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What I’ve Been Cooking: February 2012

rivka — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:28:36 +0000

A different sort of post today, because while I’ve been too busy this week to cook anything noteworthy, there are many little things I keep meaning to mention. So here they are, in one fell swoop.

It’s slim pickins’ at the farmers’ market these days, but carrots are in abundance. I bought a few pounds from a guy who’s known for his carrots, and I put some of them to work in this simple soup from Deb. I loved the clean, pure carrot flavor, and the miso added just the right punch of umami. One change: I found the sesame oil overpowering, and I didn’t love the texture of raw scallions in such a smooth soup. Still, I didn’t want to lose that scallion flavor. So I took a page from Francis Lam’s playbook, and drizzled the soup with some of his genius ginger-scallion sauce. The combination was such a winner, I couldn’t resist sharing it.

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A Unique Holiday Gift Guide

rivka — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 14:36:07 +0000

Well, friends, I’m back at it. After a few terrible attempts at this in past years (no, I’m not providing links), this time I’ve got what I hope will be a unique take on holiday gifts for the important folks in your lives. Yes, these gifts are great for food lovers — but they’re the types of things others might appreciate as well.

I’ve tried to cover all the bases. From unique Etsy finds, to quirky items from standard stores like Amazon, to exotic spices, to must-own cookbooks, I hope there’s something here for everyone. All pictures are clickable; want it? Click it.

Take a look past the jump.

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Santa Fe Getaway

rivka — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 18:34:49 +0000

Hi folks!

Well, we’re back from Santa Fe. I can’t say we got a warm welcome home — it was more of a scorching welcome. The weather here was completely out of control, with temperatures soaring into the 100s and humidity in the high 90% range. Now that DC isn’t completely exploding, I’m out of my post-vacation funk, and I’ve got loads of pictures and bits to share.

Santa Fe is nothing like DC. The days are hot but dry, the evenings cool and breezy. It’s weather that calls for linen pants and light, airy sweaters. That’s what I wore for 6 wonderful days.

The weather and surroundings in Santa Fe were, without a doubt, the highlight of the trip. Not since I lived in Israel have I been in a place with such beautiful scenery everywhere you look. Desert in the background, mountains in the distance, a hot, dry haze in the air, but the promise of cool breeze in early morning and evening. We took advantage of those cool evenings to eat outdoors, and restaurants in Santa Fe have beautiful outdoor seating. At one restaurant, Aqua Santa, we ate under wooden beams laced with vines and supporting a beautiful sour cherry tree. A couple plump, red sour cherries were the perfect end to the meal.

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Sour Cherry Liqueur

rivka — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 15:32:57 +0000

It’s officially sour cherry season! I got my first quart at the market today, and I simply can’t wait to turn them into this lovely aperitif. Originally posted last July, sour cherry liqueur is back!

Want to do something awesomely cool and really flippin’ easy along with me? Make sour cherry liqueur. It’s the height of sour cherry season, and markets are bursting with those tart little bubbles of juice. The season’s pretty short: I was thinking of hitting up a u-pick next week to get some sour cherries out in the countryside for cheap, but they said they’ll be gone by Sunday. So grab some now, like, now now, and put them to use in a way that’ll keep well into the fall.

My dear friend Dellie had D and me over for an early Thanksgiving dinner last November, and her mother served this liqueur as an aperitif. I was totally blown away: it was sweet, very sweet, but also tart and zingy. It tasted strongly and distinctly of sour cherries, and sipping it sent waves of summer nostalgia down my spine. I sauntered into the kitchen where I found the always-graceful Mrs. S pulling a whole turkey out of the oven to rest. What better time to bother someone for a recipe? She said to come knocking again when it was sour cherry season, and she’d give me the rundown. Unlike most other things, I didn’t forget this promise, and last week, I emailed Mrs. S begging her recipe. She graciously obliged, and her instructions were so thorough that I can easily share them with you. Granted, you won’t be tasting the fruits of your labor until the fall — but if you feel like preserving some of summer’s bounty in this unusual way, I can promise that your patience will be well-rewarded.

That's a knife jutting out of the pitcher -- I used it to stir the stuff, and I did fill it to the top after taking the pic.

