gin z'herbes

it's almost 5 on a friday here and after the week we've had in casa livingawesomely, it's not strange that one's thoughts turn to cocktails. 

this one could be celebratory or sorrow-drowning, which not-coincidentally makes it perfect for a week of ups and downs in which i finally got a job (!) and our darling pug maeby had to have emergency surgery to remove the felt furniture floor-protector thing she appears to have eaten (dogs will eat the stupidest things, honestly).

luckily she's fine (staples and sad-face aside), the job will help pay for her $$$ surgery, and i don't start til monday so i can be home with her for a few days as she recuperates. i'm also extremely lucky in that the job is basically my dream position and i will be able to do a lot of good for the community while putting my legal training to good use. so, overall we're ending the week on a high note.

i'm also a bit surprised to note that the ol' herb garden is still going strong. i haven't been doing a lot of cooking over the past couple of days while the pup was in the hospital, so i've been craving green things and freshness. we already had some gin in the freezer and simple syrup (1:1 sugar:water, boil, let cool) in the fridge, so making this was a snap.

i wanted this to be extra-herby and i like a little salad in my drinks, so i just muddled mint (a couple of sprigs each of chocolate mint and orange mint), mexican tarragon, pineapple sage  basil and italian parsley in the glass with about 1 tablespoon of simple syrup. it was maybe 1/4 cup total herbs, not packed down. you can of course use whatever you have handy, but i like a mix of at least a couple of things so you get the variety of flavors - some savory, some less so.

then just add some gin (more or less a shot, depending on your week!) and fill the rest of the glass with sparkling water. you could also use tonic instead, and leave out the simple syrup. but i really like not having other flavors (like bitter quinine) getting in the way of all those herbs. you could also muddle and then strain out the leaves, but as i said, i like the swampy gardeny aspect of it and i enjoy eating the different leaves as i come across them. as ever, go with your lights.

so cheers to everyone surviving this week and let's all cross our fingers that next week and the weeks after that give us some more normal old boring wonderful times to be grateful for.

*ingredients* (roughly)
1/4 cup mixed fresh herbs - mints, thyme, parsley, cilantro, basil, sage - whatever you've got
1-howevermanyyouneed shot(s) gin
1 tablespoon (or to taste) simple syrup
sparkling water to fill the glass

ginger chocolate pear bread cake

i was initially going to introduce some punctuation into the title of this post, but in fact i actually think of this as if it was all one word, like GingerChocolatePearBreadCake, so i decided to leave it punctuation-free. 

it's dangerous, though, if you already don't really use capital letters as you ought and then you start flouting the rules of punctuation. you could go off the rails really quickly, is what i'm saying. but. BUT. i was almost an english minor, so it's like one of those "learn the rules so you can break 'em" things. 

or not.

pears and i have a moderately complex relationship. i kind of dig fake pear flavoring (though it's uncommon to find in candies, etc., i like it when i do) and my favorite kind of skyr when i went to iceland was pear-flavored. too often when i buy pears, though, they start out hard, enjoy a brief 30 second interlude of flavor/texture perfection, and promptly melt into the crisper drawer.

that's essentially what happened with these pears mike bought, but i found them before they were quite destroyed and decided to put them to use in a sweet quick bread. there aren't a lot of pear bread recipes out there, but i found this one and modified it to my mental image of the pear bread-cake i sought.

to that end - chocolate. also much more pear and ginger, including a hefty dose of finely grated fresh ginger. nuts would be a good addition, too, but we didn't have any because we used the last of the pecans for the beet and blue cheese salad (aka Beets of the Southern Wild) we made for this year's oscar pun dinner (see previous offerings, Midnight in Pears and Precious: Based on the Liquor Gin by Bombay Sapphire, whose recipe has sadly been lost to the mists of glorious memory).

the great thing about quick breads is how quick they are (!). the main work involved in this is the messy (for me) peeling and cutting-up of the very-soft-at-this-point pears. as shown above, just cut them in half after peeling, get the core out, and chop them thinly one way and then the other. you don't have to be overly fastidious about this - they kind of meld with the rest of the bread anyway.

