Sorry!

Chefetta has definitely been absent. Most of what's been happening in the kitchen lately is off-the-cuff, last-minute things. There hasn't been as much thought put into the meals(and so no forethought about photos, blog narratives) because they have been more about eating-so-we-don't -collapse and not about the kind of eating we do as a conscious action. My better half may argue with that since he has still remarked on a few occasions that a particular meal has been in his top 5 (a top 5 list that is 1000 items long! :D) But, for me, the important thing in writing here is about how I feel surrounding the process and execution of making a meal. And, well, I haven't been feeling it. Which is ironic because I'm sure a lot of you might want to know what I made out of necessity that makes my hubby go mmmmmmmmm....
So, I can just ask you to bear with me. It's not that I've lost interest in making a blog about food, so it's not like I'm cooking away and don't feel like sharing it with you, I'm just not thinking a lot about food right now in general.
I am still reading a lot about food: recipes, biographies of chefs and/or wanna be chefs and also "alternative" philosophies about what we eat... so that's good, and I'm sure Chefetta will return soon:D
xo

Shhhh!

Chefetta has been quiet. Very quiet.
She has had a few things going on in the studio that have been taking up all the brain power. Take today for instance. She forgot to eat(or didn't stop to) almost all day and was experiencing that hunger delirium when the hubby came home and saved the day with pierogi's from a secret Russian deli on the east side. Yum and thanks insert-pet-name-here:) (I'm unsure as to why I've been speaking in the third person...)

I am in the final throes of Thanksgiving menu prep. It's not that I don't like turkey, but I never feel inspired by the traditional menu, and when I've tried to make it despite that, I never enjoy the process. So we have what I'm in the mood for. Last year it was cassoulet. You'll have to wait for this year's menu, as there has been some difficulty procuring some of the ingredients. Not because they are so unusual, but, well, I'm just not gonna go into the details in the spirit of the holiday and all--let's just say a purveyor is on my sh*! list now . It should all be worked out tomorrow, but I don't want to jinx it! We are having a few friends over for dinner, those whose family are in other parts, like ours are.
It's gonna be a good day and you will hear all about it soon!

Boring!

Hi, just checking in. This weeks meals have seemed like "the things consumed so we don't pass out." I've had some studio projects that are keeping me busy, and that means a little less time/brain space to get too creative in the kitchen. There was a night out for me, some take-n-bake pizza from our fave fancy place, pasta w/ a bunch-o-veggies and turkey-jamon sammies. This weekend is supposed to be icky, so I may feel a little more inspired...

a quickie...

Healthy family meal...photo by T.

...and by quickie i mean post and recipe execution. I had some family in town recently and I made this roughly based on a recipe I saw on Epicurious: I mixed, in order of greatest volume:
sake
light miso paste
mirin
brown sugar
soy sauce
sesame oil--I made a paste of all of this, and then spread it on a 1lb. filet of true cod to marinade for 2+hrs. before broiling it for about 8-10 mins.(keep door open slightly and watch like a hawk)
I served it with broccolini that was sauteed with garlic, ginger and sesame oil, and short grain brown rice cooked with a green tea bag.

Pickled Onions

Hi. Sorry I have nothing really exciting to post. This past weekend involved quite a bit of dining out, so I didn't end up cooking much. The only noteworthy thing was the pickled onions I made Thurs. nite and have been using to garnish everything. Since I was kind of winging it, I only made 1/2 an onion's worth, but now I'm wishing I made more!

Pickled Onions

Bring to a boil:
1/2 c. cider vinegar
1/2 c. water
1/4 c. dark brown sugar
1-2 Tbs. maple syrup
1Tbs. mustard seeds
few sprigs fresh thyme
1 bayleaf
salt and pepper to taste

Add 1/2 large sliced onion and return to boil for two minutes an remove from heat. Cool for 15-20 mins and then store overnight in an air tight container in fridge. Then add to sammies, soups, stews, omlettes, pizza. I made parsnip soup with gruyere, pear and pickled onion toasts on the side.

I would suggest starting w/ this quantity to gauge how much you like 'em and how fast you can eat 'em. I don't know much about canning/preserving, so I'd say these are good for a week or two in the fridge since they aren't "preserved" as far as I know.

ps. this is the time of year where I have to apologize for either the crappy quality or lack of photos for the posts(see no photo above) because there is not natural light left come dinner time. I am working on a solution for this. Part of this includes how much of my kitchen I want to look like a photo studio as storage and free space are pretty much spoken for in our kitchen already. Plus, some of the solutions can greatly change the aesthetic of the photos..blah, blah, blah..

One more thing about photos: my banner photo is part of a project I'm working on to be revealed soon!

Weekend wrap up with a birthday wish...

This past week has been a full fall assault--lots of rain followed by rain and then some rain. It kinda put us in full comfort mode, so we spent a good amount of the weekend at home. And comfort mode of course means comfort food.
Starting with Saturday's meal(it was so over the top, it really was the main meal of the day)...

I made a spread of onions, mushrooms and greens by sauteing them and then pureeing them. That was layered with Dijon mustard, Gruyere cheese, Spanish jamon, and day old French boulot. It was all dipped in egg, like french toast and grilled in butter to golden perfection. Served with a side of oven roasted fries, it was a really decadent and blissfully food-coma inducing. Mmmmmm.........

Gettin' golden in butter...photo by Kristin

Food coma on a plate. Jamon, cheese and onion, mushroom, greens spread with Dijon mustard....photo by Kristin

Today's birthday wish goes to G. She is spending her weekend at our fave place, the Or. coast. Last year, she found a gorgeous vintage roasting pan and bought it for me! Then her love traveled,by train, to Seattle to deliver it during a visit. I am soooooo lucky!
I use the pan to roast a chicken with rosemary and lemon between the skin and meat over a bed of rutabaga, cabbage, onions and carrots. Topped with a mustard gravy, it had us lapping our plates tonight.