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Morduch

rivka — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 19:46:23 +0000

Judging by its exterior, Morduch has developed its reputation entirely by word of mouth. The sign outside is small and dirty, and the restaurant is not much more than a hole in the wall, overshadowed in size and grandeur by its neighbor, the shuk (open air market). It’s not the kind of place you notice just walking by; for Morduch to be full as consistently as it is, people must be talking about it. And I can assure you, they are. I actually sat down on the bus the day after I started writing this post, and sure enough, the two women next to me were discussing Morduch.

Morduch serves classic Israeli comfort food: warm hummus with whole chickpeas and ground beef, and kabobs with rice and tomatoes, are both menu staples. But they’re known for their soup — kubbeh soup, in particular.

There are three varieties of kubbeh soup at Morduch. The first is called “marak kubbeh adom,” or red kubbeh soup. It’s a mildly-spiced tomato broth with celery, a couple other vegetables, and big kubbeh, or meat-filled semolina dumplings that have been boiled in the soup. Marak kubbeh adom is generally regarded as the most basic soup; it’s what your friend orders when it’s his first time at the restaurant and he’s still skeptical about the whole kubbeh thing.

The second variety is called marak kubbeh hamusta, and it had me at hello. I first ate kubbeh hamusta in 2004, and was immediately addicted to its mouth-twisting tartness (from sorrel leaves) and rich spicing (from the beef in the kubbeh). There are few things I adore more than hamusta soup.

Given my love of hamusta, I generally don’t look at the menu — I just sit down and order. As I was slurping the last of my bowl last week, I glanced at the menu for blog-reporting purposes and noticed a third soup on the menu: marak kubbeh siskeh. As it’s described by the restaurant, siskeh is hamusta soup for the advanced palate: its spicing is more aggressive, its tartness more pronounced. Basically, an amped up bowl of the already-wonderful hamusta. I had in mind to head back and give it a shot, but there was too much else to do and not enough time, so siskeh will have to wait until my next trip. If you have it, you must let me know how it is!

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The Shuk

rivka — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 08:45:31 +0000

The central attraction of the downtown area is, without a doubt, the shuk, or the open-air market. Occupying two long square blocks, it has everything you could possibly want, from fresh fruit and vegetables to prepared foods to hundreds of kinds of cheese to fresh-squeezed juice to full-service cafes and restaurants…and more. It’s one of my favorite places in all of Jerusalem, and I make a point to come at least once or twice every time I’m here.

The produce at the shuk alone makes it worth the trip. Fruit and vegetables of every variety are available and shockingly affordable prices. You know those Middle Eastern cucumbers that cost $3 or $4/lb at your local farmers market? It’d be difficult to spend $2 on them here: they cost about 75 cents/kilo, or about 35 cents/pound. Aside from the prices, the variety is refreshing. It’s not everywhere that you can get beautiful red tomatoes and even strawberries (!) in December. For those with an exotic streak, there are also sabras (mild-tasting fruit with hot pink exterior and innards ranging from white to purple), pumelos (a cross between a grapefruit, a lemon, and an orange with a hefty pith, a light yellow tint, and a sweet, tart flavor) and many other things.

Smack in the middle of the shuk’s indoor strip is my favorite cheese shop. It’s perpetually swarming with people angling for their tub of fresh ricotta, goat feta, Bulgarian cheese or labne (a thick, tangy yogurt). And in addition to the over 20 kinds of fresh cheese, the stand also has an unusually large assortment of imported cheeses, which can be hard to find in Jerusalem. Next door, the same folks own a meat stand, where they sell great hummus, meat cigars, and kubbeh (fried semolina dumplings stuffed with ground meat), as well as an assortment of ready-to-eat main dishes and sides. The fun never ends.

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Getaway Sour Cherry Pie

rivka — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 23:17:14 +0000

The dog days of August are no time to hang out in DC. That’s why D and I spent the first week of the month with her parents in Douglas, MI, a beach town on the eastern side of Lake Michigan, where every day is 75 and sunny and there’s a constant breeze rippling through the air. If I didn’t have east coast blood in my veins, I’d have been so swept away by the perfect Michigan summer weather that I might have packed up my things and moved.

Our cottage in Douglas was downright luxurious. The beds were plush, the couches were comfy, and there was a beautiful patio out back that was perfect for a lazy afternoon of reading, eating, and gazing aimlessly into the sky.

There was a grill, too — a brand new grill that the owner generously bought after we inquired. Needless to say, kabobs and grilled chicken were in order.

