The Spirit is Willing

I'm just bone tired. Laundry has beaten me down. Who can believe so much laundry is created by five adults in nine days.

I've missed writing about our days at the beach, but did chronicle it in photos. I'll be back in a couple of days, after I finish the ironing.

Indian Flatbread

I did warn you that I'm a little crazy when it comes to planning food for our beach week. This is the first year I decided to make an Indian dinner - a new level of crazy as it involved bringing 11 spices to the beach. It was a wonderful dinner and everyone was happy to be eating homemade Indian food.

The chicken tikka masala, spinach potato croquettes, daal, and roasted potatoes with cumin seed were delicious, but the grilled flatbread was the icing on the cake, so to speak. It is an easy recipe and you'll love the way it makes even a simple curry special.

Grilled Flatbread

3/4 c plain whole milk yogurt at room temperature (I've also used low-fat successfully)
1 T yeast
1/4 warm water

1 T nigella seed, black sesame seed or charnushka
1 t salt
2 c flour
some canola or olive oil

Combine yogurt, yeast and water and stir to dissolve. Let stand for 5-10 minutes until a few bubbles form.

Add seeds, salt and flour and mix well until the mixture comes together. Let stand for 15 minutes to allow the flour to absorb the liquids. Dump the dough out on the counter and knead gently until it is smooth.

Place the dough in an oiled bowl and let it rise for 30 minutes. (I make the dough in the morning and put it in an oiled ziplock bag in the fridge, removing it about an hour before grilling.)

Cut the dough into 8 pieces and roll out each piece until about 1/4" thick. The shapes will be uneven and rough. Place each flatbread on oiled parchment and oil the top of the dough. Roll out all eight pieces before you start the grilling. I put oiled parchment on a cookie sheet, set the breads on the paper, oil it, and then stack another piece of parchment on top when I run out of room. This will allow you to carry all the breads out to the grill.

Make sure your grill or grill pan is super hot, and then grill each piece of bread for approximately 1 min. per side, or until cooked through. It's going to bubble up and get gorgeous grill marks. This is not a cracker-y crisp bread, so don't overcook.

Larb - Horrid name, delicious treat

I clipped this recipe out of the New York Times sometime in the last few months and thought it would be a tasty appetizer at the beach. And it was!

It's quick and easy. Just serve with cucumber spears and lettuce cups, or if you're not that fancy, just a few rounds of cucumber and a bed of lettuce will do. It's light and refreshing, salty and sweet and crispy and everything all at once.

Chicken Larb

2 T roasted rice powder*
4 frozen boneless chicken breasts, slightly defrosted
1 small Thai chili pepper, seeded and minced
3-4 tsp fish sauce
juice of four limes
1/4 c minced red onion
2 T chopped cilantro
4 scallions, white and green parts sliced thin
Garnish: lettuce cups and cucumber spears

Mince the chicken breasts up into very small pieces. Easiest if the chicken is still a little frozen.
Cook the chicken in a medium saute pan in about 2T of water until just cooked through. Pour off any excess water.
Toss the chicken with the remaining ingredients.

*Roasted rice powder is available at Asian grocers. I wasn't able to locate it easily, so opted to make my own. You'll need raw sticky rice - about 1/4 c. - and a spice grinder. If you don't have a spice grinder, a mortar and pestle and a willing husband work just fine. Toast the rice in a dry skillet until just golden and then grind to a coarse powder. This takes awhile, but so worth it! It's the secret ingredient in larb.

First Dinner, First Breakfast

Here we are at the beach. With the edges of Hurricane Bill skirting up the East Coast, we enjoyed a spectacular and massive rain last night. Today the ghastly humidity of yesterday is blowing away, replaced with puffy clouds and bright sun and a huge, scary surf (12'-16' waves expected!)

We packed up Janet & Doug's van and our station wagon and got on the way yesterday morning. Here's a picture of how an obsessively organized and manically planned beach week starts:

Yes, there was still enough room (barely) for five adults and one small dog.

Arriving at the beach house there was such a nice flurry of activity that we were settled in, food in fridge and freezer, in about an hour. The most wonderful part was Janet's contribution - rushing about and covering scarred tables with colorful cloths, setting farmstand flowers around and generally beautifying an otherwise simple (rustic?) little house.