other than that, it's a typical one-to-one-and-1/2-bowl affair - the wet ingredients (including sugar. sugar usually counts as wet in baking) get mixed together and then you add the dry ingredients. probably the best thing would be to mix the dry ingredients separately and then add them, but i'm congenitally unable to dirty more dishes than necessary, so i always mix the leaveners in the measuring cup with part of the flour, add that, add the rest of the flour, and mix everything gently together. then fold in the pear and the chocolate. i used some dark chocolate discs, but you could also cut up a bar or use some chocolate chips.

i buttered the loaf pan (9"x5") and made a little liner out of parchment paper. you don't necessarily have to do this, but the paper or a liner of aluminum foil will make the bread easier to remove from the pan later. a stitch in time, etc.

then just bake it for 45-50 minutes or so, turning it around mid-way through. i let it cool in the pan for awhile before taking it out, which was a good move because this stuff is super moist (though not dense!) and it really wanted to fall apart at first. once it cooled down, though, it made for a rich, gingery afternoon treat that stayed lushly soft for several days. it's particularly good with a strong cup of tea, but would also work as a more dessert-y course with a scoop of ice cream.

ginger chocolate pear bread cake
(heavily adapted from this ginger pear bread recipe)

mix

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 packed teaspoon grated fresh ginger (i used a microplane over a cup to make sure to catch all of the ginger juice, which contributes a lot of flavor)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

zest of 1 lemon

add
1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs, beaten

mix separately, then add

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

fold in
2 cups peeled, cored, and chopped pears

1/4 cup chopped dark chocolate

bake at 325 (although i actually started at 350 and turned it down to 325 after 10 minutes or so) for 45 minutes or until a toasty golden brown

listening to: yo la tengo

moroccan carrot salad with citrus and spice

oh hey, look, it's almost march. time flies when you're unemployed! (no it doesn't) 

i've been trying to make the most of this interlude of working part-time. i tend to be one of those people who really doesn't do that well with enforced time off (i get antsy), but it's been nice to have time to do various cooking-related projects (i seasoned a new wok!), take the dogs on long walks, and finally get around to planting a small herb garden. actually "herb garden" sounds fancier than it is - it's just a couple of plastic bins, really. but i'm super-excited about the culinary possibilities of my new endeavor - now i'll have italian parsley, basil, oregano, chives, orange and chocolate mints, pineapple sage, and mexican tarragon (aka mexican mint marigold) at my fingertips. 

unfortunately the garden came about after i made this moroccan-y carrot salad, or i'd definitely have used some of the orange mint in it. even sans orange (or any) mint, though, it was well worth making and it brightened up an otherwise dreary february day with its citrus-spicy carrot ribbons and non-homegrown herbs.

i tend to keep a lot of dried spices around, as they're easy to get in small amounts in the bulk section of our fancy local supermarket. if i could only get whole bottles at a time, i'd probably have fewer. so if you don't have some of these, nbd. just leave them out or add more of what you do have, to taste.

here i used about 1/8 of a teaspoon each of ginger, cinnamon, cumin, sumac, and coriander and perhaps 1/4 teaspoon each of za'atar and kosher salt.

then i added juice from 1/2 a lemon and 1/2 a small orange and a couple of teaspoons (aka a "glug") of olive oil and maybe a teaspoon each of honey and pomegranate molasses. ta da! dressing! it's totally to taste, though, so play with it a bit.

you could cut the carrots in whatever way you prefer. i was going to grate/julienne them with my mandoline, but i can't find it and now i'm not sure if i've even seen it since we left portland. it's possible that my mom threw/gave it away, as i'm not sure she's forgiven it for chopping the tip of my finger off a couple of years ago (lesson: be so SO careful with those things. they WANT to hurt you. also brussels sprouts are hard to cut on a mandoline.). 

so i used a peeler to cut them into long ribbons instead. because pretty!

a little bit of chopped shallot or scallions wouldn't be out of place here in addition to the herbs, but not having any, i just tossed in a big handful each of chopped parsley and cilantro. because in adversity we make do. just like the pioneers.

this will keep well in the fridge for at least a few days. the dressing pools in the bottom of the bowl a bit, but you could add some chickpeas or other beans or some chicken or hard-boiled eggs  or feta and make a very pleasant little lunch for yourself.

