Thanksgiving!!

No matter how dormant I let this blog lie, I always try to do a Thanksgiving post. This year's Thanksgiving was wonderful. I spent the night at my mother's, and I cooked there. The only thing I prepared the day before was my only new recipe. And hoo boy, they were worth it. Behold, the eggy cheesy buttery goodness that is gougères:

I stumbled across the recipe when I went to the Splendid Table website for something completely different - I can't even remember what I was there for, originally. These are simultaneously eggy and cheesy and light and air filled, all at the same time. They are similar to gruyère laden mini popovers. I crisped them right before dinner, and they were fabulous. I also recreated the chorizo stuffed mushrooms of Thanksgiving past, and they were a hit again. They disappeared. 

Every thing else was very traditional. I took my time on Thursday. Here is a butter and Trocomare slow roasted turkey. I put a quartered onion, a bundle of fresh thyme and a tangerine with some of its skin removed inside. It turned out perfectly.

I made the cranberry sauce with fresh cranberries, tangerine juice, tangerine zest, lime juice, sugar, salt, fresh mint and Grand Marnier. It was divine.

 Very simple pan roasted green beans with shallots. 

 Delicious sweet potatoes! I didn't add any sugar or sweetener to the actual sweet potatoes - they didn't need any. I just added butter and mashed them. The marshmallows were left over from a recent camping trip, and I couldn't resist. The nuts are candied pralines. With so much sweetness in the toppings, I really didn't think the sweet potatoes needed to be doctored at all.

As a nod to Hanukkah, I made a boatload of stuffing with challah. I also made cornbread stuffing with sausage and apple. Both were so delicious. I think the cornbread stuffing may have been my favorite thing on the menu. 

Here is the whole table, including mashed gold potatoes, salad, and the cornbread stuffing. I have been doing this for so many years now, it's very comfortable, laid back and fun. I don't really need recipes for most of it. I consult a few recipes for ratios, but that's usually in the middle of the process, just to confirm what's already happening. 

I hope you all had fun cooking and eating with you and yours!

Whole red snapper with coconut curry

I felt inspired today, and ended up experimenting with some really good results. I bought two whole, beautiful red snapper today at the Yellow Green Farmers Market. I always made excuses in the past as to why I couldn't cook whole fish. S said he would be willing to give it a try. I also bought some lovely curry powder. I looked up a few curry recipes, and whole snapper recipes, including the recipe on the back of my can of coconut milk. I ended up finagling together a recipe, and it turned out marvelously.

First, starting with good fish is important. This snapper was frozen, but the purveyor said it cleaned and flash frozen immediately after it was caught. When I defrosted it, the fish was clean smelling, its eyes were red, which means it is most likely real red snapper, and the eyes were clear, not cloudy.

Based on the recipes I had skimmed on making whole snapper, I scored the flesh by cutting three diagonal lines on each side with a sharp knife, the full thickness of the flesh. I salted and dredged the first fish in flour, then put it in a few inches of hot vegetable oil in a large skillet, enough to submerge it about half way. I let it cook for about five minutes or so, then flipped it. The skin was crispy and brown.

 While the fish was cooking, a put a few tablespoons of oil in a small pot and warmed it over medium heat. I added my new curry to the oil and bloomed it. I added some grated fresh ginger, some diced garlic, and some lime zest. Then I added a few splurts of oyster sauce. I poured a can of coconut milk in, and heated it to a boil. I threw in a whole cayenne pepper from my garden. Sorry, that was the only pepper I had. After it simmered for a while and thickened, I squeezed in the juice of a whole large lime, and turned off the heat.

When the first fish was done, I took it out and kept it warm in the toaster oven and fried the second one. When they were done, I served it over rice. I poured the curry sauce over the fish, cut up some fresh mango from the tree around the corner and put it on the side, and garnished it with a healthy pile of chopped cilantro and basil, which was also from my garden. It was knockout good. So good. S and I left heads and bones.

Simple lunch

I just made a simple and delicious lunch. I ate it before I could take any pictures of it. Hell, I ate it, standing, in the kitchen, before I could even bother fetching a plate!