Fabulous vintage roasting pan...photo by Kristin

Just out of the oven...photo by Kristin

Dinner time...photo by Kristin

And now for a treat for G.'s b-day, a behind the scene video of one of our shared favorite food celebrity. (ps. I think this repeats itself, so you really only hafta watch the first 3 min.)

J'adore...

J'adore dinner...photo by Kristin

things j'adore:

my man for working a 15 hr. day to get the job done
beets with olive oil and sea salt
omelette with gruyere cheese and fresh herbs with toast
a glass of white wine (ok, 2or 3)
a new issue of Vogue
working from home when I want to...(while having a j'adore dinner)
Bill Callahan
My man, an omelette and toast, white wine, Vogue, Bill Callahan...-- after a massage...

I dined alone tonight 'cause my other half had to work late:( he works very hard and i benefit by having things j'adore.

thank you!

ps. j'adore also my bff who is in france right now for a residency. in the champagne region!!!
j'adore her and this could explain my sudden french-yness...

TasteSpotting

A quick midweek post...

here is where I get a lot of my ideas from:

TasteSpotting

A HUGE resource for recipes, articles and info. Or , if you're just hungry and want to drool over food photos.....

More apple goodness...

More apples from Sage Orchards...photo by Kristin

Hi! Just stopping by for a rundown of another dish made with the apples T. brought back from Eastern Washington last week.

For dinner tonight, I roasted onion, cabbage, apples and bacon. Then tossed all of that in a horseradish cream and topped it with pretty pink pieces of broiled salmon and more horseradish cream. It was quite good!

Ok, that's all for now...maybe see you this weekend...

It's officially fall!

Cool weather? Check. Crisp blue skies? Check. Rain storms? Check. Apples? Check.

When I first moved to Seattle, I half expected to see apple trees on every corner full of fruit that was ready to be shipped to say, a little girl in Pittsburgh, watching a TV commercial about all the apples that come from Washington State. Lots of apples do come from WA--Eastern Washington. My other half traveled to the eastern part of our state for work this week. He was able to visit with a friend of his who recently moved there to help with the family orchard business. T. arrived back home with a giant bag of beautiful pink cripps.

Pink Cripps...photo by Kristin
I'm not really sure how I came up with the sandwich below, other than all the different types of crispness combined sounded fitting for the crisp fall day. I made a pesto out of some gorgeous kale, and spread that on toasted bread with bacon and slices of a pink cripp. It was really good! Salty, sweet, crisp, crispy (there is a difference between the two--crisp apples and crispy bacon are very different textures ) slightly crunchy and deliciously savory.

Bacon, apple and kale pesto sammies...photo by Kristin
The apple goodness continued this morning when I made stewed apples to top french toast. It made our whole place smell heavenly.

French toast with stewed apples...photo by Kristin
I expect there will be some more apple dishes on the way...

TTV apples...photo by Kristin

...and also dishes with the kale pesto.

Kale Pesto:

1 bunch of kale, washed and torn into pieces with the stems removed
1/4 c.-ish of garlic infused olive oil(grate some garlic into the oil and heat gently for a few minutes on the stove)
1/4 c. unsalted sunflower seeds
slpash of sherry vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1/4c.-ish water

In a food processor, pulse the sunflower seeds and salt and pepper a few times. Blanch the kale in boiling water for a minute and then drain. Place kale in processor with the seeds and pulse a few times. Add the olive oil and sherry and process. When it starts to come together, stream a little water in at a time until you get the consistency you like.

Sunny September Sunday

This morning I suddenly had a hankerin' for some sea food. Maybe it's because my bff is right at this minute on her way to here in France and that conjures up for me images of when I worked in a bistro, but I said to my hubby while we were eating breakfast that I wanted moules et frites(mussels and french fries) for dinner. We often do this, discuss the next meal while enjoying the meal in front of this. If you know my man, you know he would not say no to seafood. The deal was sealed as we spent the afternoon tromping around Discovery Park, right on Elliott Bay.

The frites by the way, were baked in the oven, and tasted every bit like the real thing. Maybe even better since that little voice in my head was not admonishing me for eating something fried. And I cooked some clams with the mussels. I'm new to liking mussels and the clams made it a whole meal for me.

Below are some photos and if you'd like to see more from our day, click on a photo in the Flickr icon on the right. It will take you to the page of that particular photo and from there you can click on my "photostream" to find the set of photos titled "Sunny September Sunday"
All photos in this post by Kristin







ps. my camera can go underwater!

Playing with my food

For this week's cooking antics, I made brunch for two of my close friends yesterday. I played around with a few ideas I've had in my head. These ideas were mostly about presentation and juxtaposing textures. So, what I made wasn't anything that I hadn't tasted before, just maybe not seen. Then I played around with the photos a little--adding text and a few effects--just for fun!

For the first course, we basically had oatmeal w/ bananas and walnuts. the night before, I cooked some steel cut oats with chopped walnuts and spices and spread it out in a jelly roll pan to set in the fridge overnight. In the morning, I cooked sliced bananas in the same spices and a little orange juice and brandy. As my guest arrived, I sliced the oatmeal into squares and pan fried them in a little clarified butter. The outsides got mostly golden and crispy which was a nice contrast between the soft oats inside and bananas on top. Not too bad.