Our days effortlessly took on a routine. In the morning, we moseyed onto the patio for some coffee and our first glimpse of sun. K and I alternated on breakfast duty — I cooked a batch of blueberry buttermilk pancakes one morning, she made buttery biscuits the next. Some mornings, we stayed on the lighter side and spooned out some yogurt and berries. D and I lazed around until breakfast was ready, then took clean-up duty once our stomachs were full.

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Wisdom: How to Build a Cheeseplate

rivka — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:48:05 +0000

When summer rolls around, the heat in Washington DC can be rather prohibitive. Almost nothing is worth touching that oven dial, especially in our loft apartment that gets a whole lot of hot air and nary a breeze. Dinner most frequently comprises an easy salad like this broccoli slaw or this Mediterranean orzo salad, or maybe even a cold soup like this quick-and-easy zucchini number I made last summer. Tie that all together with some crusty bread and I’ve got an easy supper.

Salads and cold soups are definitely an antidote to the heat and humidity, but when the weather is so debilitating that I want to just crash when I get home, a cheeseplate is really the way to go. Cheeseplates are easy to assemble but elegant enough for company, and while people seem to think they go best with red wine, I’ve found (and had more authoritative sources corroborate) that a chilled (but not too chilled) glass of white wine makes even better company.

Recently, I was reading a great post from Mr. Amateur Gourmet, Adam Roberts, about his trip to the famed Murray’s Cheese in Greenwich Village and his quest for the perfect cheese plate. He asked the man behind the counter for help selecting his cheeses, and the man gave him a mild but interesting goat cheese, a sharper cow-and-sheep cheese, and a stinky washed rind cheese. Lost yet? Don’t despair. You can do as Adam did — and as I often do — and ask the advice of the person behind the counter. My favorite cheese spots here in DC are the wonderful Cowgirl Creamery, where cheese nerds come to play, and Calvert Woodley, which has a great selection and some really helpful folks behind the counter. That said, even the folks at Whole Foods can help steer you in the right direction. Meanwhile, whether you’re enlisting a team of advisers or going at this alone, there are a few basic things that are helpful to know before embarking on your cheeseplate expedition. This post will shed some light on how to build a cheese plate, how to cut and serve each of the cheeses, and what sorts of breads and spreads make the best vehicles and complements for enjoying the cheese.
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On limiting waste

rivka — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:22:13 +0000

I dunno about you, but I’m feeling more and more compelled to get a composter. It seems ridiculous that I throw away several pounds of biodegradable stems, peelings, cores, pits, seeds, skins, and rinds, when I could compost them instead. I know that composting in urban environments can be challenging: living as we do in the heart of DC, our access to yard space is ~~limited~~ nonexistent, and we aren’t exactly teeming with the space (or money, for that matter) to install one of those large, expensive all-in-one electric composters. That said, the amount of waste that my one household — a household of two — can produce in one week is kind of mindblowing. So I’m considering getting a compost tub, just a little guy for the house. One of the biggest lobbyists for this purchase is our friend Matt, who lives with his wife Bryce around the corner from us, and has kindly volunteered to take our compost if we’ll drop it off (right, Matt?). I figure, I’ve got someone to take the stuff, and I’ve definitely got room for a little bin in my kitchen: now is as good a time as any to stop wasting and start composting. Huzzah!

Composter in hand, I’ll stop throwing away the bits of produce that I tend not to use in cooking. But there’s another way to think about limiting waste, one that’s near and dear to me as a food blogger, and that’s making sure to extract as much flavor as possible from the ingredients we buy. Not only is this best practice for maximizing use of the food we buy, it’s also a way to ensure that we make the most of our purchases, which in turn can save all of us a little hard-earned dough.

Within the past two days, I’ve made broth out of the stems of asparagus, cooked a mint-infused simple syrup with the stems and some leaves of a massive mint harvest that the Masseys gave me as a gift, and made an herb pesto with leftover walnuts, going-going-cilantro, and — you guessed right — more of those mint leaves. What’ll I do with each of these things? I’m not 100% sure, but if you hear that I served herb-encrusted salmon and mint spritzers for Friday night dinner, don’t be surprised.
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Rigatoni with Broccoli Rabe

rivka — Tue, 12 May 2009 11:09:15 +0000

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know by now that I’m a self proclaimed ingredient-adder. I’ve got issues leaving things simple: I find myself constantly tempted to tinker, to add just one more spice or sauce or vegetable or seed or something. I’ve been working on it, folks, really I have, but it ain’t easy.

