Mid-Week Winter Dinner: With Help from a Few New Friends

While reading Molly Wizenburg's blog Orangette last month, I learned about Megan Gordon, the Seattle purveyor of Marge Granola and blog mistress of A Sweet Spoonful.

Gordon is also now a cookbook author and a damn good one too. Her new book is Whole Grain Mornings: New Breakfast Recipes to Span the Seasons. I bought it on pre-order sight unseen and am not disappointed.

Last night I made dinner from one of her savory breakfast entrees - Pearl Barley with Mushroom and Parmesan. I added a few peas for color and to get an extra veggie into the meal - I liked the texture change and the slight sweetness they added.

I fried up a couple of eggs and laid them on top for protein and served it with a green salad, crusty bread and white wine.

Definitely a great addition to my winter meal selection. It's certainly not a meal to make in 30 minutes or less. The prep is easy but the barley takes 60 minutes to cook. It's worth the wait.

David got a phone call right before he left his office for the gym at the end of the day. A project they'd proposed last month came through. So that means a new contract for him and a ride along to Sonoma when he does site visits for me. I'm excited. Nothing like visiting the wine country on your husband's business trip.

So to celebrate his added income and professional success, I made a french yogurt cake that seems to make its way into every "American Foodie in France" book I've read. This one I took from Elizabeth Bard's Paris for Lunch although I could have gotten it in any number of other books. (Remind me to tell you about the amazing chocolate cake that they also all seem to know.)

The picture isn't particularly stunning - I made it in a loaf pan since I cut the recipe in half and didn't have a small enough round cake pan. I also added apples that I'd chopped and coated with cinnamon and a little brown sugar.  Although the apples went on top, they sunk to the bottom (you can see them down there in the picture.)

This cake a extremely moist and with a firm crumb. You'd think it was soaked in oil, but it must just be the yogurt doing its thing. It didn't call for a lot of oil and no butter at all. Don't leave the lemon zest out.

Delicious sliced with my afternoon tea - or morning tea too for that matter. Okay let's just say its good anytime. It would also be great with little chantilly (whipped cream) or a tiny scoop of good ice cream. Here is the recipe as re-told by me from Paris for Lunch.
 

1 c plain yogurt ( used Greek and it turned out fine)
1 c sugar
A large pinch of salt
1 t vanilla extract
1/3 c vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1-1/2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
Zest of 1 lemon

A handful of chopped apples, berries or other fruit. Nuts might also be good.


Preheat the oven to 350 (f). Lightly oil a 10-inch round cake pan. (I used pan spray and it worked great. Bard's recipe has you using parchment paper and oil etc. but I just find it messy.)

In a medium bowl combine the yogurt, sugar, salt and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Add the oil in a steady stream and whisk to combine. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking to incorporate after each addition.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda and add to the yogurt mixture; whisk to combine - don't over mix though. Stir in the lemon zest.

Transfer the batter to the cake pan and top with fruit or nuts. Bake in the center of the oven for 45 minutes, untio golden brown and slightly risen. Do the toothpick test to be sure. Cool slightly and then de-pan it to a rack for further cooling. Can be served at room temperature or warm.

To store, wrap it in foil. It gets better with age. Do not store in an airtight container or plastic bag or it will get soggy.

Bon Appetit!

Tea Drinking Notes #1: Morning Tea and Afternoon Chai

Mornings used to be about that first cup of dark roast coffee - au lait. David and I used to greet the day with the burr grinder and those shiny beans as though that cup would somehow transport us out of sleep and into the day. Somewhere over the last year, all that changed as my body has changed. As a friend once said, I love coffee but coffee doesn't love me.

Although I still drink an espresso or cappuccino later in the day, I'm now all about tea in the morning. I've always enjoyed tea but I'm slowly becoming a connoisseur as I explore the new (to me) world of the little leaf.

Each morning I take quick stock of myself and determine what I feel like drinking. My morning tea is definitely different than my afternoon tea. In the morning I need something bold to lift the fog like the coffee used to do.