I took a piece of store bought whole wheat flat bread, made some quick homemade chimichurri (yum), spread it on the flatbread, and put some chopped roasted chicken I had leftover from last night's dinner.

I stuck that in the toaster oven, and had super simple gourmet tasting almost healthy flat bread pizza lunch!

Resurrection

I have been cooking, but not as much. I haven't been blogging at all.

But, I made something very cool, and wanted to post about it. I made an almost healthy version of a Spanish tortilla. For the uninitiated, the spanish tortilla is in the omelette/ savory egg custard dish family, but unlike an omelette, quiche or fritatta, the Spanish tortilla does not have cheese. It usually has potatoes, and sometimes has peppers and chorizo. I have seen one version in a local Spanish restaurant with cheese melted over the top, but that is unusual, and there is no cheese in the actual tortilla.

I just wish I had used a 10 inch skillet instead of a 12 inch. I don't have a nice 10 inch nonstick skillet. I love my new 12 inch one, but the tortilla came out a little thinner than I would have liked. It was still very good. The kids loved it.

I loosely followed this recipe, but instead of using potatoes, I used cauliflower. It was incredibly good. Cauliflower are even the right color to substitute potatoes, and the texture and flavor worked out perfectly.

Crispy salmon skin!

I have been eating a lot of smoked fish, particularly salmon and trout. I generally don't eat the skin, and have been giving it to my pets.

I had a lovely piece of salmon skin today, and I thought of tasty crunchy salmon skin sushi rolls I have enjoyed in the past. So, I sliced the skin into thin strips, heated some olive oil in a small pan, and threw the salmon skin in. It spattered a lot. And, whoa, Nelly! It's delicious!

Sorry, pets.

Yes, wow, I still have a food blog!

Holy moly, it has been a while. I have cooked and eaten lots. But, I've also been really busy with the last year of medical school and the whole single mom thing.

I'll post some pics and a retrospective soon. But, in the meantime, let's talk anti-inflammatory diet. And pine nuts.

I may have an autoimmune inflammatory disease. Well, actually, I definitely do. I have psoriasis. But, I also may have had a small flare of psoriatic arthritis. And it may not have been my first.

So, one of my ways of approaching this is to reform my diet a bit. Get me more almost healthy. Get it? Get it? The title means so much. I am going to try to adhere more to the whole anti-inflammatory diet thing. The anti-inflammatory diet has elements of a lot of other eating programs that purport to improve health: avoid processed and simple carbs, increase vegetables, increase good fats, increase fish and lean meats, and emphasize antioxidant rich plant foods.

It also helps out hat I already like these foods. I just went to Costco and bought a bunch of smoked fish, and a huge bag of pine nuts.

Today,so far, I had a salad made from my friend's home grown butter crunch lettuce, smoked salmon fillet, flaked, and toasted pine nuts. I made a simple dressing with agave and soy sauce. I figured the salmon and pine nuts were oily enough that I didn't need extra oil in the dressing. It was delicious.

I had a bowl of a close approximation of this Indian spiced carrot ginger soup, which was also delicious. I put toasted pine nuts on top.

I also made a batch of an approximation of this Cabbage Crunch salad. As you may have guessed, I substituted toasted pine nuts for the almonds and sesame seeds.

I also made fresh basil and parsley pesto last week. I still have more pine nuts.

*Dusts cobwebs off*

I have been cooking. I swear.

I have just been really, really, really busy. Med school will do that to ya.

Anyway, I will try to post some pics and some tastiness soon. Now, on to making cookies and steak fried rice:)

Recent foodie-ness

I went to the Chocolate Festival at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens yesterday. It was great. I am mildly tempted to try to enter the chocolate cake or cupcake competition next year, but it seems to be more of a decorating contest than a taste contest. Decorating isn't my strongest point.