We had Janet's fantastic guacamole spiced with fresh cayenne peppers from the garden. I roasted two small ducks (semi-successfully - will not blog that recipe without more testing), butter & cream corn, tomatoes with mozzerella, and fresh lima beans. Several bottles of wine were consumed. We finished up with a sour cherry pie (from filling canned in June.)

Here's the gorgeous table by Janet. I should have taken a photo including the vases of fat sunflowers at the end of the table to provide a full experience, but ...

This morning, around 7, as Dennis rode off on his bicycle, hoping to avoid the hottest part of the day, I stirred together our traditional first morning's breakfast, Blueberry Corn Cake. A curious combination that is amazingly delicious.

Blueberry Corn Cake

5 Tbls unsalted butter
1 c flour
1 c cornmeal
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1-1/4 c buttermilk
1/4 c maple syrup
2 c blueberries
1.5 c corn, cut off the cob, either raw or previously cooked

Preheat oven to 375. Put the butter in a 13 x 9 pan and let it melt well and brown a little bit.

While the butter is melting, stir together the flour, cornmeal, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl (or the cup measure, which makes for fewer things to wash), whisk together the eggs, vanilla, buttermilk and maple syrup. Add to the dry ingredients.

Remove the pan from the oven and pour the melted butter in and stir quickly and not too much. It's okay if it's a little lumpy. With a pastry brush, coat the baking pan with the butter so the cake won't stick.

Now, fold in the blueberries and corn and pour the mixture back into the baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a pick comes out clean. That's just enough time to walk out to the beach and smell the surf.

Serve with fresh butter, maple syrup and strong coffee.

A Chip That's Good For You

It's only 6:30am. Dennis has left to ride his bike. He's planning to ride a century - 100 miles - and the training schedule had him riding 42 miles today. As it's still about a million degrees outside, with a billion percent humidity, he had to get an early start.

The vacation officially began yesterday with the arrival of Janet & Doug. They live in Mexico, and we have had the joy of staying with them many times. This is a perfect opportunity to reciprocate. Janet is a wonderful cook, fantastic hostess, and one couldn't ask for a better friend. And there isn't a person alive who can set a table like Janet. Beginning this evening, she will take over that part of presenting our meals. (Didn't seem right to greet her in the driveway with "Come, set the table for us.") I'll take photos of the table and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Last night's dinner was simple and fresh. Grilled salmon, fresh tomatoes, sauteed green beans and shallots, roasted golden beets. Dessert - pound cake and peach ice cream. While everything was tasty, the real standout was the appetizer of crispy kale. This recipe will amaze your family and friends!

Slow Roasted Kale
Preheat oven to 250
Wash a big bunch of kale, separating the leaves from the ribs and tearing the leaves into 2" pieces.
Dry well (I use a salad spinner) and toss with about 1 Tbls olive oil and 1 tsp good salt
Put the leaves on a rack, and put the rack inside a baking sheet.
Pop it in the oven, stir after about 12 min to separate the leaves.
It should be done in about 25 min.

Every Dog Has His Day, or His Biscuit

It was going to be a big day of cooking. No two ways about it. It's down to the wire. Two of our beach guests arrive the day after tomorrow. The other on Thursday. I rolled up my sleeves and started cooking early this morning.

First, I threw together a baguette dough. This can rise in the fridge for two days - and will have a more developed flavor if it sits that long. I have used this recipe for baguette with very consistent results, especially when made with King Arthur's Artisan flour (although regular all purpose also makes a very nice loaf.) While the recipe says it makes one baguette, I always make two because an uncut baguette will last longer, and we really shouldn't eat an entire baguette in one night - even though it would be really easy to do. With an entire block of butter. But I digress.

Then I set some roma tomatoes in the oven to roast. These were still leftover from the batch I bought at the farmers market, and really needed to be cooked. Throughout the day, I roasted, food milled, made the new Sauce #4, and packaged it up for the freezer. I have four quarts. I feel rich.

Next - an appetizer for Wednesday. I had bookmarked this one awhile back - easy as can be - white beans pureed with pesto and squeeze of lemon. I'm hoping it becomes more interesting with time. I'll make some pita chips tomorrow.

Next, I whipped up a batch of dog biscuits. Our little terrier Dylan has such a sensitive stomach he will only eat the peanut butter dog biscuits I make for him. Yes, he's spoiled.

Finally, I made some pistachio/orange biscotti. These are for the beach - perfect snacks for these guests, who are big on afternoon tea and a biscuit.