As much as I’m inclined to clean out my pantry into a recipe, there are certain recipes that are not to be futzed with. One of those recipes is Marcella Hazan’s pasta with broccoli rabe. Hazan is a legendary Italian cook and cookbook author. Her directions are so very precise, her knowledge and expertise so colossal, I’d be crazy to fiddle with her ingredients or proportions.
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Vegetarian Passover Main Dishes

rivka — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:06:52 +0000

See the notes before each recipe for ways to make recipe non-dairy.

One week from today, Jews will celebrate the holiday of Passover, in which we tell the story of our enslavement in Egypt, our eventual exodus from slavery, and our future wandering in the desert and entering of the land of Israel. As tradition has it, the Jews left Egypt in the wee hours of the morning, and thus did not have a chance to let their daily bread dough rise before baking it. As a result, during the whole holiday of Passover, we are not supposed to eat any leavened product of any kind. Once flour and water come in contact, they must be cooked and ready to eat no more than 18 minutes later. That’s where matzah comes into play: it’s “bread” that is made and baked in record speed, and it’s a staple during the course of the holiday (even if it’s totally flavorless and not so kind on the stomach).

Faced with a prohibition on eating any bread, cake, muffins, and other good carbs, many folks make Passover into a meatfest. Not in this house, though: I grew up in a pescetarian household, and Passover was no exception. As you might imagine, this made good Passover cooking a challenge. If you can’t use any flour in what you cook — including non-wheat flour — what do you make as a main dish?

In the past couple weeks, I’ve gotten more than a few questions from people who are vegetarians or are hosting vegetarians over Passover and are at a loss for what to serve. While I won’t say that I don’t miss flour on Passover — because I do, and I get very, very excited for my annual pizza trip after the holiday ends — I will say that there are a lot of great ideas for Passover-friendly vegetarian mains, things that are truly delicious and will take the edge off Passover prohibition.
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HamentaschenFAIL

rivka — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 17:49:07 +0000

Yea, I don’t know what happened this year. Normally, this dough gives me minimal frustration, but for some reason, this go-round I got half a batch of nice-looking little guys and half a batch of…well, sexyugly. Tasty, nonetheless — but not the kind of cookie you want to pass out. Especially not when you have a food blog. Ugh.

Clearly these are the good ones.” title=”hamenoops21″ width=”506″ height=”341″ class=”size-full wp-image-764″ />

clearly these are the good ones

You know what? I’ll own it. This dough may not produce the prettiest guys in the pack, but they’re damn tasty. The dough is crunchy on the outside, nicely flaky, and flavored with tons of lemon zest. Nothing like those crumbly, nasty things they sell at the bakery. I’m just saying.

Any hamentaschen disaster stories? Share in the comments.

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Housekeeping

rivka — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 00:00:29 +0000

Hi readers!

Just a couple of quick items:

As you can see from the picture above, the lovely Jan should be receiving my Menu For Hope Big Ole’ Box of Sweets today, lucky lady that she is. Jan, hope you enjoy — and to the rest of you, hopefully you won something in MFH as well. I didn’t — just the chance to bake for a reader — but maybe next year!
I finally got my tush off the couch to create an archives page. This info is all available straight from the home page, in one of the sidebars, but now archives have their very own home. The link to the archives page is in that little navigation strip above my header, and you’ll see once you click on it that you can browse recipes by month and by category. Hope this feature is useful!
I’ve officially drunk the Kool-Aid, and am posting (very irregularly) on twitter. If you’ve got a strange inclination to know when I’m eating leftovers at my desk or dreaming of hot chocolate, check out my sidebar widget, where you can follow my tweets to your heart’s content.
Lastly, one of my new years resolutions this time around was to add new kinds of content to NDP. Nothing will replace the recipes, but I’m hoping to spruce up the site with posts on other topics. To that end, I would love your feedback on ways I can improve this site. You hear me out there? Yes, you! Please don’t be shy — NDP is only as good or useful as its readers deem it, and your feedback will really help me sort through new ideas and pick the agenda items that’ll be most useful, interesting, funny, tasty, etc. Do you want restaurant reviews (or gripes about waiters’ and diners’ missteps, of which I have many)? How about tips on getting sought-after reservations? Thoughts on eating locally, organically, sustainably, affordably? Ideas for using leftovers creatively? Advice on scoring the free appetizer that you really deserve when the chef accidentally slips some ham in your farmer’s salad? You name it, I’ll do it. I’m realizing that I have a bit of knowledge and a whole lot of opinion about many of these things, and I’d love it if you could help steer me in the best direction! If you’re too shy to de-lurk and comment, just send me an email: Rivka(at)NotDerbyPie(dot)Com. Would love to hear from each and every one of you.
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Best Cauliflower EVER

rivka — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:43:48 +0000

Before you get annoyed that the title of this post is dramatic without being descriptive, consider the following: this recipe has 6 ingredients, including salt. It takes 25 minutes start to finish and is easily the most delicious cauliflower dish I I’ve ever had ever ever. Ever. Better to tell the world how wonderful it is than to try to name what can only be described as good, yes?