I got to see Hedy Goldsmith from Michael's Genuine Food and Drink do a cooking demo. I am totally going to try the Milk Chocolate Jellies. S is a jellies nut. I am a Michaels' Genuine nut. I was so happy when they opened here. For a major city with no shortage of restaurants, there was a real dearth of excellent food. I was not surprised to read they won a James Beard award last year. Hedy, the pastry chef, was fun to listen to and gave good demo. She not only makes killer doughnuts and pop tarts, she also has a great personality.

Interestingly enough, I have found blogs called Almost Healthy and Foodie Loves Picky. Both were started after my blog and my blog name change. Do you know how I know? I did what these bloggers evidently didn't do. I googled the names before I used them.

I don't care all that much. I am not making any money off this blog, and I only post about once a month now. I just, well, I don't know. I don't think they stole the names, and I don't think they are going to make any money off of them, either. I kind of wish they had done a little searching first before they picked those titles.

If I ever do try to do any cooking for money, ever, which is a not-so-secret dream of mine, I am planning on using the name "Almost Healthy". I have said that on this blog before, and I am repeating it now. Just in case.

Let the baking orgy begin!

I made three pounds of spiced nuts tonight. There will be six more pounds made, at least, by the time Christmas rolls around.



I combined two recipes, one from Smitten Kitten, and one from America's Test Kitchen, and made three pounds of almonds at once. I chose to make almonds, because even though I like pecans, not everyone does.

So, here is my finagled recipe for...

Sweet and salty rum spiced nuts

1/3 cup light brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 egg white
1 tablespoon dark rum (can be substituted with water)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound whole raw almonds, unsalted

Preheat oven to 300, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper

Mix the ingredients from the brown sugar to the allspice in a medium bowl, breaking up any clumps

Beat the egg white, run and vanilla together in a large bowl with a whisk until frothy.

Add the almonds to the egg white mixture and toss until coated. Dump the sugar mixture into the almonds and mix until evenly coated. Spread the nuts on the baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on the baking sheet, breaking apart any nuts that are stuck together as they cool.

Yum.

Belated Thanksgiving post

Sorry it took so long to get up the Thanksgiving post!

Thanksgiving was mellow this year. I didn't have the kids. I made dinner for my mom, my brother, his wife, and her parents. It was fairly simple.

My mom got chorizo that she didn't end up using for stuffing. I put some of it in my stuffing, but there was enough left over to make spur of the moment chorizo stuffed mushrooms. They were delish.



I made an herbed butter to put under the skin of the turkey.



The rest of the dinner was pretty basic. I made a gravy with the neck, since the turkey had no giblets. (!! I know!) I made fresh cranberry sauce. I also made fresh whipped cream with fruit for dessert. The guests brought the other sides.

Another week down

This week was rough. I worked seven days straight. Five more to go before I get a day off. Even though I got out at noon today, I was pretty exhausted. After a nap, I decided I wanted to cook for the week even though I worked all weekend. I made artichokes with melted butter and tortellini with peas and bacon in cream sauce for tonight's dinner. Tomorrow we will be having sausage and swiss chard lasagna. I also roasted a chicken with a lemon in it for Wednesday.

I am really liking having the dinners made during the week. I decided I needed to make smaller dinners, though. The 11 x 9 casseroles are way too much for the kids and me. Although the kids and I were fine eating shepherd's pie for three days, I still ended up having some left over.

I divided the lasagna into three loaf pans (which is how I used to make lasagna for two way back in the day). I froze two and put one in the fridge for tomorrow. I plan to make some of the same casseroles again - the kids liked the shepherd's pie and the chicken lemon artichoke pasta a lot. But, I will be most likely dividing those into smaller pans, too.

Even though I was tired today, it is so much better the whole week to have dinners made. And,I just don't like driving through or eating out at cheap places, and we can't really afford it. I also don't like most premade foods.

Yawn. Alarm set. Time for bed.

Quote for the day

Forgiveness is not the misguided act of condoning irresponsible, hurtful behavior. Nor is it a superficial turning of the other cheek that leaves us feeling victimized and martyred. Rather it is the finishing of old business that allows us to experience the present, free of contamination from the past.