*ingredients* for maybe 4 servings
4 large carrots
1/8 teaspoon or so cumin, coriander, ginger, cinnamon, sumac
1/4 teaspoon or so za'atar and kosher salt
2-3 teaspoons olive oil
juice from 1/2 lemon and 1/2 small orange (~1/4 cup or less total)
1 teaspoon  honey and 1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses (or just 1-2 teaspoons honey)
1 handful each chopped parsley and cilantro (and/or mint) - maybe 1/2 cup total

listening to: a pandora station for MIA's paper planes, so kate nash, lily allen (wow, do not cross that kid) and (perhaps inevitably) MIA herself.

breakfast salad - kale, avocado, bacon & egg

i'm basically endlessly interested in what people are eating at any given time. i was actually excited when people initially thought that twitter was just going to be a bunch of people yapping about what sandwich they had for lunch. 

especially interesting to me are regional differences in what's considered "breakfast food." in the united states in general, we tend to think of things like omelets, pancakes, or oatmeal, but here in austin, breakfast tacos or migas are among the most popular ways to start the day. when i lived in portland, we swooned over wild salmon hash. i guess in pennsylvania they eat scrapple? etc, etc. and of course outside the united states there are as many favored breakfasts as there are people - kaya toast in singapore, ful medames in egypt - you get the idea.

all this by way of saying that it's not totally out of the bounds of normalcy to eat salad for breakfast. personally, i can't handle sweet or overly bread-y-based breakfasts - i like protein and savoriness to start my day. this salad hits all the right breakfast buttons for me, with a creamy avocado and yogurt dressing, vibrant raw kale and a bit of bacon and a fried egg to keep you sated and happy until you have a sandwich to tweet about.

kale kale kale. everyone's talking about it. i like it in salads mostly, though sometimes i cook it like other greens - with olive oil, garlic and chili flakes. for this iteration i used the regular curly kale, though the flatter darker lacinato kale would be good as well. just take the stems out by holding the stem end in one hand and running your index finger and thumb along the stem to the top of the leaf - the non-stem part should come off pretty easily. then pile the leaves up and slice very thinly - as thin as possible. this keeps it from being too tough.

put the leaves in a large bowl, add two tablespoons of olive oil and massage the oil into the leaves. the oil apparently softens the cuticle of the leaf, making it more tender. i don't really find tenderness to be a problem with the lacinato kale, but with the curly stuff, you definitely want to do this step.

the dressing comes together quickly in a food processor - half an avocado, 1/4 cup of greek yogurt, the zest of 1/2 - 1 whole lemon, the juice of same, a teaspoon or so of salt and a small-medium clove of garlic. you want to cut the garlic up a bit so that it blends in nicely. or you could use shallot. or regular yogurt. it is, after all, your thing. do what you want to do. once the dressing's nicely blended up, you might as well use your hands again to make sure that each leaf-bit is coated. it's messy but effective.

you can eat it like this and it's a good salad. it'll last for awhile (~4 days, at least) in the fridge with no ill effects. i like to dress it up a bit for breakfast, though, with the addition of some turkey bacon and a fried egg. clearly one could also use regular bacon. i just don't dig on swine, that's all (though because of their cuteness and intelligence, rather than their apocryphal filthiness).

surely everyone knows how to make bacon and a fried egg, but just in case - i like to cut the bacon up into little pseudo-lardons, then cook over medium-high heat until cooked through and crispy (it should take perhaps 5 minutes or probably less). then you can cook the egg(s) in the bacon fat! yeah! i like to put the egg in an already-hot pan over medium heat and salt and pepper it well. then put a lid on it so that the yolk cooks as the bottom is getting all frilly and crisp. different people have different fried egg preferences, so just cook as you see fit. i like it when the white is fully opaque and the yolk is still runny.

then just add the bacon to the salad, slide an egg on top and you're golden. if you're not eating all of the salad immediately, you could keep the bacon and kale separate until you're ready for it. it might stay crisper. and i would only do the egg when you're just about to eat. no one wants cold old eggs.

this also makes a fine dinner or lunch salad, if you roll like that.