Now then, let me tell you about cauliflower with capers and sherry vinegar. That’s all that’s in this — save for a drizzle or two of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt — but it’s good, lip-smackingly good. No surprise that it comes from the king of simple, Mark Bittman, and his wonderful bible “How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.” Having cooked from it and read many chapters straight through, I think I can safely say that it’s the best $23.10 you can spend in the cookbook section. Check it out here.

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Thanksgiving confession and pep-talk

rivka — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:12:40 +0000

Confession: I’m going to Detroit this year with D and fam, and will not be cooking any T-day fare as I did last year. Sorry to desert!

Pep-talk: I would be remiss to leave you empty-handed as you tackle your Turkey, tofurky, and other accoutrement. With that in mind, I’ve written a page of vegetarian recipes that I deem Tday-worthy. Are they particularly traditional? No, not necessarily — but they’re pretty darn tasty. If you’re bored of the same old turkey-stuffing-mashed spuds triumvirate, click over to this page for fresh inspiration. Hey — even if you’re not cooking T-day dinner, this page offers some pretty good suggestions for everyday eats. Click away!

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Soupergirl

rivka — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 02:57:21 +0000

I’m taking time out from my regularly-scheduled programming to tell you about an awesome new business being launched in the DC area: it’s called Soupergirl, and (if you couldn’t guess) it’s a soup business! A friend of mine, Sara Polon, not to be at all confused with Sarah Palin (who will NOT be our next VP, thank you very much!!) launched Soupergirl this Thursday, and starting ever-so-soon, you can get fresh, delicious soups delivered to a location nearby!

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The thing about recipes

rivka — Fri, 23 May 2008 19:00:00 +0000

When we cook, we use ingredients and we employ techniques. There is an abundance of information about these ingredients and techniques; some of it we know, some we could really stand to learn. When does an ingredient perform best? How does it behave in different combinations and conditions? When is a given technique best employed? Which steps are absolutely necessary and which can be skipped in a pinch?

We know much of this information already. To give a few examples:

Eggs make dishes lighter. Whipping the egg whites? Even more so.
Onions and garlic contain a lot of natural sugar that will caramelize and mellow when heated.
Applesauce and yogurt are viable alternatives to the fatty liquids in baked goods.

There’s a lot of other information we could really stand to learn. Here are some things I’m thankful to have learned from cookbooks, food articles, and plain old trial-and-error:

a good dish balances the five dimensions of taste: sweet, sour, salty, hot, and umami (i.e. glutamate, which rounds out the other flavors)
baking powder contains its own acidic agent; baking soda needs some sort of acid to be activated.
Lots of time, little yeast, and no kneading can produce one of the best loaves of bread ever invented.

So you see, there’s a lot of knowledge floating around out there about what we eat and how we make it. Recipes can be useful in providing bite-sized chunks of information in digestible form (no more food metaphors). But here’s the thing about recipes: they transmit that information so absolutely, so authoritatively, that the cook feels reluctant, even scared, to change anything. Recipes are what make you stand by the oven, wiping your brow, because your quiche didn’t cook in the half-hour promised. They’re what make you think twice about even making a quiche, if you don’t have the requisite amount of mushrooms for the mushroom one, cheddar for the cheddar one, etc. You could run to the grocery store at the last minute and buy exactly 2 1/2 cups of mushrooms, a mix of button, cremini and portabello as called for. Alternatively, you could save yourself the headache and improvise.

Improvisation: friend, not foe.

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Passover Dessert Ideas

rivka — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:54:45 +0000

It’s that time of year again, folks…the time when desserts all begin “flourless…”
To ease the pain of a cookie-less cake-less week, I’ll share a fantastic post by awesome blogger Deb over at Smitten Kitchen. She offers 17 dessert ideas for Passover — let’s face it, who ever knew there were even that many possibilities? — and they all look completely scrumptious. Go on, have a look!

