Food Worship

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Every Saturday afternoon at 4:00pm I go to church. After church, since it is so conveniently located nearby, I drive over for an entirely different sort of worship at the altar of my favorite local food market. I vainly attempt, as I navigate the busy outdoor mall parking lot, to bite back a torrent of bad words and maintain my post-church serenity, as I dodge motorists who don’t believe that checking the rearview mirror or using a turn signal is de rigueur for vehicular safety all the while minding the hordes of pedestrians weaving in and out of traffic.

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Speaking of church, I have a confession to make. Despite my passion for food, I have no imagination when it comes to creating new dishes or preparing meals. You will find no photos of beautiful towers of food or artfully plated dishes made with exotic ingredients on my website . . . at least none cooked by me! Perhaps if I had discovered my obsession with food at an earlier age, things might have been different. Having an opportunity to apprentice with talented, professional chefs tends to nurture creative ability; alas, I am past the age of interning and am the sole chef at Chez Laura, certainly not a learning environment! I am, however, able to follow directions, wing it and adlib when necessary but like many home cooks in America, I get bored. I try to explain this to my family when all I hear is silence or my favorite; “Whatever” in response to the question, “What do you want for dinner?” C’mon, throw me a bone here! “Whatever” is simply not inspiring. Trying to figure out what to make three hundred and some odd days a year is way too heavy burden for anyone to carry!

This is where shopping comes in or, to borrow yet another ecclesiastical term, food worship. A good grocery store or market is an intrinsic part of life’s foundation, as far as I’m concerned. Considering that I love to cook, it makes my life easier and provides a multitude of recipe ideas. I can walk in and walk out an hour later with a week’s worth of ideas in my head. If I happen to spend more than my weekly allotted food budget buying pretty food then so be it! Thus, in recent years, I have developed a “shop first, determine the menu later” method of cooking.

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For example, when strawberry season commences, the display beckons me. It’s not just the luscious red velvet outer wrapper, a perfect foil for the green stems and crown of leaves that calls, “Come hither!”, but also the scent. The fragrance of fresh strawberries picked straight from the field is intoxicating. I have to have them. Moments later, a few pints stowed securely in my basket, I am not yet exactly sure what I am going to do with them but my mind is in a frenzy. What will it be, strawberry muffins or strawberry cake? Perhaps, it should be a salad with strawberries, toasted pine nuts, goat cheese and roasted wild salmon; a family favorite. The point is that the act of shopping and purchasing great key ingredients is the ideal solution for the, what-to-make-for- dinner dilemma. Last weekend, I was seduced into buying some lovely Roma tomatoes at the market and since I am crazy for balsamic roasted tomatoes with goat cheese as a side dish for steak, I picked up a porterhouse and the meal just seemed to come together when paired with a wonderful mushroom barley pilaf I had been dying to make.

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Food worship reaches far beyond the mere process of; here comes a boring description of what needn’t be a mundane weekly chore, “grocery shopping”. Food worship involves research; discovering unusual ingredients, new foods and exotic spices and having the perfect market basket to put all of those wonderful things into. It’s exciting to find a certain ingredient such as patty pan squash or Japanese eggplant, items that I have read about but never been able to find locally, all of a sudden make an appearance at my market. There is energy to a great market as well; something that just makes me happy to be there.

So seek culinary vision wherever you can find it. Read a cookbook, watch A & E’s Julia Child biography (seen it at least four times!!!), visit a cool market or buy a new toy at a fun kitchen store. I recommend something like a wildly expensive cutting board or a shiny new sheet pan, perfect for roasting tomatoes. A new chef’s knife is always a thrill; yes, I am serious. Laugh all you want but a new piece of kitchen equipment can have the same effect as a new pair of shoes that you wanted but didn’t really need. The purchase of either can be exhilarating. Ina Garten said in her wonderful book, Barefoot in Paris “. . . good cookware not only enhances the quality of my cooking, but it’s also an incredible joy to use.” Barefoot in Paris: easy French food you can make at home. (New York: Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2004), 107. SO true! I heard somewhere that life is too short to eat the same food every day. A somewhat daunting maxim but an exciting one, right? Happy shopping! 