-Joan Borysenko

Catching up

I have been really busy with the single mom thing and the medical school rotations thing, but I have been keeping up with feeding the family. Just not keeping up with blogging about it.

I also just realized that the name of this blog is more than just about my cooking. My life is getting to the point that it's almost healthy now. I'm still working on it. I still have doubts. For example, I know that Picky, and perhaps members of his family, are reading this blog and my other blog. That is probably one of the reasons I haven't been posting that often on either.

I know he read this post because he showed up at Z's birthday party with my kitchen knife, of all things. Leave it to Picky to blemish a party day with some petty nonsense. But, I was happy to see the knife. I have to think in the Almost Healthy mindset. Instead of being worried that his family knows how I feel about their treatment of me, I should be comfortable in the fact that I never treated them badly; I bent over backwards to cook them amazing food and cater to them. It is ridiculous that I feel any sort of angst over admitting out loud that I was treated absolutely atrociously. How does that make me the bad person? If Papa Picky (Picky's father) refuses to ever come to my house again, that means I will never get bullied by him again. I shouldn't feel bad; I should rejoice.

Maybe if I complain on here about his keeping the patio table my former mother in law gave me after saying he was just going to keep it until he got a dining room table will lead to him showing up randomly with my patio table. Here's to hoping for a shred of decency. Or, he can sit outside at his new place at one of the two patio tables with seating for ten and eat take out by himself. I can still be happy that it's not my problem any more.

Anyway, had to get that off my chest. Here is some proof that I have been living, not just ruminating about what Picky's family thinks of me:

S loves talking about Mexican food for some reason, but it seems like whenever I make it, he only eats a little bit. He loves talking about tacos. In fact, he is dressing up like a taco this Halloween. I'm not kidding. Well, I made these shrimp tacos the other night, since Z has trouble chewing the steak in the steak ones I love to make. They were a huge hit.



Here is a favorite breakfast for Z. He asked for it on his birthday. It's nothing fancy, but it reminds me of my childhood. I love it that he loves it. Bananas, peanut butter, and honey:



The weather is getting beautiful. The kids and I love to eat outside, and now that Picky isn't here to object, we get to do it whenever we want. It's wonderful, even if we have to push some cheap folding tables together. I made this cajun catfish with browned butter the other night, and it was scrummy:



I was so proud of myself last Sunday. I posted on Facebook that I deserved a mother of the year award. I made baked French toast for breakfast, folded three loads of laundry, put together my new vacuum / steamer and vacuumed the house, took the kids out for a picnic lunch in a park, and we played ball there and went on a nature walk, made THREE dinners from scratch - one for that night and two for the week, and built a fort with Z. Picky blew it off saying I thought I was mother of the year for just cooking and doing laundry, but I am confident that I did more in one day as a parent than he could pull off in a month. Two months if it was football season, or if a new video game just came out. And, I got the added bonus of not having to do anything but heat up dinner all week, and we had delicious, homemade food.

Here was the most popular meal from the week - chicken and pasta with artichoke, peas and lemon:



And finally, even though I said I wasn't going to talk about Picky any more, I was pretty perturbed that he complained that I wrote about "hating his family" on my food blog. I didn't say I hated them. I said I was upset at how I was treated surrounding food, especially considering the fabulous meals (and endless creme brulee!) I made for them without complaining. Just scroll through the posts on here and check it out. But, since I already vented about it on this post, I might as well finish it off with a laugh. I was in the ER this week to admit a patient, and I saw someone's snack sitting in one of the employee areas. I will most likely never get to cook for Papa Picky again, but if I do get the honor, I think I will hook him up with something like the spread I saw in the ER:



I questioned putting this up, but then I realized he has always treated me with barely concealed hostility, almost since the day he met me. I can continue to cower and be afraid, and listen to his family members telling me how it's my fault and I deserved to be cursed at and treated like dirt on the bottom of his shoe, or I can be Almost Healthy about it and have a good laugh.

Farinata!!

