May 31. 2011: Carrot a l’Etuvee

Last week, I was home to attend the wedding of my nephew, Jonathan and his new bride, Nikki. I was invited to cook for my family (a rare treat) as a follow-up to the wedding, at my sister, Mary Lou’s house. I made:

• Bruschetta with goat cheese-shallot topping
• Pumpkin Vichyssoise
• Beef Tenderloin with Cajun Spice/Dijon Mustard/Horseradish Crust
• Duchess Potatoes
• French-Style Asparagus (see May 10, 2011 entry)
• Carottes à l’Etuvée (steamed carrots w/no water)
• Boston Lettuce/Belgian Endive Salad w/ Pear, Toasted Walnuts, Macadamia Nut Oil & Balsamic Vinegar Dressing
• Pumpkin Cheesecake

This was a very challenging meal considering all the dishes and the time spent for traveling and for the wedding itself. Mary Lou set a beautiful table with her fine china, silver and Waterford crystal. Nikki donated one of her bouquets from the wedding, for the centerpiece for the table.

One of my “sure things” for this meal was the Carottes à l’Etuvée recipe. “Etuvée” is French for “steamed.” Fair warning, here: You may never make carrots any other way (I sure haven’t.) This recipe creates a fresh carrot, steamed in its own water and that results in a brighter color, firmer texture, and a more flavorful taste. It has a by-product as being one of the easiest dishes I’ve ever made!

Have your chosen quantity of carrots (washed, skinned, ends removed, and cut at 45°angle.) Here, it is important to get the mass of each piece the same, in order to get each piece to cook evenly. You don’t need to add any water! The carrots cook in their own juices. Add a pat of butter, a sprinkling of ground pepper and sal de mer, herbs de Provence, a bay leaf and a tiny bit of ground nutmeg to the pot. Cover and heat at medium-high until the carrots start to sizzle. Reduce heat to low, shaking the pot every once in a while (about 20 minutes) until the biggest piece is able to be pierced with a fork. Serve immediately.

That’s all for the best carrots you will ever have!

06.02.11 Update:

The diners, minus hosts & chef (photo: S. Swasey)

Just got the pics from the host, my brother-in-law Steve (thanks!) Steve absolutely hates veggies! He told me that he would not try the asparagus dish so I (unconsciously) served him twice the carrot dish! Steve was (silently) less than pleased at my doing so, but after tasting, he finished them all!

May 30, 2011: Greek Pasta Salad

This weekend, we had a “bring a dish” at Teja’s and Barb’s to celebrate Ellen’s birthday and the release of Teja’s new IPhone app. for RaceOff (http://www.entertainingdiversity.com/gamesapps.html) A very fine day playing “Candyland” and “Dogopoly” with little Katie, chatting, watching Pam surfing in her element, and eating great food: Caroyln made a delicious cornbread that went very well with Pam’s wonderful veggie chili. Ellen brought her own cake (hey! isn’t here a rule against that?!!!) a very subtle and perfect chocolate cake somewhere between a brownie and a cake. I brought a Greek Pasta Salad, a very good, cold dish for the upcoming summer months. This is one of those recipes, I created in one of those cooking fugue states, where things “just seemed right” so, as I really enjoyed it, I want to write it down before it totally escapes my memory.

Greek Pasta Salad:

• 1 Box (16oz.) Penne Pasta
• 1 Bunch Spring Onions (washed, green parts removed, sliced thin 1/4″)
• About 2 C. Grape Tomatoes (washed, sliced in half)
• 3 Stalks Celery (washed, sliced thin 1/4″; you could sub green peppers)
• 1 Cucumber (washed, skinned, deseeded, sliced thin 1/4″)
• About 1/2C. Dried Sun-dried Tomatoes (sliced thin)
• I Can Black Medium Olives (drained)
• 3 Raw Carrots (washed, skinned, matchsticked)
• 1/2 C. Craisins
• 1 Block Feta Cheese (sliced into little cubes)
• 1/2 Bunch Fresh Dill (washed, dried, chopped)
• Equal Amount of Olive Oil+Lemon Juice (to taste)
• 1/2Tsp. Each: ground Pepper; ground Sal de Mer; Fresh Dill, Basil, Oregano

This is  cold dish, so you want to make it ahead of time to give it plenty of time to cool and let the flavors combine. Cook the pasta basically according to the directions, but shave two minutes off the total time;  immerse in cold water; and drain. When pasta is cool, add veggies, feta, spices, oil and lemon juice. Cool. This dish is good as leftovers. The only thing I would add is a toasted nut: slivered almond, walnuts, or pine nuts (very appropriate for a Greek dish) but I would add them just before serving, as they could get soft, left in the oil.

