Fish Soup

This soup is delightful, and easy to make. Serves 2-3 people.

Ingredients:

4 T butter
1/2 onion, chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled & diced
thyme
water
3 c. milk (or cream)
2-3 fillets of white fish

Procedure:

Melt butter in soup pot. Saute chopped onions until transparent.
Add diced potatoes. Saute for 1-2 minutes.
Add fresh or dried thyme.* Stir.
Add water to cover, enough to completely cook the potatoes. Boil lightly for about 10 minutes.
Gently stir in milk, a little at a time, and simmer until hot enough to cook fish.
Add 2-inch pieces of fish, and cook about 3 minutes.

If you use cream this dish will be decidedly richer, and probably better as a side dish than a complete meal. (Great for an appetizer to impress dinner guests!) Otherwise, dilute soup with milk to reach the consistency that appeals to you.

Serve with toast.

*When using fresh thyme in soups, bundle twigs and tie together, then remove when the soup is ready to serve. Dried thyme can more accurately be measured in pinches, to please your palate.

I'm a big herb freak, so I use a lot of dried thyme in this delicious soup.

Celebrity Chef David Chang

Very rarely is there a male celebrity who makes me swoon like a teenager. Some of my past loves have been: Fred Astaire, Rod Stewart, and Leonardo DiCaprio. Also Vince D'Onofrio, in certain roles. I hesitate to write about my new smittenly love, David Chang. My younger self would've probably become his groupie and followed him around begging him to love me, even though he was a total asshole. I am now old enough to know better. (Plus, he is much younger than I, so it's just weird to be thinking of him that way. I'm more comfortable having carnal thoughts about Patrick Stewart.)

If the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, the way to MY heart is through noodle. I fell in love with David Chang because his passion in life was noodles. He sought out noodles in Japan, as many people do, with a singular passion. I admire this quest in ways I cannot express, because it is a thing deep inside my soul. I know it's goofy, and it sounds pretty stupid coming from a Midwest farmer's granddaughter, but David Chang's story appeals to me on many levels. Three of the levels are 1) obsession with noodles, 2) aimlessly trying to figure out what to do in life, and 3) travel based mostly on eating cultural delicacies.

I had vaguely encountered Momofuku by surfing the 'net about food. It was when I was armed with a gift card at Barnes & Noble that I saw the book, "Momofuku," and had the means to buy it. It is part memoir, part cookbook, part photography, and part comical. I so admired the book that I stayed with a cashier for at least 15 minutes while he tried to take the smudge off the cover, couldn't, and then called other stores to see if they had a pristine copy, which I then drove all the way across town, from St. Louis Park to St. Paul, to buy. It's sounds silly, I know, but it is so neat to find a restauranteur and food lover who cares about simple noodles. During that 15 minutes, I watched a woman lose her misbehaved child, helped her look for him, witnessed some near-abuse followed by gift-buying for said child, and saw a homeless guy kicked out of the store. Good times! Just being-in-waiting has its rewards. Cultural entertainment is all around you.

Back to Momofuku. You have to read the story to know where the name comes from. The short version is that it's the name of the guy who invented packaged ramen noodles. What a cool legacy that is! Anyway, crazy David Chang, who has few friends willing to go into business with him, opened a noodle bar in NY, called "Noodle Bar," which was quite close to failing, and now he has at least 5 restaurants that are beloved darlings of New Yorkers. He is famous. He was on the David Letterman show. And he's super-cute (you know, in a younger-brother sort of way). One of my favorite stories from the book is how he describes his marketing plan for Noodle Bar: he brought lots of money to a strip club full of Japanese female strippers, paid for lap dances and gave them his Noodle Bar business card, figuring that if he filled his restaurant with hot Japanese women, the clientele would follow. Hee-hee! Sexploitation aside, that's genius, you have to admit.

What impresses me so much about Momofuku is the simplicity of the menus. Noodle Bar opened with a few versions of noodles and pickled vegetables. Beverages were severely limited. Exchange was cash only. I think that restaurants often have WAY too many things on the menu. In other cases, too few (Craftsman, take note). When I go to a restaurant it is an event, and I want to know, at least in part, what I'm about to put into my mouth. I don't want oodles of flourishing descriptions to read about the main course; I rely on my waitron to clue me in on the details. When I read one of those descriptions, I ask the waitron, "So, what does it TASTE like?" Hello! Please don't go on and on and on about tarragon-infused blah blah blah... you know? Speaking of blah blah blah... there I go again off on a tangent.

Now David Chang is rich & famous, and his restaurants are hard to get into. Oh, well. Here is a recipe from the book, which is so simple and so enlightened.

BUTTERMILK DRESSING
makes 1/2 cup

Whisk together:

1/2 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 T sour cream
scant 1/2 t kosher salt, or more if needed
generous 1/4 t sriracha (rooster sauce), or more if needed

In the book, this is served with raw fluke, soy & poppy seeds. When he invented the dressing, he and his staff ate it on leftover baked potatoes. That is pretty darn good. WAY better than ranch dressing on potatoes.