Butter crisped oats with banana sauce...photo by Kristin

The second course came about from a mish mash of ideas and I don't even know if I can trace the origins. Earlier in the morning, I cut some potatoes in half and hollowed them out into cups. Then I roasted the cups and the insides(which I had chopped into a small dice) until they were golden and crispy. Mean while I slow cooked a diced onion and mushroom hash in butter and brandy with a little rosemary and bacon. When the potatoes finished roasting, I mixed the diced potatoes into the hash. All of these things I held to keep warm until we were done with the first course.

To finish the dish, I cracked one egg into each of the cups and baked them in the oven until the eggs were just set. Then I served them on top of the hash. Yum, yum, yum.

Baked egg potato cups over onion, mushroom, bacon hash...photo by L.

Soft focus effect Frankie at brunch...photo by L.

Update...

Collage of some of this week's eats...photos by Kristin

Earlier this week I picked up a few slow cooker cook books at the library. I really had to sort through them to come up with some ideas of my own on how to use one(I will not use condensed cream of mushroom soup). The chicken from the last post turned out well. It fell right off the bone and shredded nicely for some chicken tacos--the "oops" photo. I forgot to take photos before we finished them off. We got three more meals out of some of the leftover chicken. I used it to make a tamale loaf if you will. Basically one giant tamale and no corn husks to wrap--you just slice and serve. That was really delicious.

I'm trying to decide what should be next up for the slow cooker...it's almost soup weather so maybe something along those lines.

The last two photos are from today's breakfast, but this dish is great anytime, even cold and uses up leftover bits in the fridge. It's a fried rice inspired frittata. I basically dump in a bowl: veggies, leftover rice or pasta, sesame oil and soy sauce and a few eggs to hold it together. Then I spread it out in a pan, cook, flip, cook and eat.

That's it for tonight!

Let's see how it goes

I'm posting a head of time to make sure that I do in fact mention the inaugural slow cooker meal. I prepped everything tonight and it's marinading in the fridge overnight--ready to be plugged in in the morning to cook all day. What's in the pot? A chicken(skinned and separated) with Mexican/Southwest flavorings. There is: garlic, pepper, lime juice, oregano, smoked paprika, cumin, tomato paste, two different kinds of dried chilies, a bottle of beer and some chicken stock. I'll let you know how it goes!

Informal countdown...

Plums from a friends tree...photo by Kristin

Hi everyone! Just dropping by to say that I think Chefetta is almost ready to end summer vacation and get back to some posts. I think to start, I can commit to one post a week until I get back in the swing of things again. We bought a slow cooker today!!! I was enticed by the idea of throwing some things in a pot in the morning and have it turn into dinner by the time I get home from the studio.

I hope everyone had a great summer and I'll see you back here soon!

Our Dog The Food Snob

Hello!  We are back from vacation and acclimating to "real life" again.  Chefetta is still on a bit of a vacation, but I couldn't help and share this story with you.  

We went out to dinner and left the dog at home.  Occasionally,  when we leave him,he gets mad and pulls something, say from the recycling, and leaves it in the middle of the living room floor.  Last night, he pulled a loaf of bread from the table and left it on the floor and did not eat it.  This was a loaf of bread, a day or two old, that we brought home from our vacation.  We only brought it home because we just didn't get to eating it.  It wasn't special at all and I'm guessing that's why Jasper wouldn't eat it.  It was just a loaf of bread from the supermarket, not the organic, artisan baguette we usually have at home. 

Food snob dog...photo by Kristin

oh, and another thing or two

I've added some photos to the last "real" post. (The pork wrapped in pork on the grill--but my computer died?  That one) and here's a video(I think, if it works...) from a few months ago of my friend that I babysit once a week.  He was just learning how to feed himself then.  My new computer does the video!!!! (Yes, I was a little behind).

Could there be a Julia Child style Chefetta post??????

bait and switch

Yay!  Some of you might be saying about a new Chefetta post. 

But, I am only here to say that I am officially not going to post for the next two weeks at least. Why the formal notice when it's been longer than that since the last post?  Only because I know this blog has been neglected and won't be getting any more attention any time soon as we're going on a technology-free vacation. No TV, no internets, cell service only when we go into town.  That may be my favorite feature of our yearly pilgrimage to the Oregon coast.  We literally unplug.  

This has been a full, full summer. A trip to see a good friend and her hubby for their 1st born's baby shower.  The subsequent on-the-fly winery and coast visit.  Bbq's, art shows, and a whole lot more.  The last two weeks or so have been a little challenging: 103 degree temps and a 150lb, hairy dog=escaping to friends out of town w/ air conditioning.  A friends birthday lunch ending in a car accident; not our fault and could have been worse, but a giant pain none the less.(see photo below)  All of this equals not a whole lotta cooking goin' on. 

So, let's just make this official and say it's summer break and Chefetta will be back soon! 

A few full summer photos below...

Pacific City...photo by Kristin

Winery that spells good in Amity, Or:) ...photo by T.

View from Left Coast Winery outside of Amity, Or...photo by Kristin

Owwch.  My 2yr. old car not so new now(and with unseen structural damage and passenger whiplash!!!!!) BOOOOO!!!!!!!!

*ps, After re-reading this a few times, it occurred to me that my mom might give me crap for saying "a winery that spells good".  This was an intentional grammatical error because when I poke fun at things, I usually intentionally mis-speak in the overall jest-ing and having fun. 

In this case, most people spell my name wrong, but this sign has it spelled the same way my momma done named me.  See--there I go again... 

Technical difficulties...

