Blueberries and Lobster

Happy new year!

A friend of mine told me that in 2008, he would like to be more confident in the kitchen. He’s been considering taking a cooking class to help. Not a bad idea, really.

But here’s the problem: it depends on the class. Many cooking classes I’ve read descriptions for only teach you how to make specific dishes, and that’s not going to help anyone be more confident, not really.

So what will help?

1. Learn the building blocks. For example: so much good food starts with sauteeing onions and garlic in olive oil, so learn how to do that really well. (Hint: use regular olive oil, not extra-virgin; use medium-low heat; and don’t let the garlic burn.) Or learn what a mirepoix is, and what its variations are, and why you should care.
2. Learn how to cut common vegetables. Onions, for example, are the basis of many delicious dishes, and I’ve become a lot more confident now that I know how to dice an onion. Or take leafy greens — now that I can quickly slice them into ribbons, it’s so much easier to deal with them.
3. Limit yourself to what’s on hand. Creativity begins when you use familiar things in new ways. How many ways can you cook a potato? What strange things could I do with a bunch of kale? What happens when you put nutmeg in a savory dish? (Hint: awesomeness ensues.)
4. Lose the recipes and focus on patterns. This is what makes for great kitchen improv. What are common binders used in baked goods, and how might you substitute? What are the building blocks of a casserole? What fruits go well together?
5. Keep high-quality basics in your cupboard for simple meals. Whole grains like quinoa, wild rice, and steel cut oats are great to keep on hand. Good-quality pasta or couscous are also nice to have. Pair a high-quality starch with a simple steamed vegetable, dress it up with lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, and black pepper, and call it dinner. The more simple meals you can put together, the more you’ll be able to experiment occasionally without feeling like it’s a chore.
6. Buy one really good chef’s knife, and get it sharpened regularly. Having good tools makes all the difference between cooking as a chore and cooking as pleasure. My 8-inch chef’s knife is the single most important tool in my kitchen.

Is your New Year’s Resolution for 2008 to gain more experience and confidence in the kitchen? How do you plan to accomplish that goal?

1. Learn about and cook more Maine food.
A lot of good food comes out of my kitchen, but there’s not much that’s specifically about Maine flavors, except the produce and local meat and fish. In 2008, I’d like to figure out more of what constitutes a Maine flavor to food. Given the big Acadian influence here, I suspect there is a lot of gravy and butter involved. But what else?

What will help me do this? Well, I currently own one great Maine food cookbook: Recipes from a Very Small Island, which has recipes and essays from Isle au Haut. Other cookbooks would help. Talking to people, and asking questions would help too. Maybe I’ll even go for a nice dinner at Fore Street Grill and call it “research.”

2. Get involved with a CSA
CSA: community supported agriculture. It’s a way for consumers to financially support local, independent farmers, and receive a large amount of fresh, locally grown vegetables in return. The USDA has a good definition.

This is going to be an easy one to fulfill. Farmer Justin will be doing a small CSA this year. I’ve already told him that I want in. I get to pick up my vegetables from an octagonal-shoped barn! (The octagonal barn has also been memorialized on a holiday card — Justin’s girlfriend is a talented artist.)

3. Learn more about the Portland Winter Cache Project and the Portland Food Co-op.
We live on the third floor of a triple-decker, with no real access to a root cellar. There is a basement in the building, of course, but the first and only time I’ve been in it was when we moved in and attempted to use the laundry facilities. Since then, we’ve learned that the laundry facilities belong to the first floor residents, and have avoided the spiderweb-infested basement ever since.

Anyway, because of the lack of root cellar, it’s difficult to procure local produce through the long Maine winter. The Winter Cache Project seems like a good way to combat this problem, as well as a way to build community. Plus, the pickup is just down the street.

The Portland Food Co-op is an attempt to bring a real, storefront food cooperative to this small city. I support this endeavor, of course. Yes, there are some things to like about Whole Foods/Whole Paycheck, but it’s very disappointing to me that we lost a local natural foods grocer in the process.

4. Grow herbs in a container garden
Every year I try doing a windowsill garden. Every year it never quite gets off the ground.

This year I would really like to plan, and do it. Maybe this means I don’t grow in the dining room, but rather in my home office, which has sunny windows that face in two directions. Maybe this means I don’t try growing food that needs pollination, like peppers. Maybe I just focus on herbs. But I need to do things like plan pot size, research herbs that do well indoors, all the kinds of things that would really make it successful.

What are your food resolutions for 2008? (Besides “eat less of it.” That’s a boring one.)