In the coming months of darkness, I will be adding sunshine to my world by cooking from the inspiration of David Chang. Look for more neat ideas. Also, Chinese New Year is coming on February 3rd, and I will be creating another fabulous feast that will include egg rolls, which I just made all by myself. And they are way better than what you can get in a restaurant. Also a future post about paladares.

Let the Sky Rain Potatoes

M.F.K. Fisher is an American icon of food writing. I know very little about her, having just discovered her. She lived from 1908-1992, in California and France. Despite her pedigree, she was a very down-to-earth person when it came to food. She reminds me a little bit of Arianna Huffington. Someone who has the privileges of the rich, yet remains an advocate for the less rich. Rare.

M.F.K. wrote about potatoes more than once. At first, it seemed she despised the tuber, because it was served unceremoniously at every meal of her childhood. Meat & potatoes, meat & potatoes, meat & potatoes. Later, she wrote about its discovery. The glorious discovery of the potato, and then the monarchy that pushed its edibility on the poor, who then starved to death when the potato curated its own disease. And then later, she wrote about the wonder of the potato, describing its fluffiness with a sensuality I will probably never achieve on this blog.

Let me try to tell you about my own experience of potatoes, and then give you a new recipe.

My first intense potato experience was when I had my wisdom teeth out, at about age 13. All I wanted to eat was mashed potatoes, soft enough with cream & butter to be practically put through a straw. That magical food saved my life. I didn't want to die as long as I had mashed potatoes, with black pepper. I think there is somewhere a picture of me in bed recovering, with an almost-smile on my face, only because of mashed potatoes.

Years later, I tried to understand how to cook potatoes. My, my, my... they are hard to cook. Consider the varieties. I read "The Man Who Ate Everything" by Jeffrey Steingarten, who, in journalistic fashion, tried to master potato cooking, and dissected the starch content down to a science. It confused me more.

DH prefers long-cooked oven baked potatoes with thick skins. I prefer fresh red potatoes boiled softly.

My friend, who was a chef at the Modern Cafe for years, told me that he can easily cook gnocchi. "Oh, my!" I said, "Gnocchi is easy?"

"Yes, totally easy," he said. And then he went into all the complications of picking the proper potato. He warned me about farmer's market potatoes (too fresh), and of grocery store potatoes (too old). After a few minutes of this, I was tuning out. Because really, how can you know a proper potato for gnocchi? Please, spare me.


POTATOES WITH ROSEMARY & GARLIC

In a pan, heat olive oil.
Add diced potatoes.
Saute, adding a lot of rosemary and fresh crushed garlic, and of course, salt. Cover the pan and cook, stirring ocassionaly, for however long it takes, because as I've said before, I know y'all know how to cook!

It is an oily dish, but delicious!

I love potatoes, so much. Today at the grocery store I perused all the frozen types of potatoes, and I was totally grossed out. Let's just review a few of the grossest things available for purchase.

sweet potato fries
hash browns
tater tots
potato pancakes

None of these are good food. Even though I am a mom who wants desperately to make food more instant, I cannot, will not, serve this crap to my kid. And neither should you.

Except once in a while.

Root Veg

Adapted from page 435 of "The Joy of Cooking": Winter Root Vegetable Braise.

This differs considerably from the Joy recipe, mainly because my cooking method was in the oven instead of on the stove. As always, do it your way! I will let you know the essentials to making a dish taste good. Also, I don't follow measurements very carefully, because who knows how much is a pound of turnips? So again, do it your way. Because I know y'all know how to cook.

INGREDIENTS

root vegetables (I used parsnips, potatoes, japanese yams, and onions)
garlic
butter, olive oil
herbs
white wine
chicken stock
flour
cream
dijon mustard
chopped parsley
s&p

PROCEDURE

Preheat oven to 375F. Cut vegetables as you wish. I cut large pieces. Place in a baking dish. Add 2-4 T butter, and some olive oil. Include about 4 whole cloves of garlic (no need to peel! I love that!)

Shove some herbs in there. I used fresh tarragon, dried thyme, and a bay leaf. Oh, and some dried dill.

Bake until sort of bubbling/sizzling but not burning, about 10-15 minutes.

Stir. Add 1/4 c wine. Stir. Cook until alcohol cooks off. Stir in 1 T flour.

Add 2 - 2 1/2 c. chicken stock. Stir. Bake about 20-35 minutes. Cooking time totally depends on your baking dish, oven, amount of veg, etc. You know this. You want the veg to be tender. This is great if it turns out like a meatless stew.

When looking good (I mean the dish, not you. Of course, you may be looking real good by now if you are drinking the wine. Whatever!), reduce heat to 310F. Combine 3 T cream + 1 T dijon mustard with chopped parsley. Add to pot. Stir. Cook about 5 minutes. Taste & add salt & pepper to taste.

It's done!

Truly, you could make this dish countless different ways. Honestly, it's the flour thickener and the cream/mustard/parsley that really make it. If you skip that, you are making something different.