The Clean Underwear Legacy

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Remember how your mother used to remind you to wear clean underwear in the event that you were involved in a car accident and had to go the hospital? Actually, I think that it may have been un-hole-y underwear but my mother might have twisted it to serve her purpose. Regardless, the absolute horror of having the EMT’s see your dirty (or hole-y, whichever the case might be) underwear as they are busy trying to save your life, right? :) Well, I am here to tell you that the same applies to keeping your house clean in case handsome firemen are required to storm your kitchen in order to put out a fire. Sigh . . . Yes, I must confess . . . It’s true, yesterday, I set my oven on fire. I didn’t mean it. At least that’s what I tried to explain to the firemen after I happened to mention how much I had always hated my oven. As they started to grin, I hastily insisted that I didn’t set my oven on fire on purpose so that I could get a shiny new one. Really! I didn’t!
It was a day like any other day. I was on my laptop, elbow deep in an article and Piper was sacked on the couch like so:

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She’s really much prettier than that. She had just had a bath which always makes her look like she is having a bad hair day . . . at least until I brush her . . . but back to the disaster at hand. My oven had bravely taken on the Thanksgiving dinner challenge but was a little worse for the wear after the cornbread Dad and I made quite overflowed the pan and ran onto the floor of my oven. This was my bad since I should have known that any recipe calling for that much baking powder could practically open the oven door and go for a stroll once that leavening power kicks in. Regardless, let’s just say that my oven looked like a really unfortunate illness had occurred in there. The resulting mess is what actually caught on fire after I set the oven to “self-clean”. I was typing away when I heard that tell-tale “whoosh” sound which anyone who has ever had a fireplace would recognize as the sound of something igniting; no longer thinking that’s a warm and friendly sound!!! Horrified, I ran around the counter to see flames where only days ago had been cornbread, stuffing and roasting beets.

I paused for about ten seconds which seemed like a lifetime to see if the flames would extinguish on their own. When this didn’t happen, I grabbed my dog, my laptop and my purse and was out the door, dialing 911 as I ran. Trust me; there was no thought of “What should I try to save?” Actually, I don’t think my feet ever hit the ground in my quest for safety. I also did not realize how incredibly grateful I would be to live a quarter of a mile away from the fire station but when I heard the sweet sound of those sirens, literally within seconds, that’s what I was; grateful. It was all over in a matter of minutes thanks to Tequesta Fire Department, the awesome-est fire department ever! Not only did they not call me a bonehead for not at least scraping out the cornbread mess prior to cleaning the oven but they were incredibly nice, incredibly efficient and made a huge fuss over my dog. Fussing over my child or my dog is the surest way to my heart. My husband can fend for himself. :)

After the kindly firemen carted my poor, pitiful, sad range to the curb, I went back into the house to put things back in their place and that is when embarrassment struck. What a mess! It was housekeeping desecration! It was Hurricane Francis reincarnated! I surveyed the scene in dismay. Dog hair tumbleweeds cavorted merrily across the floor and the breakfast and lunch dishes towered in the sink because I was so busy working that I had failed to empty the dishwasher! Thank goodness, my daughter had dumped a can of soup down the side of the stove two days prior forcing my husband to pull the range away from the wall in order to thoroughly clean beneath the range. The floor beneath turned out to be the most pristine part of the house. I prayed that all of my kindly firemen would not go home and tell their wives about the slob who almost burned her house down. Again, I am sure that not one of these gentlemen gave one thought to my messy house as they were trying to save it from burning to the ground but there you have it; it’s the “clean underwear legacy”; a gift from our mothers. Bless you guys and thanks for saving my house and keeping my Thanksgiving holiday happy! I am off to shop for a new range!

P.S. Before I get any outraged comments, I am not being sexist within the content of this piece. All of the firefighters on this particular call really were all guys. :)

Ode to Oatmeal

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Okay, laugh all you want, dear readers from the frozen north, but this morning my Tequesta, Florida thermometer read a chilly fifty degrees so I dressed for “winter” in long running pants and thermal top. In my defense, I must tell you that there is nothing like a mini typhoon blowing off the Atlantic to cut right through to the bone so some sort of warmer apparel is crucial. The sun was shining and I was able to watch the surfers from Jupiter’s Ocean Boulevard braving a still angry, roiling, post-Sandy sea as I ran. Thanks to the chilly temps, I had the best run since summer’s humid misery departed. I also had a serious craving for a hearty bowl of hot cereal.

Hot cereal and I have always had a very dubious sort of relationship. You know; the kind that opens the door for you and buys you roses but somehow lacks the “spark” that we women sometimes look for. Let’s just say that clandestine weekend getaways on a Harley are not in your future with this relationship, if you know what I mean! :) I won’t go out on a limb and say that I actually hate hot cereal however my childhood memories of hot porridge on cold winter mornings left a bitter legacy and a very rocky beginning for any new cereal courtship; no offense to all of you porridge lovers!