*ingredients* makes 3-4 servings, depending on how much kale you want

1 bunch kale
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large avocado
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1 small-medium clove garlic
1/2-1 teaspoon salt
3 or 4 strips of bacon (i used turkey bacon) *optional
eggs (probably like 1 per serving, so 3-4 total) *optional

listening to: my main jams these days are kishi bashi and the new st. vincent and david byrne album. lots of strings and horns (respectively) get me every time.

chicken liver pâtè and pickled cherries

no doubt you've resolved to start eating better or you're about to begin some new fitness regimen for the new year. that's all well and good, and you should (although you look great now!). but maybe there's still room for pâtè in your newly virtuous life. 

even if there isn't, if you act fast you can have it this year. or it will still be there in february when you start backsliding (well, not you. other people who lack your willpower).

plus, even if pâtè isn't your thing, you should still make the pickled cherries because they are good in other stuff. like... sandwiches? on a cheese plate? even (stay with me here) over ice cream (maybe that's too much)? 

these are stupid-easy and well worth your time. i used frozen cherries, because pitting them is not fun and i didn't have time. however, i think they suffered a bit in terms of texture (they're a little soft, though still totally good), so if pitting cherries is your jam, by all means use fresh.

above are the spices used - crushed red pepper, cloves, coriander seeds, and star anise. mix these, 1/3 cup sugar, 2/3 cup red wine vinegar, and 1 cup of water and bring it to a boil. let it boil for 30 seconds or so, then pour it over a pound or so of frozen cherries.

you actually should probably do this in a more heat-proof container, but the glass jar worked for me. then just refrigerate for a day or so (or at least a couple of hours). delicious! they look very pretty when you put them in a bowl with some of the star anise pods.

they are also a good match for the pâtè. somehow the unctuously rich pâtè goes extremely well with the sweet & sour juiciness of the cherries. they cut the richness a little and add some texture to the whole thing.  

if you've never made it, pâtè is probably a bit daunting. however, it's actually quite easy and cheap to make and tends to be pretty impressive as well, making it a home run for dinner parties or fancy cocktail snacks.

unfortunately the first thing you have to do is clean the livers. gross, but necessary. get all of the weird sinewy things and other stuff out of there. then heat some butter in a medium/smallish pan over medium heat until it begins browning. add chopped shallots and four sprigs of thyme and cook them for a minute or so. then add the livers and some salt, pepper, allspice, and brandy. cook everything for 7 or 8 minutes or until the livers are still just a tiny bit pink in the middle.

let things cool, take out the thyme, and blend with a little cream in a food processor until it's very smooth. if you want it to be more rustic, you can serve it as-is, but i think it's better to press the pâtè through a mesh strainer to ensure that it's smooth. it only takes a minute to do and it's much better - just use a spatula to press it through.

you can serve it immediately or (preferably) let it sit in the fridge for a little bit to let the flavors meld. it's great with crackers or little toasts or the like. adding some cornichons or other pickles to the mix is not a bad idea either.

even if your new year brings resolutions of better living, i hope there's room in there for a little bit of indulgence once in a while. moderation in everything, right?

*ingredients*

pickled cherries:
1 pound frozen or fresh sweet cherries
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon whole cloves
5 whole star anise pods
1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds
1/3 cup sugar (can use more - this will not be terribly sweet)
2/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup water

pâtè: 
5 tablespoons butter
4 sprigs of thyme
2 medium shallots
1/2 teaspoon salt
12-15 grindings black pepper
1/4 teaspoon allspice
3/4 pound chicken livers
2 tablespoons brandy
1/2 cup heavy cream

apple-oat cake

this isn't one of those showstoppingly lovely tiered cake creations, all perfect smooth crumb-free icing looking down from an ornate pedestal. it's more along the lines of a slightly slumpy ugly duckling cake. however, it's the one that ends up getting enjoyed more in the end, with its soft, sweet apples, delicate crumb, and endearingly cheerful air of just wanting to be pals.

i made this for my good friend's bachelorette party/shower/dinner party thing. now that we are all Mature Ladies in our early 30s, a dinner and a couple of drinks and some low-key hanging out are more the general speed than cheesy veils with novelty accessories and ill-advised trips to LaBare (i should say, however, that i've never actually been to LaBare, so i'm only guessing that it would be ill-advised). 