Bon appetit!

P.S. Still taking contestants on the turnip butt pun contest.

Fish On!

In celebration of Father's Day, my mom and I arranged for my husband and my dad to take the boat out on Lake Johanna. You see, the first boat trip of the season is an event full of frustration and foul language, and I didn't want to go this year. So, it worked out great! DH caught a fish on his first cast: a very nice bass. He brought it home for dinner. It tasted like fresh spring water, which is not always the case, but we've had so much rain this year that the fish tasted very clean. DH pan-fried it covered in Saltine cracker crumbs. I made the side dish.

This is a classic recipe my mom used to make when we were kids. I have always loved it. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to cook, but it is worth it.

FISHERMAN'S POTATOES
Serves 3-4 people

3-4 potatoes (I like gold or yellow potatoes)
1 large onion (I like Vidallia sweets)
1 stalk celery, sliced or diced
2-4 T vegetable oil
herbs (I used rosemary, oregano, and tarragon; you can use whatever you like!)
salt & pepper

Cut onion into dice. Saute in oil in a cast iron pan. Add celery. Saute until transparent and soft.
Wash and peel, if necessary, potatoes. Cut into chunks. Add to pan and use additional oil if necessary.
Add salt to bring the water out of the vegetables.
When the pan is almost dry (but not burning; this takes about 5 minutes) add water to cover, just barely. You can always keep adding water. The more water you have to continue adding, the more the potatoes will break up and become mushy and sloppy. I recommend putting in just enough water the first time.
Add delicious herbs; I prefer dried herbs for this dish.
This dish requires a lot of stirring, that's why the potatoes break down.
When the potatoes are cooked and the consistency looks good to you, remove from heat and serve.

Weather Conundrums, and Guilty Pleasures

It is a typical spring day in Minnesota: I have changed clothes three times already, to accommodate the weather changes. I will probably change again when the sun goes down.

It was cool and rainy in the morning, and the kids are sick so I wanted to make a big pot of soup. But the weather forecasters are telling us it will be 90 in about 5 hours. A big pot of hot soup would be a waste. What to make? Vichyssoise! Potato soup is one of my favorites because it can be eaten hot or cold. The baby can it plain, and I can spice mine up with hot sauce and a drizzle of olive oil (note my artistry in photo above). Also note my culinary artistry with fresh spring herbs from my garden: savory, tarragon, and chive blossom. Mmmm....

Also today I am in the process of making red velvet cake, using this recipe. It is inspirational, I tell you. I just found out that you can make cakes just for fun! Who knew?

Well, actually, I do have a guilty little reason for making this cake. My daughter got a fever this week and I didn't take her to the doctor because I wasn't really very worried. But she stayed sick, so I finally took her in and she has strep throat. So I felt really bad for not taking this more seriously, and I bought her presents, and now I am making a cake. I think that makes up for being somewhat negligent, don't you?

Success again! I made another tortilla de patata with mushrooms and asparagus. Not as uniform in shape or texture, but still a very nice one-dish meal for dinner. I love tortilla de patata! You really should try it.

What to do with all the dill in my garden? I saw a recipe on New Scand Cook that was one of Julia Child's when she lived in Norway. I tried it out with frozen tilapia from CostCo, and it worked wonderfully. If you are not brave about raw fish, this is not for you. It took a lot of guts to eat it, but it was delicious!

Cured Fish -- a type of Gravlax:

Cut fish however you like, I like chunks as in ceviche.
Toss with equal parts sugar and salt, and dried dill. Drizzle a few drops of rice wine over it, to get the curing started.
Marinade for 30 minutes.
Add LOTS of fresh dill.
Eat with crackers or just a fork!

I tried a similar thing with already-cured smoked salmon (lox) and it was not so good. Lox really needs no additions.

Tonight I am going to try mu shu pork for the first time. Good Luck, Jocinda!

P.S. I don't know how to post photos in the right order.

The Great Thing and The Neat Thing

News! I made Tortilla de Patata alla Carmen de las Casas, and it was great! The family devoured it (i.e. no leftovers). I was really surprised at how easy it was for me to flip the tortilla. Success!

In other news, I have been reading a lot about cooking and family. Hungry Monkey is particularly interesting. The great thing is that there is so much out there on the Internet to eat up (no pun intended). And the neat thing is that there are a lot of people out there who share the same values as me, as us. I mean, there's a lot to celebrate about humanity.

For example, Orangette reports on how happy she is to have her grandma's recipe box. I can totally relate to that. She goes on to describe the notes grandma kept, dated notes listing the menus she served at specific dinner parties, and who attended. To me, this is a truly fantastic treasure. And it's cool to know there are others out there who share this love of the little things, the little records that people keep of their day-to-day lives.

In even more news (well, not really news, but just something to share), Ariel and I made cookies today, and as the forgetful woman that I am I forgot to push up her sleeves when she packed the brown sugar, and I forgot to grease the cookie sheet.

Yesterday, I got out of the shower and forgot if I washed my hair. I love being me!