The molecules in my computer have misaligned themselves again, so I am unable to, at this time, to provide photos for this post. (I've temporarily taken over my hubbies work computer) There were too many good things this weekend though to not do a post, so you'll just have to imagine what everything looked like until I can add the photos later.
The theme of the weekend seemed to be "French-ish"...
On Fri, we received a bag of goodies from the garden of T.'s work buddy. Some vibrant yellow squash and a lot of heavenly smelling herbs. So for our dinner, I grilled some of the squash with some other veggies and served them tossed in a vinaigrette featuring the herbs, a simple white bean puree and grilled French bread. I also made an herbed butter and while discussing with T. all the possible uses for this butter he responded "It's herbed butter! What wouldn't it be good on? Just spread it on my face."

Herbed Butter
1 full handful of chopped, fresh herbs of your liking--i.e from farmers market or some one's garden. NOT the grocery store.
1 stick unsalted butter softened at room temperature
salt and pepper to taste
This is so fast it hardly seems worth dragging out the mixer, but then again, not using the mixer makes it not so fast. Using the paddle on your mixer, mix on low speed until combined. Probably a minute at most. This keeps in the fridge for a week or so, or you can freeze it to use when fresh herbs are harder to come by. Use this mixture for/in: steamed veggies, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, on chicken, fish, steak, cook omelette's in, mixed into rice, couscous, pasta, on toast,biscuits---anything that a little butter would make better!

Next, on Sat. morning I felt like using some of the leftover grilled veggies to make savory crepes. A little planing a head was required as the batter has to rest for an hour in the fridge, but luckily I thought of it just as T was taking the dog to the dog park. I had at least an hour and a half which was time for the batter to rest and to make the crepes. It then only took a few minutes to heat the veggies and a few eggs to fill the crepes with. Yum!
Saturday's dinner had a little head start too. While in Oregon last week, two things happened. First, I had a dessert of local cherries soaked in rose wine. Second, my friends dad, on the morning we left, picked us a huge box of cherries from the trees in their yard. I got to thinking that one of the ways I'd like to use them was to soak them in rose too. But my twist came from a recipe that my dad used while on a visit here in Seattle. He put some sage and lemon zest in a bottle of rose to sit overnight and flavor the wine. I combined the two and soaked the cherries in rose with sage and lemon. I used these to make a sauce to go over pancetta wrapped, grilled pork chops served with red potatoes and green beans tossed in the herbed butter I made the night before.
Rose and sage cherry sauce
Two days before you'd like to make the sauce, combine pitted cherries (The dark red kind. Rainier's will not look pretty) in a jar or bowl with 2-3 sage leaves and a swath or two of lemon zest and enough rose wine to cover the cherries. Cover and refrigerate.

To make the sauce:
In a sauce pan, melt a bit of butter and saute 1/2 an onion with a little salt and pepper for about 5 minutes. Add the cherries, some of the wine they've been soaking in and about a cup of chicken stock/broth. Simmer until the sauce has reduced by half. Just before serving, whisk in about a tablespoon of butter that's been cut into smaller pieces, adding them one at a time.

Grilled pancetta wrapped pork chops or: what's better than pork wrapped in pork?
Two pork chops about an inch thick, each cut in half to make four smaller chops
4 slices pancetta

Wrap each chop in a piece of pancetta, securing with a toothpick if desired. Grill over med high heat for about 7-8 minutes on each side. Remove from grill and let rest at least 5 minutes before serving. Each grill varies, so cooking time will too. The pancetta should be mostly crispy all around. Make sure to keep a lid on it for most of the time. This should help crisp things up by retaining heat. We like our pork still a teenie bit pink in the middle. If you don't, cook a minute or two more. Wrapped in pancetta, you shouldn't have to worry too much about the chops drying out. I specifically used pancetta here because I didn't want the smokiness that bacon would have given. But, that could be a good thing in another recipe, so you can do the same steps with bacon. Oh, and if you're not using a gas grill, the smokiness from your grill won't be too much if you use pancetta. But, if you like smoke the just go hog wild! Ha-ha. Pun only a little intended.

Simple veggie side dish
Boil quartered new red potatoes in salted water until a fork easily pierces them. A minute before draining them, add cleaned green beans. Drain both veggies and add to a bowl with a large pat of the herbed butter and toss. Serve. Note, if the potatoes give off a lot of starch that seems to attach to the green beans, quickly rinse in warm water to remove.

Remind me to post what I did with pork chops tonight. Something not to miss, but doesn't fit the "theme".

This is the unofficial start to the "Pantry posts: protiens"

Sharing

Just a quick post today, sharing a photo from a little trip I took last week. I went to Amity, Oregon with my friend to her parents house. It's a little town with not even a stop light in the region of Oregon that is known for it's wine. We made raspberry jam in the old farmhouse kitchen. We had a great time stirring and stirring and stirring. There's a lot of stirring when you make jam! Thanks A. family for having us and sharing your kitchen.

Twenty-three jars of raspberry jam...photo by Kristin

Some ideas...

I almost forgot that my aunt asked me for suggestions on what to do with chorizo, until I spotted this at the store the other day.

Spanish chorizo named Texas, made in California, and purchased and consumed in Washington...photo by Kristin
This is chorizo that's not in a casing, so it's nice to cook up and use a sprinkling of it to flavor things. I used a little this past weekend for our "eggs and toast". That's what we call "should i make something here" as opposed to going out for brunch. I started with really just an ounce or so of the chorizo and saved the rest in the freezer. I may have been a little more heavy handed with it, but we had plans for a 4th of July BBQ that I knew would be a lot of food, so I used the sausage as more of a flavoring. Anyway, I cooked the sausage through and removed it from the pan to some paper towels. With what was left in the pan, I sauteed some chopped onion and, to up the veggie quotient a little, two hand fulls of coleslaw mix(cabbage x2 and carrots). You could use bell peppers or leftover potatoes(roasted, mashed...) or really any veggie, or none at all. I then added 6 eggs whisked with a little half and half, salt and pepper and the cooked chorizo. At this point you can make a scramble by stirring everything around until the eggs are cooked through, or you can make more of a fritatta and let it set up and finish off the top under the broiler for a few minutes until cooked through. I garnished it with cheddar cheese rather than put it in the scramble/fritatta. That way, using just a little looks like more to have it all melty on top.(Again, trying to keep it a little lighter here). Cilantro, sour cream, and salsa all would be good garnishes too.