I have a new favorite recipe. I saw a food show a while ago. I can't remember the name of the show, or even what channel it was on. I tried to search for the exact recipe, but wasn't able to find it. But, I was able to find another recipe for the same dish, and it was phenom. And cheap. And simple. And almost healthy!

It is a garbanzo (chick pea) flour flatbread. I have seen it described as a "pancake", even though it is entirely savory. It was so easy to make, has very few ingredients, and was soooo delicious. It has a complex, unique texture and flavor, which is amazing considering how simple it is. Garbanzo flour is a specialty ingredient, but it isn't that hard to find if you have access to a health food store. And, it was $3.00 a pound, so it's hard to complain.

I used this recipe. I heated the water before adding it, since every other recipe I found says to do so. I opted to add the onion and rosemary. I also grated some Parmesan-Reggiano on top because I seem to remember the dude in the show doing it. And, why not? Everything is better with cheese.

Oh. wow. I ate it, I ate some more, I ate leftovers for breakfast, and I am making it again tonight so I can have it for breakfast for the rest of the week. I told the kids we will be eating it for every meal for the rest of our lives, so get used to it.

Here is the lousy photo of my farinata:

Pickiness abounds

So, I was talking about food near someone today who started making "yuck" faces- one of my pet peeves. Don't yuck my yum, people. The really funny thing is, she immediately started arguing about how she doesn't like most seafood, but she "isn't picky". She won't eat anything with a shell - crustacean or bivalve. And most fish is "too fishy". Seafood is usually a good litmus test to me as to whether someone is a picky eater. Then she proceeds to say she doesn't eat any cheese unless it's melted. (?!!!) She hates goat cheese, only likes cow cheese, but will eat feta (which she kept arguing with me wasn't goat cheese. It is. It is sheep cheese, too.) She will eat watermelon but not cantaloupe or honeydew. She won't eat any "gamey" meat, like lamb, goat, rabbit, venison, etc.

And she kept defending that she wasn't a picky eater. Right. Whatever, everyone is entitled to her food issues. Just have a little insight into the fact that you have them, and these aren't inherently gross foods.

Star Wars breakfast!

I got these Star Wars pancake molds from William Sonoma. I couldn't resist. We had lots of fun making these.



Z, when I asked him to smile for the photo: "Mom, I need to look at what I'm doing!"






It took some getting used to in the beginning - some of the first ones were a bit overdone. Consider it the dark side!

Foodie kids!

My mom and I introduced my kids to one of our family foodie traditions: artichokes. My father took my mom out for artichoke when they were dating, and it has been a family delicacy since. The kids loved them!

And, they qualify as almost healthy. Vegetables, but dipped in melted butter. Mmmmmm. I was happy because they both filled up before they got down to the hearts, so i got to eat lots and lots of the heart, which my mom and I agree is the most important part.

Back from beyond, ch-ch-ch-changes

Sorry about the long hiatus. I broke up with Picky (note the blog name change), and moved my kids and I across town. I have been getting used to a new kitchen. For the most part, I am cool with the new kitchen. I really, really miss my gas stove. I have one of those glass topped ranges now. Ehhhh.

I miss the double sink. I miss my new fridge with the freezer drawer on the bottom. I thought I would miss our metro shelving with the hanging pots and pans, but my new kitchen has plenty of storage, and there is significantly less dog hair on everything when it's stored behind cabinet doors. I left Picky a lot more kitchen supplies than he uses or deserves (and he has complained about what I took, natch), but the only thing I really miss is one of the nice knives I left. I need to order a similar one, since I am most likely not going back to the wonderful restaurant supply store near Picky's sister's house where I bought it.

I don't miss cooking for someone who is rude, with so many food issues, and his extended family. And I sure as hell don't miss being bullied to make really high maintenance food, like crème brûlée, on short notice, for really ungrateful people. I would slave over gourmet food for Picky and his family, only to have his dad insult my cooking, Picky give me his usual backhanded compliments (if I got one at all), and his mom tell me that her best friend could make it better, and did she tell me how nice it was to be cooked for since she cooks all the meals when she visits her stay-at-home mom daughter?