On snowy mornings my brother and I would pray, ear pressed anxiously to the radio, for a free day from school only to be devastated when it wasn’t to be. On such a morning we came to expect steaming hot bowls of porridge and knew that Mom would not be satisfied until it all went down. Iiccckkkk! I can’t put my finger on the exact thread of my dislike. It didn’t taste all that bad and it certainly is good for you. Perhaps it was the texture although who knows what goes on in the minds of children or more importantly, their taste buds, right?

During my baking internship, the pastry chefs ate oatmeal every morning. This culinary masterpiece consisted of oats simply cooked with fresh berries. Admirable; but no thanks! While I have spent a lifetime striving to maintain a healthy lifestyle, I need a little bit of sugar every once in a while and that particular recipe was way too spartan for me. I had something else in mind for this morning’s meal. Making a quick stop at the local market, I grabbed a box of steel cut oats, sliced almonds, bananas and peanut butter frozen yogurt; no, that isn’t an oatmeal ingredient! :) Once home, I cooked up the oats following the manufacturer’s directions. While the oats simmered, I sliced a fourth of a vanilla bean and gently stripped the vanilla seeds from the pod, retrieved the brown sugar from the pantry and dug in the fridge for a quart of half and half. By the time I sliced the banana, the oats were ready.

The best way to combine the ingredients here is to simply lower the temperature of the range and add everything to the pot. This method will gently warm the bananas and cream thereby preventing the initial hot temperature of the cereal from dropping to an unappetizing room temperature and developing a “wall spackle” texture.

While this dish may look, taste and certainly smell like a desert, there is mega nutritional value here including fiber, loads of iron and a whole slew of other vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Oatmeal is known to lower “bad” or LDL cholesterol and according to the FDA is a tasty way to lower the risk for heart disease. A word of caution, however, while I am the last person to lecture about sweets and moderation regarding taste sensations like cream and butter, after all I run so that I can eat, try to be sensible when adding your toppings! :) After all, we don’t want to negate all the health benefits of eating oatmeal by drowning the poor oats in a pound of fat so happy eating and stay warm this winter!

Other sensational toppings:
Honey
Maple Syrup
Nuts of any kind
Peanut Butter
Flax seed
Granola
Fruit
Butter
Dark chocolate shavings (MY FAVORITE!!!)

The Best Food is “Good for You Food”!

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Whenever I visit family, I always take the opportunity to prepare at least one family meal. It’s purely a selfish act really. Not only does it afford some precious and increasingly rare family time, but also gives me the chance to cook in what is often a larger, much better equipped (with a gas range!!!) kitchen than mine. My family thinks they are the winners in this scenario, although to my crafty way of thinking, I get to have all the fun!

On many a happy occasion, cooking has been a team effort and we have found ourselves squeezing into the same kitchen working on our different dishes at various predetermined stations. The room takes on an air of supercharged energy that might be a little overwhelming for those who may not have shared a roof for twenty years! Since my family resides in three different corners of the country these “cooking-paloozas” often occur over the holidays and have been the cause of many fond, often hilarious but always beautiful memories.

On a recent trip to visit my brother and his family in Southern California, I assumed the role of “executive chef” for the day and created the evening menu. As far as I’m concerned, there is only one way to shop for produce and specialty foods so my brother, Dad and I headed out on a gorgeous Sunday morning; destination, one of the many amazing green markets that Californians enjoy. The market that we attended in Ladera Ranch was not large as some of these markets tend to be. However, the atmosphere was carnival-like and swarming with happy food enthusiasts. Shopping here is not an amateur sport as locals arrived armed with lists and baskets of all shapes and sizes to do some serious shopping in the summer sun.

Every stand was chockfull of the most amazing produce, sauces, oils, pastas, cheeses and even gelato that one could possibly desire. Foodie that I am, I was like a “kid in the candy store” with my head pivoting from side to side, darting from market stand to market stand, sniffing, touching and exclaiming at an increasingly frenetic pace. As I had selected Dungeness Crab for the main course, I settled on lemons the color of the sun, shallots and garlic that I planned to sauté in butter for the sauce, a large fragrant, fresh baguette and lovely purple and red heirloom tomatoes the size of my fist. Since purchasing a whole plant was a less costly option than buying a bunch, we opted for a basil plant destined for a life in my brother’s garden and at the last minute added eight gorgeous white nectarines of softball proportion. The scent of this fruit was dizzyingly intoxicating even before the Asian woman operating the stand put knife to flesh to kindly offer me a taste. No table is complete without fresh flowers so on the way to the car; we snatched up a dozen dwarf sunflowers from the colorful array that spilled from the stand to the sidewalk.