Chorizo egg scramble with corn tortillas...photo by Kristin
With a side of warm corn tortillas, this would be great for brunch or dinner.

I looked in a few of my cookbooks for other recipes for my aunt and the common thread was potatoes. Mix chorizo in mashed potatoes, top a baked potato with it, make a hash with chorizo and hash browns and top it with an egg. Use an apple corer to hollow out new potatoes, stuff the tunnel with chorizo and roast them in the oven. All of these would work with chorizo in the casing as well. Just dice it up!

we interrupt this program...

...because i can't seem to find the energy/inspiration/set of second hands/extra hours in the day to take photos and write a post. what can i say. it's summer and the social calendar is full + jet lag that won't go away and yadda-yadda-blah-blah-blah--sometimes a girl just wants to eat food and not think about photographing it and making into interesting blog fodder. i'll be back soon!!
xoxo!

ebb and flow

Last week I posted about having Friday dinner according to the ebb and flow of the farmer's market. Well, this week I arrived almost too late. It was a half hour before it was to close, and there were on and off downpours all day. Any of the vendors that were left had sold out of most of their goods (yay!!!). On the way into the market, I saw someone carrying a take-n-bake- pizza and made the decision to not have to make anymore decisions other than that pretty pizza was what we were going to have for dinner. Oh boy, it did not disappoint. 'ZAW has a store front not to far from our house, but we had yet to try it. It's the small farm-locally produced-fresh ingredients-never frozen version of the "take'n-bake" and they have a booth at the farmers market. We are picky about our pizza, but I thought we could at least try it. (Read: I was already starving and I was wooed by the thought of just taking something home and having a delicious dinner appear in about 15 minutes.)
We had a spicy sausage, sage, 3 cheese and maple caramelized onion pizza with a whole wheat crust that was so thin it cooked up crisp as can be.(We very much prefer thin crust pizza's) It was amazing! Everything we love in a pizza. As I was describing the attributes to T. over dinner(organic, local, fresh) we kind of exchanged looks. We have yet to find a local pizza that we love that doesn't cost as much as just going out to a full dinner.(30+ bucks for a pie with two toppings?puh-lease!) Well, we do have a place that does a New York style, but we really both do somersaults for the thin crusted, sparsely topped, true Italian style pizza. And now we have found the Northwest equivalent for less than $20 a pie.
Buon Appetito!
P.S.
No photos 'cause we ate it all up too quickly!

Follow up

A quick response to some of the ?'s from the "grains" pantry post:

I haven't ever used millet. My limited experience with it cooked by others was not good. I hesitate to say that they were vegan dishes while I lived in Eugene. I don't want to contribute to an already rampant stereotype. So, J, do you have any saving suggestions?
As for quinoa, ha-ha! spell check says it's spelled wrong. Even though it's the grain with the highest protein, I don't care much for it's taste. I find it to have a bitter aftertaste. Sorry! But, you could use it in place of couscous for most recipes, just check the cooking time.
And, farro is kinda like Italian barley and in my opinion, better. Read here about farro and spelt, sometimes considered one and the same. For J, try maybe the Kiva? Or is there still that place on Willamette that's a health food-ish place? If not, try online, or I can get some for you. Or, for my parents (and hopefully other readers), Whole Foods for sure. Carmine's maybe, but it will probably cost more. Oh, and it's actually a little expensive for a grain. Don't be surprised to pay more than $5 bucks for a package. It's very hearty so I usually think of it as more of a fall-time thing. But it does pair well with seafood as an almost risotto like dish. There are many camps of soaking vs. not soaking. Soaking overnight like beans. I've found it to be yummy to cook it with the mindset of brown rice--so not soaking. It's not instant, but if you start it first and prep everything else, it doesn't seem to take as long. I also put this in my rice cooker. (The best $8 bucks I spent at Walgreens ever. Rice cookers don't hafta be uber -fancy-talk-to-you-while-managing-your-life. I have seen such at the local Asian market for hundreds of dollars.) Or, pretend you are in Italy and cook it on the stove. (Lidia would. I think me and G. need a shrine to her:) Sorry for the "inside", not joke, but commentary.)
Ok, if the weather co-operates(ie photo ops) I will try to get another pantry post out before I go out of town this week...
And, I hope I've answered your questions.

Pantry post...

...or carbs, or starch. Whatever you'd like to call them. Here's what I usually have in my kitchen:

Grains I have at home...photo by Kristin
Pasta: Probably what I use the most. During the winter, we will have some kind of pasta dish several times a week. I use both white whole wheat, depending on what I'm using as a sauce. A favorite combo is whole wheat pasta with roasted onions, brussel sprouts, garlic, bacon and white beans with lots of grated cheese. I use mostly dried pasta, but like to have a bag or two of frozen ravioli around for super quick dinners. I have yet to use my pasta maker here in Seattle, but have been toying with using it to make some to have on hand in the freezer. Our farmers market has a few purveyors of fresh pasta and it's one thing that I don't mind letting someone else doing the work. Couscous is a type of pasta. It's usually sold in the quick-cooking form and takes no time at all to cook. Cover it with boiling liquid and in five minutes, it's done. Buckwheat noodles only take four minutes to cook. I like them for breakfast with a poached egg, or make a quick miso based soup for lunch. I always try to make extra pasta for my husband to take to work for lunch.