She never even made a pot of coffee at my house, even if I had to be at the medical school for an 8 a.m. exam. I was late for one exam (and should have been turned away at the door, but luckily wasn't) because I had to make coffee for her and Picky's dad, and then she somehow forgot she had promised to take Z to school since they stayed the night before I had an exam with about one days' notice. They never, ever, ever asked me about my schedule before making plans that involved me and my family, even though every other member of the extended family doesn't work or go to school. They would make plans, and then inform me, and if I complained or tried to negotiate, I would have to brace myself for the guilt-trip and/or wrath.

But, I seriously don't want to turn this into a complaint-fest about Picky and his family. I am happy to revive this blog with new, fun posts about me and my kids. So, consider this the Picky-and-family exorcism. On to the fun posts!

Eggs with artichoke and havarti

Yup, more eggs.

I made soft boiled eggs, and put them over artichoke bottoms, on which I had melted a piece of havarti cheese over a slice of Canadian bacon. It was delicious. The artichoke bottoms were from the refrigerator, however. They were too cold. it would have been better if I grilled them a bit first before I melted the cheese over them.

This is similar to a design it myself Benedict I order at one of my favorite restaurants: Croissants du France on Doral St. in Key West. They serve eggs in brioche, and used to have an artichoke Benedict. As is my curse, it is off the menu, but they still make it to order when I come. I get it with black forest ham and Hollandaise. This was similar enough.

Food tour of San Francisco

I just went to San Francisco for the ACOG convention. I managed to get in a fair amount of munching and food shopping. I even took a few pictures. Here is a wrap up.

It started in the airport. I forgot to bring ginger, which really helps me with motion sickness. I was happy to find a sushi kiosk where they let me take unlimited packets of pickled ginger. My traveling mates and I were a little alarmed by the suggestions that we put the chopsticks in our ears and nose.

I had grass fed steak tartare at A Girl and A Fig in Sonoma. It was delicious and tender, but a wee bit heavy on the Dijon for my taste.

Their other dishes looked delicious. My friend got a cheese sampler that was excellent.

We went to the Mayo Family Winery in Glen Ellen. The wine tasting was wonderful. I especially liked the Meritage and the Cab, which were really drinkable. The Pinot Noir was smoky and interesting, too.

The next morning I got a fresh mojito while overlooking the Bay to Breakers run. That may be one of the coolest events I have ever been able to witness, and I have been to Mardi Gras and Fantasy Fest.



We waited for more than an hour to eat at Mama's for brunch on Sunday. It was worth it. I had a shrimp benedict. My friends had a crab omelet and the cranberry french toast. They were all delicious, generous, and well made.

We went to Trader Joe's and to the Rainbow Co-op, where my old friend works in the produce department. My buddies and I had fun in the bulk department at the co-op. I secured my crystallized ginger for the flight back. One of my roommates got 2 buck chuck - a two dollar bottle of wine from Trader Joe's. It was surprisingly not toxic.

I had good Tom Kha Guy from the Thai restaurant in the hotel. The cafe across the street had delicious breakfast burritos that they made fresh with avocado. Even the welcome reception at the convention had good food, with some delicious pasta with black truffle oil. Anchor Steam, one of my favorite beers, was plentiful every where I went.

I didn't manage to get the best meal on camera. I got invited to a sponsored meal with Academic Ob/Gyn (thanks Sage!) at the XYZ restaurant at the W Hotel. It was fabulous. I had a picked beet salad, and an English pea and marscapone ravioli, with this scruptious light fresh green sauce. So delicious. Tiny, tiny servings, and everything was so good you felt compelled to share. I think they tried to mention that it was supposed to be tapas style, but the menu was grouped into courses, which made that difficult.



We went to Fisherman's Wharf. I got sourdough with havarti cheese melted on it. Umm, yummm. The place we got the bread (I forget what it was called) had a great little gourmet shop where I munched my cheesy toast and drank my Anchor Steam. If my bags weren't already overstuffed I would have bought out the place, with its cute utensils, books on cooking with artichokes and fig spreads.