So, it's been over a month since my last post. All I can day is that there are sometimes things that supersede the luxury of making/photographing/blogging about food. Yes, we all have to eat, but imagine having to document it to the world. While it is not a complaint, that is what Chefetta has been up until this point; a record of what I eat, made maybe only slightly more interesting because I also make most of what we eat. There have been some " personal" things of late that have been a deterrent. While I want to assure you that it is nothing too dramatic,(or enough to make my mom worry) it has made writing Chefetta not plausible at this time. So, I am not sure when I will return, just that I will.

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"