Rice: Both brown and white. I use them both equally, depending on what I'm making. Brown for healthy or when I want a nutty flavor and white when I'm impatient. But always with a rice cooker! It's so easy to throw the rice and water in and just let it do it's thing. It tastes the same as rice cooked on the stove, and it's never ever burnt.

Oats, farrow, barley: All things I have but use much less frequently. I did just learn a new trick for steel cut oats. In a container with a lid, place the oats and liquid of your choice(water, milk, soy milk) in the fridge overnight. By the morning, the oats have absorbed the liquid and you have the starting point for a really hearty breakfast. If you prefer it hot, just pop it in your microwave for a minute. During the summer, I just add fixins and have it cold. It's completely different than the porridge consistency of rolled oats. Maybe more similar to couscous, but with a hearty chewy quality. And that reminds me, I have been known to make couscous in a pinch in the mornings and add the same fixins I would for oatmeal.

You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned bread yet. The truth is, we don't really eat much of it. I order a baguette to be delivered with our produce and might make sammies for dinner one night, or for the hubby's lunch one day. I feel I'm usually trying to figure out what to do with the last half before it turns into a rock. I sometimes freeze it, sometimes make croutons or bread crumbs, but mostly sigh heavily when I realize it has already turned into a rock.

Since I've covered a lot of different items, I'm having trouble thinking of a recipe to post. So I open the floor to you. If you'd like ideas for any of the things I mentioned above, let me know!


Since I started writing this last week Blogger posted it as if I finished and posted it last week. I re-posted it to move it to the top of the list.

Summer evening

Yay! We bought a gas grill yesterday. Hopefully this will cut down on complaints of how hot our kitchen is:)
I tried something really new for me tonight and am really happy with the results.

Garden grilling cocktail...photo by Kristin
First, was a beverage for grilling, a new favorite of mine: white port with cucumber, strawberries and mint, with sparkling mineral water. The strawberries and mint were picked fresh from the garden.
Tonight's venture, tandoori chicken, required a little planning ahead--for overnight marinading--but turned out to be less involved than I thought. I picked up about 3.5lbs. of chicken thighs, skinned them and pricked them several times with a fork. Then I mixed up a "tandoori paste" (recipe below) and covered the chicken with this mixture and placed it, covered, in the fridge until I was ready to grill tonight.

Tandoori chicken on the grill...photo by Kristin
"Tandoori" refers to the clay oven used in India, but a grill works almost as well. From what I've read, this can also be made in the oven, but as a last resort. Before you're ready to grill, pull the chicken out and let it sit about 20-30 mins to come to room temperature. Then, shake off excess marinade and grill as usual--about 30-40 mins or until juices run clear.


To accompany tonight's chicken, I made a ceci(chickpea) flat bread and a cucumber and onion salad. A tip for raw onions: Soak or rinse in cold water for a few minutes. This takes some of the bite out of them. I used my mandolin to make strips of cucumber to match the slices of onion and tossed it all with lemon zest, lemon juice and cilantro(also from our garden and optional if you don't like cilantro). YUMMM. It was really good. I had seconds on the chicken--a rarity for me. We will be seeing this again this summer!

Tandoori Chicken
~3-3.5lbs. chicken pieces, skinned and pricked all over with a fork. I recommend dark meat because it will stay more moist. If you want to use white meat, shorten the cooking time. Also, taking the skin off is important so the marinade gets good and in there(with the help of the holes from the fork)
~1 cup full fat the real thing whole milk yogurt. This is non-negotiable! Low fat and/or no fat doesn't work with the high heat of the grill. Unless you like curdled yogurt.
~juice from two limes(or lemon in a pinch)
~2-3 Tbs. fresh grated ginger (tip: peel ginger root and keep in freezer in a freezer bag. It makes it a breeze to grate w/ a micro plane)
~2 tsp. salt
~2 Tbs. garam masala
~1 tsp. turmeric(optional--for coloring)
~1 tsp. paprika(optional--for coloring)
~cayenne pepper--to taste or omit

In a non-reactive container with a lid, mix all ingredients together and completely cover chicken, making sure to thoroughly work it into the chicken. Cover and refrigerate at least over night, but not more than two days. Remember to remove from fridge about a half hour before putting on the grill. I recommend a med high to high heat grill. Once they're on the grill, don't touch them for at least 10-15 mins. Oh, and oil the grill prior to putting the chicken on. Duh. They should be done in 30-45 mins. Serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over chicken just before eating.

take it and run

OMG as the kids say. Two posts in one day! I'm doing so to assure you that I really am working on the pantry post series. I in fact have a "saved draft" that hopefully will be finalized this weekednd. Ish? :>)

This post is more about my surprise over the popularity of a salad post I did not too long ago. It's funny how these things go. I almost didn't post it because I thought honeydew and cucumber wouldn't make sense to anyone. I never even heard of that combo(tho I'm sure someone out there has), but it just sounded good in my head, and then I made it and it was good and I posted it and it has been so far the most commented on (not necessarily on the comments of this blog) thing I've made. So much so that a friend was inspired to make a salad based on cantaloupe and prosciutto(a classic Italian pairing) based on the success of the honeydew/cucumber salad at her house. Yay! That was incredibly gratifying to hear that I inspired a new idea for someone:) Thanks E!


"First spritzer of the season"...photo by Kristin
This photo doesn't really have anything to do with this post. It's of a white wine spritzer I made a few weeks ago. But the randomness of picking it for this post is planned, 'cause maybe it will spawn something even more fabulous.