Meanwhile, if you’re still itching for ideas, be sure to check out Susie Fishbein’s new cookbook, Passover by Design — you can buy it straight from here by clicking the picture in the sidebar right next to this post. I’ve already given three as pesach/seder presents, and have made three balebustas very happy. Have a wonderful holiday!

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Minibar, Part trois (et ultime)

rivka — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 17:14:48 +0000

Let’s see, where did we leave off? Have you already forgotten that more tales of molecular gastronomy and showmanship were in store for you? This is the final installment of the Minibar saga. So as not to reveal all my (their) cards, I’ll cover only highlights of the remaining courses, leaving some of the show to your imagination (should you choose to explore this restaurant yourself).

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Minibar, Part Deux

rivka — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 02:58:04 +0000

(For those who haven’t been following, a bunch of friends and I went out to dinner last week at Minibar and had a $$delightful$$ meal; I’m documenting our adventure, course by course, on NDP. You can see part one here.)

Our story resumes with one of the evening’s most whimsical dishes: “dragon’s breath” popcorn. We were each handed a ball of popcorn (kettle corn, actually — sweet and salty and delicious all over) submerged in liquid nitrogen. We were instructed to exhale when we ate it, so that upon chewing and breathing, we actually exhaled, um, smoke. What DB popcorn lacked in actual culinary innovation, it made up for in giggle factor. D literally couldn’t keep a straight face as I tried to photograph, so I ended up with a bunch of blurry pictures in which the smoke is visible only because I know it’s there.

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Meal of the Century: Minibar

rivka — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 23:11:02 +0000

If I had my way, I’d have many more dinners like Thursday night’s feast at Minibar; that said, it’s safe to assume that food that memorable won’t pass my lips again for quite a long time. I know it’s not my usual tune to do restaurant reviews, but Thursday night was truly revolutionary, and I’d be remiss not to share it with my readers, who surely appreciate the value of a spectacular meal.

Two friends, E and J, recently celebrated their birthdays; E impressively convinced J and four other rational people to shell out an arm and a few legs to eat what rarely consisted in things we’d call “food.” Main ingredients in many of the dishes included liquid nitrogen; agar agar; sodium alginate; calcium chloride; and other lip-smacking ingredients. Odd chemicals notwithstanding, each course was both tasty and fun to eat. In fact, fun was pretty much the theme of Thursday night’s feast. Minibar is a restaurant that doesn’t take itself too seriously; there’s a fair amount of silliness involved when you’re eating things that make you exhale smoke.
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Farm Subsidies

rivka — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:32:38 +0000

Not my usual MO to post on food news, but an op-ed from this weekend’s New York Times struck me and you’ve gotta read it. A farmer from Minnesota discusses how farm subsidies and penalties actively prevent him and other small, local farmers from growing fresh fruits and vegetables to make room for the subsidized crops: corn, soy, wheat, rice, or cotton. It’s just one more reason why Americans eat horribly and suffer for it.

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NDP’s Facelift

rivka — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:43:00 +0000

Welcome to the new and (hopefully) improved Not Derby Pie! I hope you like the new layout and scheme. Please leave comments with feedback — I’m always looking for ways to improve (and attract more readers!)

Now, for an update on the life of NDP:
I’ve spent much of the last two months fretting and sweating over my new blog, http://www.notderbypie.com/. (Don’t go check it out! It’s a mess right now. ) I’ve tried every available template, messed around with the layout to the best of my (minimal) ability, and even taught myself bits of HTML so that I could make the stupid, kitschy graphics on templates go away. All this, to no avail. I still can’t find a template that I like. My preferences are actually pretty simple: I want a three-column split template with netural colors, some greens, good fonts, and general flexibility re: moving things around on the page. Sound simple? Think again.

If you or your friends or hey, your enemies — I’ll take anyone — know HTML and are looking for an opportunity to be published and credited, a volunteer project, or a charity case (that’s me!), please be in touch with me at RivkaFriedman(at)yahoo(dot)com. I could really use the talent and generosity of someone who knows what he/she’s doing. Thanks so much, and I look forward to lots of feedback…

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my office desk stash

rivka — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 19:02:00 +0000

york peppermint patties
mini applesauce cups
almonds
those ginger cat cookies from Trader Joe’s
honey wheat pretzels

what’s yours?