anyway, the cake made for a sweet and wholesome end to a sweet and wholesome evening.

this looks like a lot of apples, but these little beauties are quite small. all together, there were about 2 1/2 cups, once sliced. these are little jonagolds, and were very good, but any kind(s) of decent baking apple will work. maybe your farmer's market has some?!

so peel and core them, then cut them into fairly thin slices - maybe like 1/8 of an inch or so (but it's not that big a deal - just eyeball it). then toss them with a little acid so they don't oxidize too much. i often use lemon juice, but this time substituted apple cider vinegar to great effect. i think something like balsamic would be gross (?) but champagne vinegar would be nice. or stick with lemon juice. 

i have a bunch of steel cut oats and never really get around to making oatmeal out of them. i decided to make some oat flour to use in the cake because it seemed autumnal somehow. you could, of course, use all regular flour or use whole wheat flour instead of oat or you could even buy oat flour already floured, in case you don't want to run your food processor for 10 minutes.

flour takes longer than i'd expected.

i just let it grind for a minute or so, then pulsed it a bit, then let it go back to grinding. finally the oats achieved a flour-like texture, although it was definitely still a little grainier than store-bought flour. it wasn't a problem in the cake, though. 

the good thing about using the food processor is that you can just add the other dry ingredients to it and mix them all together there, effectively breaking up any gross baking soda lumps.

i guess you should turn on the oven to preheat at 350. now's as good a time as any.

as for the wet, just whisk (or beat with a mixer) 3/4 cup oil, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons bourbon or applejack and 1 egg. you could probably use less sugar, too (i found it pretty sweet, but i like non-sweet desserts, so ?). i also want to try making it with some applesauce or maybe apple cider/juice that's been reduced and concentrated - i could have used a little more apple flavor in the final product, although everyone else thought it was plenty apple-y.

then mix in the dry ingredients, trying not to overstir. add the apple slices and fold them into the batter, trying to keep them relatively intact. 

i used an 8-inch high-sided pan that i buttered and lined with parchment paper as diagrammed in the chocolate-pear cake post. 

you can use other pans - you may have to adjust the cooking time, however. in this iteration, it took about 55 minutes, but ovens vary, etc. basically it should be done when the center is obviously set, it pulls away from the sides of the pan and the top is a rich golden-brown.

somewhere in this cooking time, it would be smart to stick a pan of pecans in to toast so that you have something nice to put on top of the cake. they just take 5 minutes or so, so don't burn them.

the cake takes a while to cool, so let it hang out on a wire rack or something. i ended up topping it with a kind of caramel-y praline-y topping that i made, but unfortunately i didn't write down what i did. and now it's been like a month and i can't remember. BUT i think that any caramel topping would be great, like this or this. or you can leave the topping off and congratulate yourself on your good health and moderation-based sweets attitude. everyone is very impressed.

once the cake's coolish, slap some caramel on there, toss the pecans about with wild abandon, and sprinkle a good pinch of nice flaky salt over everything. 

the more rarefied tastes of the highbrow food-besotted have already deemed salted caramel passé, but in fact it remains very delicious, so who cares if it's on applebee's menus now?

if you happen to have a little tiny bit left over the next morning, the apples and whole grains make a pretty convincing case for having it for breakfast. just fyi.

apple-oat cake
(quite adapted from this, which was itself adapted from a 1973 recipe in the new york times)

3/4 cup oat flour (3.25 ounces steel-cut oats = 1/2 cup)*
3/4 cup regular flour*
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup oil**
1/2 cup granulated sugar***
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons bourbon or applejack
1 egg

5 small jonagold apples (~2 1/2 cups, sliced)
1 tsp apple vinegar

8" round pan
350
45 minutes to an hour

*i've also used all whole wheat pastry flour instead of regular + oat, and it was very good.
** you can definitely use less oil and add some applesauce to make up for it - like 1/3-1/2 cup oil + applesauce (or microplaned apple) to make 3/4 cup total
***you can also cut down on the sugar. this is how i made it initially, but now i'd probably use maybe 1/4 cup granulated sugar instead.
****a note on spices - some people like them in cakes like this (cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.). i am not one of those people. but i guess you could toss some in if you like gross things.