Delegating and reminicing...

This has not been the first, nor the last time I will post how hot our kitchen is this time of year. I say it now as the impetus for our dinner this evening--delegating to others the task of feeding us, but somehow different than going out to dinner. I went to the farmers market (every Fri. during the summer a half block from our house) and found a few highly delicious things that required no cooking.

"deliciously delegated dinner"...photo by Krisitn not as staged as usual(too hot and hungry) to make a "blog photo", but in retrospect, not too bad?
Pork and lamb pate, made from livestock that were pasture fed their whole life on Vashon Island. Aged goats milk cheese, hand produced using organic and sustainable means in the Snoqualmie Valley. Olive and herb artisan bread from a local bakery. I supplemented with a salad and some of my favorite olives and a bottle of white wine. Sometimes it pays off to delegate a few things to outside sources. So much so, that this may be the new summer Friday night eats--varied of course to the ebb and flow of the market.

And kinda sorta food related...
It was ten years ago that I decided to take the plunge and be an artist and go to art school. A part of leading up to that decision was painting watercolors of fruit while drinking a bottle of wine with my then new friend Liz. Now Liz and I have been friends for ten years and we're both still artists. We haven't painted fruit still life's in a long time, but have been meaning to do it this summer as a kind of anniversary activity. I kinda got a head start and did one in the studio yesterday...

"back in the day plums from yesterday"...photo and painting by Kristin
* post published edit:
after reading the first paragraph, it seems more like a stream of conscious thoughts than something written for intended readers. Sorry. Is it hard to follow? Please say if that is so. I so desperately don't want to be that artist that says"I can only communicate via imagery" and realize that it's something that I have to work on . This blog helps me do just that. So your feedback is really helpful. Thank you with kisses!
pps. so I've changed a few things three times now after the initial "publishing" How do you see that? Do you see each of the new "publishes?" Tell me!

Pantry post: grains...

...or carbs, or starch. Whatever you'd like to call them. Here's what I usually have in my kitchen:

Grains I have at home...photo by Kristin
Pasta: Probably what I use the most. During the winter, we will have some kind of pasta dish several times a week. I use both white whole wheat, depending on what I'm using as a sauce. A favorite combo is whole wheat pasta with roasted onions, brussel sprouts, garlic, bacon and white beans with lots of grated cheese. I use mostly dried pasta, but like to have a bag or two of frozen ravioli around for super quick dinners. I have yet to use my pasta maker here in Seattle, but have been toying with using it to make some to have on hand in the freezer. Our farmers market has a few purveyors of fresh pasta and it's one thing that I don't mind letting someone else doing the work. Couscous is a type of pasta. It's usually sold in the quick-cooking form and takes no time at all to cook. Cover it with boiling liquid and in five minutes, it's done. Buckwheat noodles only take four minutes to cook. I like them for breakfast with a poached egg, or make a quick miso based soup for lunch. I always try to make extra pasta for my husband to take to work for lunch.

Rice: Both brown and white. I use them both equally, depending on what I'm making. Brown for healthy or when I want a nutty flavor and white when I'm impatient. But always with a rice cooker! It's so easy to throw the rice and water in and just let it do it's thing. It tastes the same as rice cooked on the stove, and it's never ever burnt.

Oats, farrow, barley: All things I have but use much less frequently. I did just learn a new trick for steel cut oats. In a container with a lid, place the oats and liquid of your choice(water, milk, soy milk) in the fridge overnight. By the morning, the oats have absorbed the liquid and you have the starting point for a really hearty breakfast. If you prefer it hot, just pop it in your microwave for a minute. During the summer, I just add fixins and have it cold. It's completely different than the porridge consistency of rolled oats. Maybe more similar to couscous, but with a hearty chewy quality. And that reminds me, I have been known to make couscous in a pinch in the mornings and add the same fixins I would for oatmeal.

You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned bread yet. The truth is, we don't really eat much of it. I order a baguette to be delivered with our produce and might make sammies for dinner one night, or for the hubby's lunch one day. I feel I'm usually trying to figure out what to do with the last half before it turns into a rock. I sometimes freeze it, sometimes make croutons or bread crumbs, but mostly sigh heavily when I realize it has already turned into a rock.

Since I've covered a lot of different items, I'm having trouble thinking of a recipe to post. So I open the floor to you. If you'd like ideas for any of the things I mentioned above, let me know!

The pantry post introduction.

Ok, here it is and I'm just going to wing it...
The purpose of the pantry post(say that 5 times fast) is to give you some ideas on what to have on hand around your kitchen so that you can put together something without having to run to the store all the time. This is not by any means a new idea, but I find myself relying on it a lot. We are lucky enough to be able to have some staple items delivered weekly--produce, bread, coffee, eggs. I only have to go to the store every few weeks to stock up on everything else. Of course, I end up picking up things here and there when I'm in the mood for something specific, but I've been able to really cut down on my frustration that is grocery shopping in our neighborhood. I'll spare you the details because it's just not what this post is about.

For me, a well stocked pantry allows me to make a large variety of things that are relatively quick, easy and healthy and that also tries to be more environmentally and pocketbook friendly. In the last few months, I've been learning how including my freezer as part of my "pantry" can make things even more efficient. You may be interested in some or all of these aspects, so I hope you can find some useful info.
I'm thinking that it may be easier for me to write and for you to read/refer to if I break it up into a couple of posts, each devoted to one aspect of the pantry.
These may include, but are not limited to : grains, proteins, canned items, oils, spices, condiments, and maybe try to include a few recipe ideas with each post? I'm thinking out loud here...if you have any ideas or questions, let me know and I will do my best to include them.