We travelled to visit our very good friends outside of Boston for Christmas. I brought my 12″ cast iron skillet. Over the course of the visit, I wound up using it for bacon, sauteéing turkey livers, and at least one or two other applications.

But general-purpose uses aren’t why I brought the skillet. I brought it because I have a love affair with this upside-down cake, and I wanted to bake it fresh for Christmas. It’s rustic, hearty, not too sweet, and great for breakfast after a big roasted turkey dinner the night before.

I used a combination of pears, lemon juice, and fresh ginger for the produce part, but you could use just about any fruit you like. Apples and cranberries would work well. An all-berry cake would roughly resemble a New England style buckle or cobbler. Whatever you do, arrange the fruit in layers, with an eye towards presentation.

Sorry, no pictures this time. Too much going on, too much to eat. Trust me, though, it’s gorgeous.

Pear-Ginger Upside-Down Skillet Cake
Original recipe from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

3 medium cornice pears (the firm, crisp kind)
Juice of 1 lemon
3/4″ knuckle of ginger, chopped finely

1/2 c. butter, divided (one stick)
1 c. brown sugar, packed, divided
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. rolled oats
1/2 c. cornmeal
1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 c. milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first three ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Heat up your skillet on the stovetop, and melt 1/4 c. butter together with 1/2 c. brown sugar. Arrange fruit in skillet, and set aside.

Process rolled oats in a food processor or mini-prep until you have effectively made oat flour. In a small bowl, combine oat flour, cornmeal, whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, spices, and salt.

Cream together remaining butter and sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Alternate adding dry ingredients to bowl with milk, to form a uniform batter. Spread over fruit in skillet.

Bake 40-45 minutes, until a knife in the center comes out clean. Cool 5-10 minutes in the skillet, then invert onto a plate for serving.

Yesterday, while the weather was busy snowing and sleeting and generally causing unhappiness for travellers, I spent the day in the kitchen. I emptied out the chicken carcasses I’d been saving in the freezer and made chicken stock; what better use for a cold, wintery day than eight hours of simmering chicken bones?

I also made a new pumpkin soup. This one’s a new one for me — usually pumpkin soups are sweet affairs in this household. I like this one, though! It’s hearty and rustic and warming. Don’t bother chopping anything too finely in the beginning, since you will just hit it with the stick blender later. Same goes for the roasted pumpkin — unlike many pumpkin puree recipes, there is no need to take it for a spin in the food processor before using.

I served it with toasted pumpkin seeds (following Elise’s recipe) and my new favorite cornbread.

Black Bean and Pumpkin Soup
Adapted and greatly simplified from Smitten Kitchen

Split a medium (~5 lb.) pumpkin in half lengthwise. Scrape stringy bits, reserving seeds. Roast, cut side down, in a 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes.

Into a soup pot goes:
2 T. butter
2 T. bacon grease (or olive oil)
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped into 2-3 pieces
1 T. ground cumin

Cook on medium low, stirring, until onion is translucent. Be careful not to burn the garlic.

Add:
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14.5 oz) whole tomatoes (just dump the whole thing in, no chopping or draining)

Cook and stir until everything is heated through. When the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh directly into the soup pot. Add flavorful liquid to cover — I used a combination of veggie broth and water, about 4-6 cups in total.

Simmer until the pumpkin really falls apart, maybe 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and hit the mixture with a stick blender until blended to your preference.

What to do with a single, beautiful pomegranate, and a dinner hostess who loves chocolate?

Chocolate Mousse with Olive Oil
Adapted from delicious:days

(Note: Somehow, when reading the original recipe, “3 egg yolks plus 3 egg whites” got translated into 6 eggs, separated. No wonder it made 11 servings instead of 4-6. Do as I say, not as I do.)

6 oz. dark chocolate, chopped
1 oz. white chocolate, chopped
1/2 c. extra-virgin olive oil
3 eggs, separated
1/2 c. sugar, divided
1/2 pint heavy cream

1. Melt chocolates in a double boiler while stirring occasionally. Stir in olive oil, and set aside to cool.
2. Put cream into the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the whisk. Beat on high until stiff. Scrape into a bowl, and refrigerate.
3. Put egg yolks and half of the sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer. Beat on medium speed until very pale and thick, about five minutes. Scrape into another bowl, and set aside. Clean your stand mixer bowl and whisk.
4. Put egg whites into the stand mixer bowl. Beat until foamy, then add remaining sugar, and continue to beat until stiff, glossy peaks form.
5. Put chocolate mixture in a large bowl, and fold in the remaining ingredients in this order: egg yolks, egg whites, and cream.
6. Dish out into individual ramekins, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate.

We topped these with pomegranate seeds. Beautiful, and delicious.