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Where is Fall?

rivka — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:08:00 +0000

As fall-themed recipes have started popping up on other people’s blogs, I’ve begun to notice my own reluctance to dig out the pumpkin puree from the pantry. Normally I make fall recipes too early, out of sheer excitement for sweater season, but this year the transition is taking a while. It’s already mid-October and the weather has not let up one drop. As my friend Dave so eloquently put it, “where is the cold, apple-crisp air of fall? Things seem unnaturally fecund, overgrown, about to rot.”

Perhaps this post will trigger a weather change. If only I had that much influence…

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Starch vs. Starch

rivka — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 18:04:00 +0000

“I’m thinking Subway for dinner tonight…is there anything to eat in the fridge besides a little of leftover chicken?”

“Yea, there’s orzo with pesto in the fridge. You could add some tomato sauce from the freezer and top with some fresh mozzarella, that would be yummy.”

“Woah, that was way over my head.”

“Take the tomato sauce out of the freezer. Nuke. Save half. Put on orzo, top with cheese.”

“Is the orzo in the pyrex or the tupperware?”

“It’s in the pyrex. Risotto is in the tupperware.”

“Got it.”

is it like this in your house?

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There’s no wrong way to cook

rivka — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:55:00 +0000

Really, there’s no such thing as a wrong way to cook.

Yes, there are some exceptions to this rule. Baking is far fussier than cooking, and it’s best to follow a recipe as precisely as one can manage (or at least to follow one of many successful wet-to-dry ingredient ratios when improvising).

But in cooking, this is a truly important rule of thumb. It occured to me this morning while scrolling through the comments that were posted on an entry by one of my favorite bloggers, Danielle over at Habeas Brulee. While most commenters offer compliments and thanks for posting any given recipe, there are always those who offer “corrections” to make a recipe just a bit more perfect.

That’s fine and good — aren’t we all looking to perfect that apple pie recipe or really nail that tomato sauce? — but the “corrections” offered are really nothing more than alternate methods. To one, the latter method may yield a better texture, a finer consistency, a more robust flavor — but as we all know, these things are really matters of individual taste. My favorite chocolate chip cookie may seem to you too crumbly, hard, not big enough, too heavy on the cholocate…and on. But it’s my favorite. Get my drift?

So when it comes to cooking, where proportions are flexible and the food can withstand a fair amount of tampering, a recipe is merely a suggestion. To my very recipe-loyal friends: remember that the cookbook isn’t a rulebook. It’s a guidebook. Change anything you like.

Just label your sugar and salt jars conspicuously.

Happy cooking!

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Butternut Squash and Creamed-Spinach Gratin

rivka — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 12:51:47 +0000

This dish is rich and satisfying without being super heavy. The butternut squash lends sweetness, while Parmesan cheese gives it a salty, crunchy bite. It’s also good-to-go for gluten-free folks.

Butternut Squash and Creamed-Spinach Gratin
adapted from Gourmet

3 pounds fresh spinach, stems discarded, or 3 (10-ounce) packages frozen leaf spinach, thawed
5 tablespoons unsalted butter plus additional for greasing pan
3/4 cup finely chopped onion (1 small)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
Rounded 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup heavy cream
4 pounds butternut squash (2 large), peeled, quartered, and seeded
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

If using fresh spinach, bring 1 inch water to a boil in a 6- to 8-quart pot over high heat. Add spinach, a few handfuls at a time, and cook, turning with tongs, until wilted, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water.

Thoroughly squeeze cooked fresh or thawed frozen spinach in small handfuls to remove excess moisture, then coarsely chop and transfer to a bowl.

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in an 8-inch heavy skillet over moderately low heat, then cook onion and garlic, stirring, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add onion mixture to spinach along with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cream and stir to combine.

Put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 400°F. Butter a 3-quart shallow baking dish (13 by 9 inches; not glass).

Cut squash to separate bulb section from solid neck section, then cut pieces lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick slices with slicer or sharp knife (with knife, slices will be slightly thicker — which is fine).

Layer squash and spinach mixture in baking dish, using about one fifth of squash and one fourth of spinach for each layer, beginning and ending with squash. Sprinkle top layer of squash evenly with cheese and dot with remaining 2 tablespoons butter, then cover directly with a sheet of parchment or wax paper. Bake until squash is tender and filling is bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove paper and bake gratin until browned in spots, 10 to 15 minutes, or broil 3 inches from heat, 2 to 3 minutes.

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