, and figured it out.

Below is the revised recipe. Although cooking yet another dish this week might be the last thing you would like to do, keep in mind that a tasty little jar of homemade chutney makes a great gift for the hostess or that last minute gift for the person you forgot! Read more…