Delicious with a Demestica or Retsina wine. Perfect for a picnic or that summer dish at the beach. Fresh. Simple. Light. Tasty.

May 12, 2011: Asparagus-Japanese Style

Here’s another asparagus recipe. This one is a Japanese style preparation. Lop of the end stalks of asparagus (usually about 1″ from the end) and discard (or use for stock.) Wash and boil asparagus with sal de mer and a pinch of baking soda (this will help keep the asparagus green.) DO NOT OVERCOOK ASPARAGUS! You want a bit of snap to the asparagus. Too much and you will have a wilted mess. If in doubt, a little underdone is OK.

As asparagus is cooking, make the sauce: whisk together 1 Tblsp. each of white miso, shoyu (soy sauce), and 1/2 Tblsp. mirin. Dice sweet red pepper small for garnish. Top asparagus with sauce, pepper pieces and toasted sesame seeds.

May 12, 2011: “Grave of the Fireflies”

I’ve never been a huge anime fan, but I try to stay open to film styles in general. I remember seeing “Spirited Away” (2001) in theaters and enjoyed it, so when I found consistent high ratings for “Grave of the Fireflies” (1988) I was intrigued.

The story is set place  in Japan, 1945, at the end of WWII. The main characters are Seita, a boy of about 12 years old and his sister, Setsuko who is about 3-4 years old. I’m not giving anything away by saying that the whole film is a series of events before the two children’s death, as Seita’s first words recount that this is the night he died and with Setsuko’s absence, her death is implied as well. So, I want to be upfront and say that “Grave of the Fireflies” is not the most “cheery” film out there, but rather, is a poignant study of effects of war on innocents and the nobility of humans struggling under hard conditions.

The city of Kobe, where Seita and Setsuko live, is firebombed and they lose their mother. Their father is absent serving in the military, so they are sent to their aunt’s house in Nishinomiya. The unsympathetic aunt plays a kind of subtle wicked stepmother who resents the added burden of the extra kids in a time of shortages of war. Seita picks up on this, and has the idea of moving he and his sister to a nearby shelter in the woods. At first, this is a kind of an adventure which gives the children freedom to explore  life in kind of Tom Sawyer way. They have time to establish themselves, experience nature and reminisce about the better times of their life. They find  a nearby field full of  fireflies that they capture to fill their shelter with their light. The next day, as Setsuko is burying the dead fireflies, Seita finds out that the aunt has told Setsuko that their mother is dead (something Seita desperately wanted to spare Setsuko.) Eventually, conditions decay. Despite Seita’s best efforts, Setsuko is wasting away from malnutrition and soon she dies.

Despite this rather morose setup, “Grave of the Fireflies” is, surprisingly, a film about the beauty of those simple moments of life that we all take for granted: playing on the beach, the sour taste of  pickled plum, chasing butterflies, the playfulness of our children, the sweet taste of fruit drops, the memories that fill our life…and if you’ve ever spent a night in a field of fireflies you understand the magic of nature. All this, and more, is packed into “Grave of the Fireflies” while not ignoring the sadness inherent in life.

“Grave of the Fireflies” is not quite a perfect film. Viewers will find at least one major logic flaw that momentarily  detracts from the story line, but what the film lacks in logic, it makes up for in heart. One comment that I have read over and over is that “Grave of the Fireflies” is one of those films that sits with the viewer for some time after. It is based on the novel by Akiyuki Nosaka who, during the war, lost his younger sister to malnutrition in a similar way that Seita loses Setsuko. The novel was Nosaka’s way to come to terms with this.

I’ve always considered that fireflies were (at least partial)  inspiration to the plethora of Edwardian faery stories. Certainly, any creature that manufactures its own light to shine as a beacon, as it flies through the night air, is envocative of many things to the human imagination: magical spirits, ghosts, the soul, etc. As she is burying the fireflies, Setsuko asks Seita “Why do all the fireflies die so soon?” A very human question indeed…but, of course, we are all fireflies.

May 10, 2011: Asparagus-French Style

The best thing about Spring is that asparagus is in season! Love it! As an hors d’oeuvre, in a soup, as a side, it’s just delicious! I’ll be posting asparagus recipes until I run out of them, because I get to eat the leftovers from the shoot!

Here’s a French style recipe: Lop of the end stalks of asparagus (usually about 1″ from the end) and discard (or use for stock.) Wash, drain, and grill asparagus on a grill pan (or better on a grill) in vegetable oil, over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Rotate often. Grilling adds a smoky flavor to the asparagus and leaves it with a nice “snap” that steaming and boiling can’t quite get right. Top with toasted slivered almonds, half melted butter, half lemon juice. Finish with ground sal de mer and paprika. Simple, easy, fast, healthy. I’ll never tire of this dish!