Is it a Lapsang Souchong with its smoky essence of sweet pine?

Or maybe a black tea with a delicate floral scent of roses or bergamot? Tao of Tea's Rose Petal Black is a favorite for that craving. Sometimes it's a straight ahead breakfast blend - no surprises. Always with a little milk and never with sugar.


Magical Chai
Afternoons are often my favorite time for hot sweet and milky chai.

The best chai I've found is Steven Smith Teamakers Blend No. 33, Masala Chai. Some purchased chai's are loaded with cloying essences and oils to get the strong spicy citrus combo you want most. But Smith uses ginger root and pink peppercorns along with cardamom (a must) and black pepper. He also blends them all with Assam tea - my favorite for its black tea strength with a contrasting smoothness.

When I make my own chai I use a recipe from Rebar restaurant's self published Rebar: Modern Food Cookbook. It uses Assam tea, cardamom pods, star anise, whole cloves, cinnamon sticks and peppercorns.

This tea nursed me through a difficult, cold January last year when my father was ill and it comforted me in the days after his passing. 


Chai with fresh ginger, cardamom and cinnamon 

from Rebar: Modern Food Cookbook
Serves 4

4 cups water
1 large ginger thumb, peeled and sliced
1 x 3" cinnamon stick
6 cloves
10 cardamom pods, crushed
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
3 Assam tea bags (or other good black tea)
2 T honey or agave
1-1/2 cups milk, soy or rice
Place water and spices in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce hear, partly cover and gently simmer for 30 minutes. Strain the mixture, discard the solids and return the liquid to the pot. Add the tea bags and let them steep for 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags and still in the sweetener and milk. Re-heat. Adjust sweetness and milk levels to taste, and serve.

Enjoy!

Food, Fantasy and Reinvention

Last night I made a new dish from Michelle Maisto's  The Gastronomy of Marriage: A Memoir of Food and Love. This is one of the latest in a series of books I've been reading that connect stories of women (and a few men), travel and their search for identity with cooking and foodie-ism.

There have been others that I've enjoyed reading in 2013 and I'll write about them separately I'm sure. They include: On Rue Tatin: Living and Cooking in a French Town by Susann Herrmann Loomis; Molly Wizenburg's A Homemade Life; and David Leibowitz's The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the Worlds Most Glorious - and Perplexing - City. Currently I'm loving Elizabeth Bard's Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with Recipes

There will also be more to read this year and of course I'll document them here. But today I want to write about our dinner of Stuffed Eggplant from Maisto's book. Excellent easy entree with an ingredient I don't cook enough - eggplant. I added chopped mushrooms and red peppers and some extra breadcrumbs. The stuffing was custardy but filling - definitely needed the tomato sauce. Left overs will make us dinner tonight. David was happy and the idea of creating a delicious new dish to add to my go-to repertoire is always a happy occasion for me.

So what's the scoop on my fascination with these books?

I have a surge of interest lately in Paris and France. Its probably that "better in theory than reality fantasy." But there is something romantic and stress free about thinking of an old world with culture and style. These books give me an opportunity for arm chair travel to different place that stokes my creativity. It gives me a place to go in my mind that inspires while allowing me a little vacation.

The stories of ex-pats finding a new life in an unknown place - women finding and re-defining themselves in new surroundings or new relationships - trying on different personas - and always exploring the joy of food which brings comfort and creativity in the midst of the adventure.

These are independent women in interdependent relationships - I love to explore my similar world through theirs and take some sense of camaraderie with me.

I find them inspirational because I envy their ability to strike out and take the risk of the unknown. I love their ability to journal and tell the story of their experience. And the recipes have not failed me yet. I live vicariously through these stories and dine in style too.

One day I too will go back to Paris better able to speak the language and to explore the world there. On the other hand, the Paris in my mind may be more wonderful than the gritty truth of the real City of Light. At least for now, I can afford this version and this way of travel.

(Paris books photo at right can be purchased from Kathy Fornal on Etsy)