Somewhere in there, I did a ton of laundry, changed the beds, made dinner (sauteed eggplant and tomatoes with garlic and basil, homemade oat flour fettucine, sauteed green beans), and fed us both. I'm earning that beach vacation.

A day well spent and a happy collection of goodies to pack up.


Dog biscuits for your favorite puppy

1.5 c white flour
1.5 c wheat flour
.5 c corn meal
.5 c rolled oats
3 Tbls natural peanut butter, crunchy is nice, but creamy will do
2 eggs
.5 c safflower oil
1.5 c water
2 tsp vanilla
Equipment: 2 sheet pans, rolling pin, a dog-biscuit cutter is nice

Preheat oven to 400•
Put first four ingredients in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
I use a large cup measure to measure the oil and water, then add the eggs, peanut butter and vanilla and stir well.
With the mixer running, stream in the liquids.
Blend well and turn out the dough onto a well floured rolling board (or the counter.)
Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
Divide the dough into two parts.
Roll out each part to about 1/4" thick, cut out dog biscuits with a cookie cutter and place on ungreased sheet pan.
Pop the sheet pans in the oven and bake the biscuits for 20-25 min.
Switch the placement of the pans, back to front and upper to lower.
Turn the oven off, and leave the biscuits in the oven to dry out for another 25 min.

How a movie got in the way, and a new dinner was invented

Today started as most Saturday mornings do, with a trip to the small, charming farmers market in the neighborhood. I've shopped there every Saturday for years, and have developed a nice relationship with the vendors. I look forward to Betsy's lambing season, the week Susan has currants and gooseberries (OMG, Amanda Hesser's Currant/Goosberry tart from The Cook and The Gardener. so fabulous.), yellow haricot verts from Haroun.

Haroun had terrible news this morning - his entire San Marzano crop was hit with the blight. This is the first report I've heard at the market, but could also be the beginning in this part of the country. We talked about it for awhile - his practices are so clean; it's evident in the produce he offers. He started all his plants from seed in sterilized soil. He said he had blisters on the leaves one day, and mushy fruit the next. I can't imagine watching all that work fail. Heartbreaking.

It was heartbreaking to me, as well. I had plans for those tomatoes of his. I always oven roast 8-10 lbs of romas, then freeze them. In the winter, they make great additions to everything from white bean dip to lentil soup.

I also like to have the freezer packed with 25 recipes (50 lbs fresh tomatoes) of Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce #3. This is an exquisite simple sauce that freezes beautifully in quart sized bags, and provides a perfect quick dinner all winter long. I could write about it all day, but Molly Wizenberg's Ode to Marcella is perfection.

Once I absorbed the news from Haroun, I went to check on Brett's tomato crop. He had lots of cherry types, some early girls, romas, and three or four varieties of heirloom. A very pretty table. He was offering a big box of tomatoes (15-20 lbs?) for sauce at a good price, and I was seduced.

Do I even need to say how much I did not need another project before going to the beach Friday?

Drove home and started the roasting process - sliced each tomato lengthwise, placed them skin side down on parchment on a baking sheet, drizzled liberally with olive oil, sprinkled with 1.5 tsp Herbes de Provence, salt and pepper and popped them in a 225 oven for six hours, or until carmelized on the edges. The amount of time varies with the moisture in the tomato.

I thought I would make some fettucine with oat flour, and to turn a couple of pounds of the tomatoes into Marcella's recipe for dinner. That, some crispy kale - perfection!

And then, I went off to a late afternoon showing of Spread (BTW, not a great movie. I predict straight to video.) Of course, by the time I got home, I had no interest in making any pasta, or fiddling with more tomatoes. Found some boxed fettucine. And took a look at the four pans of tomatoes that had been roasting for three hours - half the necessary time.

Necessity (and Laziness?) being the Mother of Invention, I took one half-roasted pan of tomatoes, and riffed on Marcella's recipe for sauce. So yummy! If you've eaten Sauce #3, and you know how it makes you want to lick the inside of the pot, you really must try this.

Oven Roasted Tomato (Sauce Number Four?)

2 lbs. tomatoes, oven roasted (as described above)
Puree through the food mill into a medium saucepan
Add one onion, halved
3 Tbls. butter
Cook at a slow simmer for 25 min. Remove onion halves.
Toss with fettucine cooked al dente, serve with shaved parmesian and minced fresh basil.

As for the crispy kale? Well, I'll just make that tomorrow.