Here are my excuses for lack of posts this week:)
I took off a good portion of the tip of my thumb cutting an onion last weekend. mental note: stop chopping when leaning over to check what's cooking on the stove!
We had a freak heat wave in the middle of the week resulting in getting takeout and eating outside. Our kitchen is on the southwest corner of the building= too hot for making anything.

And the livin' is easy. Now with more photos and cool backwards time travel!

Ok, I'll just admit that I haven't done the pantry post yet, but here is what I did do, starting this evening and going back in time:


Mediterranean burgers..photo by Kristin
Burgers filled w/ capers, anchovies, shallots. Topped with mozzarella cheese and served with cucumber, tomato, basil, spring onion salad.

Spring farmers market pasta...photo by Kristin
Sauteed escarole, spring onion, asparagus, fresh ricotta and fresh handmade pasta.(Most ingredients from the weekly farmers market a block away).
Followed by some gratuitous food photos:

Asparagus...photo by Kristin

Spring onions...photo by Kristin

And a little multi-tasking....
Enjoying a cantaloupe, blueberry, red grape fruit-scicle while waiting for an important email...

Fruitscicle..photo by Kristin

Prefaced by cantaloupe, yogurt soup with red grapes for breakfast...

Sunny morning soup...photo by Kristin

more words, less photos...

Peaches and apricots...photo by Kristin
...for this post. I am very behind on my posts and you can thank Mr. Sun for that. During the winter, I eat, drink, sleep--well that's what I do all winter. When the sun comes out, and I have a new bike, eating, drinking, sleeping mean something else. So, I hope you can follow and roll with this shift. It might mean fewer posts overall, but after i.m'ing(instant messaging) with my friend Asmara the other night(holler!) I now have some ideas for filler on those days when I don't have much else to say. Maybe sort of a series of posts about basics. Take for instance this weekend. On Thurs. night I roasted a chicken, and eggplant and blanched some green beans. Guess what we had for dinner the last three nights? That's not to make it sound boring. A simple thing done well is worth eating three nights in a row. After a day of biking, pulling a cold chicken out of the fridge and serving it with veggies, good bread, plenty of mayo mixed with dijon mustard(the magic) and a rose wine is not only easy, but amazing. So amazing that I should italicize and bold face:a.maz.ing. But maybe not really interesting fodder for more than one post. But...
...This is clearly a case when a little forethought goes a long way. When I roast a chicken, the options are almost endless. Chicken: salad, quesadillas, tortilla soup, Vietnamese sandwiches, pasta, pasta salads...to name a few. So, a basic recipe that goes a long, long way.
That may be the theme for this summer. Forethought. Taking one or two days to make a few things to have later in the week. So you don't have to worry about what's for dinner(or lunch). So you can minimize cooking in the hot weather and take advantage of the produce that is so plentiful this time of year. I've mentioned recently cooking a huge batch of beans and then freezing them. I've also taken to ordering an extra dozen eggs to hard boil and keep in the fridge. They've proven to be good in rounding out the hubby's lunch for work, which are most often leftovers, and are a great thing for me to grab to take to the studio.
Speaking of forethought, I need a day to collect my thoughts and do one or two posts about stocking a pantry and cooking meathods that are budget friendly and make for quick/good/healthy meals. These would be for Asmara and Mona, new readers to Chefetta.
Until then...

Learning Curve

Life is boring if you're not actively learning something, right? So is the theme for this post.
In the first example, it's not so much what I made to eat, but how I played with the photography. I made french toast with homemade apple syrup.
To digress a little, I had a baguette and some apples that were almost past their time and no maple syrup in the house. For the syrup, I dissolved about 1/4c. honey, 1/2 c. brown sugar, a bit of lemon zest, 1 star anise, 1/2 stick cinnamon, a pinch of salt, a grind of black pepper into about a cup of boiling water(in a pot, on the stove). Once the sweeteners were dissolved, I added two sliced and cored apples. They were pretty small, so use one big one instead if that's what you have. I simmered this until the apples were soft, maybe 10 minutes. Then I strained the apples out and let the syrup simmer until it reduced and was a little more concentrated. The consistency will not be like corn syrup, but more watery like some maple syrups. I used the syrup and the apples to top basic french toast.
The learning part came "post-production" or as part of the "photo-processing".


"Shopped" french toast with apple syrup...photo a collaborative effort by Kristin and T.
My dearest took the photos of this endeavor. Honestly, I wasn't even thinking of it for a post, but he was so excited(as he tends to be about dishes with apples) he deemed it "blog-worthy" and snapped a couple of frames. I decided these photos would be a good opportunity to experiment with a newly learned Photoshop skill. To anyone fluent in the program, it may seem beginner-ish. I have taught myself a bit here and there through experimentation and Google, but recently, I found a resource that will send me a new tip every week. Last week's was "depth of field". I just realized that I am not prepared to explain what this means. So, I'm not going to since this is about food and not photography. Just know that I learned something new! And with learning something new, there are lots of mistakes to be made. And to continue the cliche, that's how you learn right? I guess what I'm saying is the photo above was a first attempt at this something new.

Ok then, moving on to more learning...

Birthday basil...photo by Krisitn
For my birthday this week, I recieved a healthy sized basil plant. I know it needs to be repotted, but other than that, HELP! What kind of soil? What size pot? Can I keep it inside? (we have tons of sunlight in the kitchen) I'd like to keep it inside if I can since I recently found out a neighbor lets her dog out to pee in our communal garden. I'd also like to try to grow italian parsley, cilantro and maybe chives. I'd be open to more, bit I figured focusing on the ones I'd used the most would be a good starting place.

The floor is open people! Learn me some herb knowledge:)