listening to: zaz! i have no idea what she's saying, and the kids in this video are a little creepy, but it's fun music to have on while you're cooking.

stir-fried leafy greens

now that you feel all awesome and self-satisfied about voting (if you're in america, of course. and if you voted - DID YOU?!), you can keep the momentum going by making some healthy vitaminlicious greens for dinner. treat. yo. self.

this is a very basic method that works for all kinds of greens, although the more tender ones like baby spinach or something will take less time than the more brawny specimens. 

we went to the local asian market the other day to get things like japanese curry powder (to finally make katsu kare from scratch!) and pocky. pocky and gummy fruit candies are very necessary, particularly if you're being good and eating your greens.

i feel a little weird saying "asian market," because obviously asia is a gigantic continent with many different cultures and foods. however, this particular market, while leaning mostly toward vietnamese and chinese food (the japanese curry powder was in the "foreign foods" section), bills itself as the "premier asian grocery" of central texas, so whatever, haters. 

we also loaded up on frozen things like edamame and tofu skin (apparently you can make noodley things with it?) and lots of produce, like the adorable and tiny indian eggplants below (that's a reference quarter at the bottom - so tiny!). 

i got a ton of greens and greens-like things, because there's so much more variety than you find at typical supermarkets. the only problem is that they need to be eaten fairly quickly, so i've definitely been getting my nutrients this week. we got little baby bok choys, chinese broccoli (like broccoli rabe, but less bitter/spicy), yu choy (pictured below), and amaranth greens (which are pretty and delicious). 

i hadn't had yu choy before, but it's sort of like bok choy mixed with chinese broccoli. and it has pretty yellow flowers. to stir fry it, i used the basic template i almost always use with greens, which can be dressed up if you're going for the flavors of a particular cuisine.

the basic form is to cook lots of minced garlic and some chili flakes for about 30 seconds in some pretty hot oil, then add the greens and a little liquid and let things cook until the greens are tender (5-10 minutes, depending on heartiness). then if you're making southern-style greens, for instance, you could add some chopped bacon or smoked paprika and diced onion to the garlic/chili flakes mix.

in this case, i wanted to go more chinese in style, so i used about 2/3 garlic to 1/3 minced fresh ginger and added some soy sauce as the greens were cooking. once everything was just about done, i added some leftover cooked rice, toasted sesame seeds, a bit of rice wine vinegar and a little sesame oil.

when you're cooking something with relatively thick stems like this, it's a good idea to put the stem parts in first, let them cook a bit, then add the leaves. that way nothing gets too overcooked. in this case, i just chopped the yu choy into ~1 1/2 - 2 inch sections from the bottom of the stems up through the leaves. i added the stems to the hot pan after the garlic, ginger and chili flakes were getting nice and toasty and let them cook (with a tablespoon or two of water) for a minute or two before adding the leaves and a bit more water. then just let things cook until the greens are tender - this took about 7 or 8 minutes. it's not a big deal if it's not all perfectly separated into stems and leaves, though - think broad strokes.

this is a super-easy and very quick (going from washing the yu choy to eating it took about 10 minutes) and incredibly healthy. it's just what we all need to keep from worrying ourselves sick over this election. fingers crossed!

*ingredients*
~ 1 pound greens (yu choy, bok choy, kale, spinach, mustard, chard - ALL the greens are good)
5 - 6 cloves of garlic, minced
~ 1 - 2 tablespoons of minced ginger (i used a coin about a centimeter thick and 1 inch in diameter)
big ol' pinch of chili flakes (to taste)
~ 3 tablespoons water
~ 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce/tamari
1 - 2 teaspoons rice wine (or other) vinegar

the rest is optional, but good:
lots of toasted sesame seeds
~ 1 teaspoon sesame oil
sriracha
garlic chili sauce
mustard (it's a little weird, but it works. for me.)
leftover rice
some kind of cooked tofu/chicken, etc.

listening to: new mountain goats album! (duh)