Needless to say, this fabulous simple food hardly required much culinary skill to prepare. The steamed crab was sweet and delicious and the sliced, broiled tomatoes were both juicy and crisp with their panko, parmesan and basil topping. With such good fare available, it is hard to fathom selecting a fast food choice over these simple gifts that Mother Nature provides or treating the evening meal with any less respect than it deserves. Truly, it does not take a great deal of skill or time to cook great food.

Keeping pantry staples on hand such as good quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dressings or glazes, panko bread crumbs for veggie or fish toppings and a pepper grinder and sea salt makes food preparation a snap. Hard cheeses like parmigiano-reggiano keep very well in a refrigerated drawer for long periods of time and add an extra depth of flavor to almost anything. As you become more adventurous, experiment with different varieties of all of the above mentioned such as flavored vinegars and French sea salt or Fleur de Sel perfect for finishing grilled vegetables.

As the sun begins to set on the summer fun in many parts of the country, we Floridians begin to look forward to our favorite season with great anticipation. This fall, consider making your grill your new BFF. Simply rub your grouper or snapper or even steak with olive oil, season with salt and cracked pepper and grill. Slice squash, zucchini and eggplant lengthwise, prep in the same manner and add them to your hot grate. Our family version of this vegetable dish also includes roasted red pepper, goat cheese and is finished with a balsamic vinaigrette or glaze. This wonderful fresh food provides a meal that is beyond compare. While we struggle through the dog days of summer, think about the wonderful food options available to all of us here at our own South Florida green markets. Buy yourself a basket, set your alarm clock and get out there. Support our local growers and buy some real food. I think you will find the energy to be intoxicating, the fresh air invigorating and the food to be addicting, body and soul. The best food is “good for you food”!

When life hands you a pink slip . . . .

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I always wanted a blog. I was the geeky teenager that was forever writing stories and poetry; worse, I had the stuff published in the high school literary magazine and exposed everyone else to my silly, dramatically overblown, teen ramblings. At the time, I thought these pieces were noteworthy literature (they weren’t!!!), regardless, I enjoyed the writing and the liberating feeling of setting one’s thoughts free on paper. Unfortunately, over the years, my life had evolved into some sort of career-addicted, out-of-my-mind, post-it ridden, forget something important every day, throw some duct tape at it kind of existence that seemed determined to squash any form of creativity that ever lurked in the now cobweb festooned chambers of my brain! Thus this blog, something I always dreamed of doing, has been long delayed! :-)

My work and family life schedule had me running at warp speed just to keep up with our day to day existence. I was so crazy busy that I was never available for homework help or soccer games and was often too tired for even the occasional dinner date with my husband. The mommy guilt was stifling. My dust bunnies had children and then their children had children too! A small crisis like a broken washing machine usually meant a war between my husband and me to see who was going to call in sick in order to be home for the repairman! :-) Meals were often thrown together and rarely did anyone ever sit down to eat before 8:00p.m. Dinner together as a family was a once in a blue moon occurence.

And that was my life. At least it was until earlier this spring when I lost my job.

Time passed and as is the case with so many others, new employment has eluded me. It took me awhile to dial the pace down and start thinking about what was important to me. After a couple of weeks of panic and what-am-I-gonna-do hysteria and a few more weeks where it seemed all I did was chase my tail, I turned to what I love best, writing and food. Although I am available now for homework and soccer and dinner dates, I found myself missing the day to day interactions with my coworkers. We used to talk about food a lot. Perhaps I was just lucky to be surrounded by those who care about good, healthy eating the way I do or maybe I simply yammered on about cooking until which point they gave up and merely pretended to be interested! Either way, I like to believe there was a shared interest. Not that we couldn’t all plow down a couple of slices of birthday cake when the opportunity arose but that’s a whole ‘nother post! :-) I enjoyed sharing recipe ideas and hearing about what they were eating, whether someone was pregnant, training for a marathon, trying to slim down or feed a family.

So that is the focus of this blog. I figure I’ll just write about food instead of talk about it. I’ll just pretend I still have an audience and maybe I will be fortunate to eventually have one once again through his blog. I am also looking forward to feedback from anyone who might want to join my little community. Thanks for reading!